During a Thursday meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission, the focus shifted from the long‑awaited Washington Commanders stadium to the two parking garages slated for the RFK site. The stadium, projected to open in 2030 and seat 65,000 fans, will be accompanied by a south garage (G1) holding 2,400 spaces and a larger north garage (G2) with 3,600 spaces, each rising roughly 110 feet.
Neighborhood opposition to the larger garage
Kingman Park residents voiced strong objections to G2, which would sit adjacent to their neighborhood. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Ebony Payne (Ward 7) said, “Kingman Park residents have been effectively ignored and are still slated to be on the receiving end of the largest parking garage ever built in D.C. history.” Payne reiterated that while the community supports redeveloping RFK and bringing the Commanders back, the current G2 design is too large, too close to homes, and sacrifices valuable land that could host housing, retail and community amenities.
Tracy Sahai, another Kingman Park resident, warned that the structure would strip green space and degrade quality of life. “The daily toll on our residential street will be severe. A towering nine‑story deck and thousands of cars will be glaring light and headlights directly into our front windows and our children’s bedroom,” she said.
Officials suggest alternatives
Commissioner Evan Cash, who also serves as Committee and Legislative Director for D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, urged planners to explore other locations. “Right now, you have a garage that’s everyone in the neighborhood’s complaining about is going to be in the center of the neighborhood when you have an opportunity to maybe move it up north, be adjacent to the sportsplex for parking, make it so people don’t have to drive as far into the campus on game days,” Cash explained.
Project architect Matt Bell defended the current layout, saying it was chosen to connect fans to the stadium efficiently. “We felt that having the garage where we located it, framed with the sportsplex, made it easy for people to walk into the stadium from that garage,” he said. Bell noted that multiple locations and configurations were studied, with traffic flow, pedestrian access and infrastructure constraints guiding the decision.
When asked about underground options that could reduce the structure’s height, Bell cautioned that costs would rise dramatically. “When you go underground with things, the price of things goes very, very, significantly higher,” he said.
Design concepts and funding
Visuals showed two design options for G1: one echoing the stadium’s aesthetic and another resembling a typical city building. G2’s design incorporates varied sections and screening elements intended to soften its visual impact.
The garages will be funded by the District as part of the agreement to bring the Commanders back to RFK. Commissioners pressed for more detail on traffic impacts, potential retail or community‑serving uses within the garages, pedestrian pathways, landscaping and overall visual impact, especially given the proposed 110‑foot height.
Calls for careful planning
Several commissioners, including Cash, expressed concern that the garages will become permanent fixtures of the RFK campus. “Those giant tapestries … I don’t see how it looks at all like the stadium. I don’t see anything, but I mean, it looks like an ugly version of like an arena,” Cash remarked.
Resident Ronald Perkel emphasized the need for thorough review before construction begins. “Once ground breaks and the money’s invested, you can’t go back, and we’ll be living with these errors, forced errors for decades,” he warned.
The meeting undersced the tension between delivering a functional parking solution for an estimated 8,000 fans who will drive to games and preserving the character and livability of the surrounding Kingman Park community. The planning commission is expected to continue gathering input before finalizing the garage locations and designs.
Original reporting: Alexandria, VA News – WTOP News — read the source article.
