Events DC, the owner of Nationals Park, is laying out the details of a compromise it proposed in an effort to end a long-running dispute and ensure that the ballpark can keep operating as normal.
“We’re really seeking closure here,” said Events DC attorney Allison Prince. “We don’t want to keep coming back.”
Prince, who spoke Wednesday at an Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting, said that Events DC was willing to develop 17,000 square feet of existing retail space at the ballpark in Navy Yard.
That’s despite the fact that a previous agreement between the company and the District called for building 46,000 square feet of commercial and retail space there.
“That requires more construction,” Prince said. “Not only is there not the funding or interest in that but it would block the existing retail space that we’re … trying to lease.”
In proposing the compromise for the 17,000 square feet, Prince said Events DC would be open to agreeing to a set timeline for when the space would be ready for tenants.
“The new concept is putting in a deadline for building out that retail space,” she said.
The proposal will move to the D.C. Zoning Commission.
“Events DC is trying to bring closure to a matter that has been really lingering for 15 years,” Prince said.
It is a new development in the yearslong dispute that recently led to city regulators threatening to shut down Nationals Park if the city’s demands are not met.
The city’s threats are a result of the deal for commercial and retail space being unfulfilled.
As such, since 2008, Events DC has operated under “temporary” certificates of occupancy for Nationals Park instead of “permanent” certificates of occupancy.
If the certificate expires, the park could be shut down.
The existing certificate was set to expire next week, but District regulators said they would extend it through the end of 2023 in order to give the Zoning Commission plenty of time to review the new proposal.