Prince George’s County is planning a 5-mile corridor of sports and entertainment facilities around the Washington Commanders’ NFL stadium. (Prince George’s County)
Prince George’s County, Maryland, has been approved to receive $400 million in state bonds to develop a large-scale sports and entertainment project along the Blue Line Corridor near FedEx Field. The funding will be used to finance site acquisition, planning, design, construction, and renovations on sports and entertainment facilities in a 5-mile region from Capitol Heights to Largo. The project is aimed at growing the region's commercial tax base, attracting new jobs, and making the county "the economic engine" of the state and region. The funding does not include provisions to build a new NFL stadium for the Washington Commanders.
Prince George’s County Approved for $400 Million To Redevelop Corridor Around FedEx Field
Money Will Fund Sports and Entertainment Facilities in Maryland Even if Commanders Relocate
By Katherine Hamilton CoStar News
January 26, 2023 | 12:12 P.M.
Prince George’s County, Maryland, has been approved to receive $400 million in state bonds to develop a large-scale sports and entertainment project along the Blue Line Corridor near FedEx Field.
The funding was approved unanimously by the Board of Public Works on Wednesday, instating a memorandum of understanding between Prince George’s County and the Maryland Stadium Authority to finance site acquisition, planning, design, construction and renovations on sports and entertainment facilities in a 5-mile region from Capitol Heights to Largo.
“This is going to be an economic game changer for Prince George’s County and for the state,” said Wes Moore, Maryland’s newly appointed governor, at Wednesday’s meeting.
Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks spoke in favor of the project, which she has spearheaded with the intention of growing the region’s commercial tax base, attracting new jobs and making the county what she called “the economic engine” of the state and region.
As of June 2021, the county had secured about $46 million in funding for other Blue Line Corridor projects, according to its website. The proposed facilities along the corridor include an amphitheater, library and cultural center, basketball field house, a “civic plaza” and a “market hall,” per the site.
The funding does not include provisions to build a new NFL stadium for the Washington Commanders, which has been a topic of discussion in recent years. The Commanders’ lease at FedEx Field ends in 2027, having played there since 1997, but the team has been looking at other locations in the state, as well as D.C. and Virginia, with hopes of relocating to a brand new stadium. Although initially thought to help keep the Commanders at FedEx Field, the Blue Line Corridor funds can now be used regardless of whether the team leaves.
Located on the eastern border of Washington, D.C., Prince George’s is the second most populous county in Maryland after Montgomery, according to the Census Bureau. The now-funded redevelopment would be located around some of the final stops on the Metro’s Blue Line, Morgan Boulevard and Downtown Largo, which opened in 2004. The Blue Line runs through the center of D.C. and down into Northern Virginia.