Bowser on RFK: 'We want Taylor Swift and Beyonce to come to DC'

DC Mayor and Council at odds over RFK Stadium proposal

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and the DC Council are at odds over the recent RFK Stadium proposal.

WASHINGTON - In a 1:1 interview with FOX 5, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said she thinks revitalizing the site at RFK could transform the area in the same way that Nationals Park revitalized Navy Yard. 

One day after Bowser and Commanders primary owner Josh Harris announced a deal in place to bring the Washington Commanders back to the RFK site, eyes are on the D.C. Council, who needs to approve the deal before it can move forward. 

"The research shows over and over again that sports stadiums are net losers for the jurisdiction, that’s not to say we shouldn’t have one, but let’s see what the numbers are. And we haven’t seen those numbers," said D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson. 

Mendelson told FOX 5 Tuesday that  council members are concerned about the cost of the plan. 

"The bottom line is that the mayor has proposed what appears to be about a billion dollars of D.C. taxpayer money from different sources that's going to fund a stadium for which we have not seen what the details are with regard to what the return on investment is for the city," said Mendelson. 

The other side:

Bowser stressed that the deal would "create just so much opportunity for D.C." 

"It is a dollars and cents calculation for us. More visitors, more economic activity means we can invest more in schools and public safety and roads," said Bowser. 

Bowser tells FOX 5's David Kaplan that D.C. Council knew this was a priority for her, and thinks they have plenty of time to take it under consideration as part of their budget review process.

"It doesn’t really stand to reason that something we’ve been talking about for ten years that every member of council has been briefed on as a priority to get control of RFK and develop it. I literally said in my first speech that my goal for RFK was to bring a Super Bowl," said Bowser. "They sign off on a 20 billion dollar budget every single year, and all of their budget negotiations and considerations happen in 70 days, all of them. Every year. It’s in their rules. Budget deliberations take 70 days. This is part of that budget discussion. It’s not asking too much for a full-time council to make one fo the biggest decisions on the biggest private sector investment in our city, and it’s certainly not too much to ask them to work a few weeks in August to do it."

Bowser says it's her job as mayor "to go out and nab opportunity" – and from her perspective, the opportunity is for more than just an NFL stadium. 

"My priorities were that we would have a mixed-use development, one that included an NFL stadium, but not only an NFL Stadium. So we project that the site, though we’re still going to have to go through the zoning process on the residential parcels, but we think they could hold up to 5,000 to 6,000 units," said Bowser. 

In addition to mixed-use development and housing? "Premier events." 

"It helps us when our stadium is exposed on national TV or global events. It helps us attract more festivals and events, more businesses, more tourists. So we want Taylor Swift and Beyonce to come to DC. We want the World Cup," said Bowser. 

Seven votes are needed for the deal to pass through D.C. Council. FOX 5 has learned that four members would vote yes, two no – and the other seven are potentially somewhere in the middle.  Mendelson and Ward 5 Council Member Zachary Parker don’t appear to be in favor of this deal as it’s constructed now – but have explicitly said they could support a deal with a stadium.

Bowser says the "same debate" over using taxpayer dollars happened with the development of Nats Park. 

"No one is saying now, with the transformation of the Capital Riverfront the creation of jobs and the civic pride that was created by having World Series Champions, that we shouldn’t have brought baseball back to Washington DC," said Bowser. "I believe people with vision will prevail again in bringing the team home to RFK."