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Mayor Proposes Lifting Cap for Stadium Parking
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Under the new proposal, the sports commission would build two levels of parking underground and one level aboveground on the north parcel and another garage on the south side at a cost of $100 million.
Those garages would be engineered so that further development could be added in the future, officials said.
Since the city has $25 million for parking in the current budget, it would need an additional $75 million. Of that, $17 million would come from excess from a special tax on businesses and utilities that the city has collected during the two seasons the Nationals have played at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium.
The remaining $58 million would come from either a private developer, who would pay the city for the right to build above the garages, or from publicly financed bonds, city financial officials said. Either option is considered public funding and is barred by the council's cost cap.
D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi is reviewing the financing options, his office said yesterday. A spokesman for the Lerner group said only that discussions are continuing between the owners and the city.
Mayoral spokesman Morris said building parking underground is critical because that is the concept the Zoning Commission approved under Miller's plan. Furthermore, he said, building mixed-use development at the site would be far better for the city than having only parking garages.
"The more valuable the property is, the more District residents will benefit," he said.
Staff writer Thomas Heath contributed to this report.
