Plans to develop an entertainment complex in Alexandria – with an indoor arena for the Washington Capitals and Wizards its centerpiece – could emerge as a sleeper issue in the upcoming Democratic primary for Arlington County Board.
The proposal for a parcel in the Potomac Yard section of Alexandria, which was announced last month but still has a long and perhaps difficult road to travel, involves a parcel close enough to Arlington that its impact will be felt in Alexandria’s neighbor to the north.
And as the County Board race continues to firm up, at least one of the announced contenders is voicing the view that Arlington shouldn’t be left out of the conversation.
“Our county is not a bystander; we will be directly impacted. Arlington needs a seat at the table,” Natalie Roy said when she kicked off her bid for County Board at the January meeting of the Arlington County Democratic Committee.
Roy ticked off a host of economic, land-use and environmental concerns surrounding the sports-arena deal, which has the support of Gov. Youngkin, Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson and Ted Leonsis, the majority owner of the Wizards and Capitals.
Roy’s concerns include the impact of a new facility on the existing relationship between Arlington and the Capitals, whose practice facility (the MedStar Capitals Iceplex) is located atop the Ballston Public Parking Garage adjacent to the Ballston Quarter mall.
Roy is one of three announced candidates for the County Board seat currently occupied by Libby Garvey. James DeVita and Julie Farman announced candidacies in front of the Democratic Committee in early December – before the Potomac Yard plan was announced on Dec. 13 – and others are mulling getting into the race.
Garvey, who has held the seat since winning it in a 2012 special election, says she will make a decision by the end of February whether to run again. None of the announced candidates seem likely to drop out if she does seek re-election.
Whatever field emerges, Democrats will make their selection in a June primary. The Democratic nominee is all but assured election in November.
The proposal to move the Wizards and Capitals from the District of Columbia to Alexandria represents the third try at luring a professional sports franchise to Northern Virginia’s Route 1 corridor.
Two decades ago, plans were advanced to locate a stadium for what would become the Washington Nationals in the Pentagon City area, and a decade before that, Virginia’s Gov. Doug Wilder and others attempted a deal that would bring what then were the Washington Redskins to Alexandria.
In each case, a variety of factors – including vocal if not universal community opposition – scuttled the plans.
