Walk around the site where RFK Stadium used to stand and you’ll notice there’s almost nothing there anymore. Further exploration of the neighborhood surrounding the old stadium grounds reveals a lot of one particular thing not seen in renderings of the planned new stadium released Thursday by the Washington Commanders — homes.
Many people call the Kingman Park neighborhood and surrounding area home. The neighborhood is just west of the stadium campus, and residents there hope their neighborhood benefits not from the new stadium itself, but the planned development that will surround it.
“This neighborhood needs grocery stores,” Alexis Pazmino, who leads the Friends of Kingman Park Civic Association, said. “We need a full-service grocery store over by RFK. You know, we don’t have any in this neighborhood.”
She also said she hopes local business owners will benefit from development around the new stadium, which is slated to open for the start of the Washington Commanders’ season in 2030.
“I want to see places where my money can be spent,” Pazmino said. “I have money in my pocket. I want to put it into our community. I would love to see coffee shops and restaurants and local businesses.”
Residents around the neighborhood said something similar, with one person noting a nearby 7-Eleven even closed down. They don’t want to see more of the same chains or fast food restaurants that already exist all over D.C. and the surrounding area.
But many are skeptical that small businesses will be able to afford to open up there.
“Say you’re a moms and pops,” a man named L. Randolph said. “Are you able to afford to be able to run a business in this neighborhood? Because we all know the … lease prices are going to be super expensive.”
Neighbors are also asking for something that visitors and game day fans definitely won’t like — strict parking enforcement.
“If you look, there’s only a couple cars in the streets in those designs, and that’s a, that’s kind of a dream that isn’t going to come true,” Pazmino said. “The stadium is definitely a throwback to the previous designs, but we hope that it’s not going to also be a throwback to the terrible parking and congestion that was here.”
Even though there isn’t that much around, Rodney Ford said there are already problems with parking in the neighborhood.
“I think that may be one of the biggest concerns by all of us in the neighborhood,” Randolph said. “Where are these people going to be able to park and are they going to give them enough parking options so that they don’t spill over into the neighborhood?”
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