Feds: Those Commanders stadium parking decks are too big
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Rising like a gray monolith on the left ... a parking garage, "conceptual" and "subject to change." Image: HKS/Commanders filing with NCPC
Let's tone down those 11-story parking garages, federal planners are telling the Commanders.
Why it matters: While the classical-looking stadium is getting lots of love, the Commanders are hearing the first major criticisms of their broader plans at the RFK redevelopment.
State of play: Planners are pushing the Commanders to lower the height of their garages, after gripes that the 110-foot concrete blocks would taint views of what most people are calling an elegant stadium.
- Plus, the Commanders were asked to get creative with the ground floor and dressing up the sides with plants.
- Those requests came Thursday at the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), which nevertheless voted to grant preliminary design approval of the 65,000-seat domed arena.
"I'm seeing these stadium renderings and I'm loving them," said NCPC member Evan Cash. But then he saw "this gray box" — the large parking garage poking out that drew lots of attention when first revealed in stadium renderings released last month.
- What caught fans' eye was that the parking deck nearest to the Anacostia River — but poking into the stadium view — looked translucent in the concept sketches (see below), masking its real-world impact.
- Commissioners requested fuller renderings of that. "I have rarely, if ever, seen a beautiful parking facility," said NCPC chair Will Scharf.
One idea: Relocating that garage to the opposite side of the D.C. Armory building on East Capitol Street, creating some symmetry, as proposed by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts last month.
- That plot of land is currently slated to be surface parking, and a wide festival plaza with lush landscaping would be in front of it (see site plan below).
Context: On Day 1 of the 2030 season, the Commanders want to open with 8,000 parking spots, with 2,000 spread over surface lots, where tailgating will also happen.
What's ahead: Stadium architect HKS is expected to submit revised parking plans, and the Commanders expect to win site approval in the coming months.