Yes. The Washington Commanders are returning to Washington, D.C., after nearly three decades in Landover, Maryland. The D.C. Council voted 11-2 on September 17, 2025, to approve a $3.7 billion deal to build a new stadium on the old RFK Stadium campus. The team targets a 2030 opening.
In brief
Yes. The Washington Commanders are returning to Washington, D.C., after nearly three decades in Landover, Maryland. The D.C. Council took its final vote on September 17, 2025, approving a deal valued at around $3.7 billion to build the team a new stadium on the old RFK Stadium site, passing 11-2. The team is aiming to open the 2030 season in its new D.C. stadium.
How it happened
The Commanders will return to Washington, D.C., in 2030 for the first time since their relocation to Maryland in 1997. Team owner Josh Harris, who acquired the franchise from Dan Snyder in 2023, had been vocal about an interest in relocating the team back to D.C., where it famously played at RFK Stadium from 1961 to 1996.
The path back required an act of Congress. In December 2024, after nearly a decade of Mayor Bowser advocating to get the RFK campus under District control, Congress passed the D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act. The legislation, signed into law in January 2025, gave the District the ability to develop the long-underutilized space for a mix of uses. That transfer unlocked months of deal-making.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Commanders officials announced a deal in April 2025, with some council members expressing concerns about its terms and the lack of communication with the council. The back and forth between the council, the mayor's office and the team drew on for months, until the council approved an amended deal in its first vote in August. The September vote was the second and final vote needed to close the book on a yearslong political saga that involved Congress, D.C. leaders, and even President Donald Trump.
Just before the final vote, tensions flared. The Commanders expressed concern with what they described as 'last-minute new demands' from the council, according to a letter to the council from team president Mark Clouse. It wasn't enough to derail the deal. Mayor Bowser posted on social media after the vote: "This is the final step in securing our future at the new RFK Stadium. Our businesses, our people, our project. Now, let's get to work."
The money split
The team is contributing $2.7 billion and the city is investing roughly $1.1 billion for the stadium, housing, green space, and a sports complex on land bordering the Anacostia River. Bowser has called it the largest private investment in D.C.'s history.
The District's contribution is structured to limit the draw on the operating budget. The District will facilitate parking development using a $175 million revenue bond funded by in-stadium activity, while Events DC will contribute up to $181 million for parking garages near the community recreation facilities. The District will also invest $202 million for utilities infrastructure, roadways, and a WMATA transit study.
What gets built
The plan calls for a 65,000-seat stadium with a roof, mixed retail, entertainment, and housing on the RFK site. Renderings released in early 2026 show a neoclassical design with a sculpted, transparent dome. The venue will accommodate 70,000-plus guests and is aligned with the L'Enfant Plan, expanding the existing waterfront and park experience.
Plans call for 5,000 to 6,000 new homes, including 1,500 to 1,900 affordable units, preservation of the beloved Fields at RFK, new youth sports facilities, and hotel and retail development, with at least 30 percent of the site dedicated to enhanced green spaces.
Washington owner Josh Harris and D.C. city officials have made it known they want to bid on larger projects such as the Women's World Cup in 2031 and a future Super Bowl.
The architect and the build schedule
The Commanders named HKS, a global architecture and design firm, as the lead architect for the new stadium at the RFK site. HKS has designed SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Vertical construction is anticipated to begin in spring 2027, with full completion scheduled for 2030.
What's happening at the site right now
Demolition of the old RFK Stadium began in late January 2025 and is anticipated to be complete in mid-2026. As of December 2025, the removal of the stadium's structural steel was completed, with demolition of the remaining concrete structure ongoing and approximately 2,752 tons of metal, or 176 truckloads, hauled off-site and recycled.
The new stadium address is 2400 East Capitol Street SE, steps from the Stadium-Armory Metro station on the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
