Sports are big business in DC. Between the Wizards, the Capitals, the Mystics, the Nationals, the Commanders, and the United, the city is represented across all six major national leagues. For long-term residents of the District, it’s not hard to remember a time when there was only one national team playing in the city itself, but now with the return of the Commanders to the former RFK site every team will call DC proper its home. And for the city government, making sure that home benefits both the team and the city itself is top of mind.

On Thursday, August 20, Leadership Greater Washington members were offered a behind the scenes look at the renovation of Capital One Arena, home to both the Wizards and the Capitals. From freshly renovated premium spaces to enhanced fan amenities, it’s a sports fan’s dream. But for Latrena Owens (’21), Director of Real Estate for the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, who led the tour along with Monumental Sports, owners and operators of the two teams housed at Capital One, it’s also an investment in the future of DC. 

“Sports is a major economic engine in DC,” Latrena shared with us in an interview before the tour, “generating approximately five billion dollars of annual activity across the district and attracting more than 7.4M attendees each year.” So in 2023 when the Wizards and Capitals announced a plan to move to Northern Virginia, her office knew they had to step in. “We provided roughly $515M of the $900M renovation project to modernize, renovate, and upgrade the current arena and keep our teams in DC.” The move was called off three months later – sports were staying in the District. 

Keeping the Wizards and Capitals at Capital One was a boon to local sports fans, but even more so to the economic prosperity of the neighborhood and the city itself. “It’s an economic anchor,” Owens says, with the newly renovated building able to host over 200 more shows and sporting events than previously possible. “That’s bringing more people downtown who will book hotels, who will eat at restaurants and shop at stores,” she adds. “We see it as a way to attract sports fans but also as a driver of all sorts of economic activity downtown.” Which, according to Owens, is really what her job is about, projects that above all help support DC residents – negotiating deals that provide affordable housing, increase the tax base, and provide employment opportunities for people in the city. 

And of course Capital One isn’t their only game in town. 

The Commanders’ return to DC, the subsequent redevelopment of the RFK site and Hill East, and the long-gestating development of the McMillan Reservoir in Ward 5 are all part of a broader plan to make the District better, and just as important as Capital One Arena. But Owens does have a favorite. 

“I would be remiss to not mention a project I led myself, the St. Elizabeth’s East redevelopment,” she proudly shares, “which is an area that has not seen activity in many years. So to see all the things that are coming – a new hospital, the Whitman Walker Health relocation, and now people living on the campus. It’s all very exciting.”

The LGW story is about cross-sector collaboration, how multiple entities with differing priorities can come together to help one another and the city. Sports venues, mixed use developments, health care facilities – all examples of public/private partnerships that are essential to economic sustainability and success. As a graduate of the Signature Program Class of 2021, Latrena Owens knows all too well how much greater an impact can be with the collective power of diverse leaders behind it. And for her, these projects are a sign of even greater things to come. 

“It’s truly an awesome time to be in DC.”