Post-Commanders Fever Dreams Shouldn’t Drown Out Real Transit-Oriented Development

A Moment of Major Change

The Washington Commanders’ decision to return to the District of Columbia and redevelop the long-vacant RFK Stadium site marks a seismic shift in the region’s sports and economic development landscape. For years, the Commanders’ presence in Landover, Maryland, represented not just a sports venue but a major piece of the County’s economic identity. Now, with the team’s departure, Prince George’s County faces a historic opportunity to reimagine the Northwest Stadium site — and by extension, its broader land use strategy.

While Northwest Stadium holds tremendous future redevelopment potential, it is critical that the County not lose sight of its more fundamental and pressing mission: delivering true transit-oriented development (TOD) along the Central Avenue–Metro Blue/Silver Line corridor. Redeveloping Northwest Stadium must not come at the expense of long-standing plans to create vibrant, walkable, transit-connected communities where they are needed most.

GCHIC’s Vision for the Blue/Silver Line Corridor

At Greater Capitol Heights Improvement Corporation (GCHIC), we have long advocated for equitable, walkable urban development along the Central Avenue-Blue/Silver Line corridor, particularly within the Capitol Heights-Addison Road Metro regional activity center — a zone we have termed the CHARM District. This area, with two Metro stations located within a short walk of each other, represents a truly unique opportunity in the County and even the region.

Unlike more suburban-style development elsewhere in the County, CHARM can become a truly walkable urban district, emblematic of many we see in D.C. or in Arlington. However, years of underinvestment have left it struggling to realize its full potential. That’s why targeted public investments, such as transportation infrastructure improvements to improve walkability, are crucial to catalyze growth here.

Morgan Boulevard and Downtown Largo Metro stations, while separate from CHARM, also represent critical pieces of the Blue/Silver Line puzzle. Unlike CHARM, these sites possess characteristics (like large nearby undeveloped acreage or surface parking lots) that should already make them attractive to private development. Yet even these station areas have remained frustratingly stagnant for decades.

These Blue/Silver Line Corridor sites represent the very essence of smart, sustainable growth: denser, more vibrant communities built around existing transit infrastructure. If Prince George’s County wants to live up to its aspirations of becoming a model for equitable TOD, it must prioritize these locations, not relegate them to an afterthought.

A bird's-eye view of Morgan Boulevard Metro Station in Landover, highlighting empty land that's ripe for development. Northwest Stadium, by contrast, is a mile away.

The Risk of Losing Focus

Amid all the justifiable excitement surrounding the possibilities for Northwest Stadium’s future, there is real risk that attention, resources, and political will could be siphoned away from the far more transit-connected sites, such as the CHARM District and Morgan Boulevard. Despite the County’s framing of Northwest Stadium as part of the “Blue/Silver Line Corridor,” the reality is that the stadium site is a full mile away from the nearest Metro station. That’s not walkable access by any reasonable standard.

To be sure, creative future planning — such as for an inner-Beltway light rail extension from New Carrollton to National Harbor — could one day make Northwest Stadium a viable TOD site. But in the present day, Prince George’s County has an ample number of empty Metro station areas that need attention — along the Blue/Silver Line corridor and elsewhere. We must be cautious not to let the glamour of a “big project” overshadow the painstaking but necessary work of neighborhood-building around our existing Metro stations.

A Call for Balanced Investment

Northwest Stadium should not become the County’s “white whale”—an emblem of misplaced ambition that consumes all the resources intended for broader community revitalization. Redeveloping Northwest Stadium is important, but it must be balanced against the urgent need to invest where we have the greatest existing assets: our Metro stations.

The Northwest Stadium area should be prepped for future development (demolishing the stadium, re-greening the site for long-term soil stabilization, etc.), but actual redevelopment should not take place there until the nearby Metro stations are well on their way to being fully built out. This is the essence of what it means to stage development and prioritize land use decisions in a way that leverages what exists now over future assets.

Make no mistake: Prince George’s County can pursue and plan for smart, long-term future redevelopment of the Northwest Stadium site while at the same time staying laser-focused on nearer-term TOD opportunities at Capitol Heights, Addison Road, Morgan Boulevard, and beyond.

Building the Future Where It Matters Most

A truly transit-oriented Prince George’s County — one that realizes the promises of walkability, equitable growth, sustainability, and vibrant, mixed-use neighborhoods — will be built not by chasing whales, but by doing the hard, necessary work at the actual Metro stations that already serve our communities.

Seizing this moment requires vision, patience, and a commitment to making choices that prioritize people and place over political flash. The County has a rare chance to show the region what smart, equitable growth looks like.

The future isn’t at a distant dream site. It’s waiting for us right now, at our existing Metro stations.

About the Author: Bradley Heard is a civil rights attorney, smart growth advocate, and the founder and president of Greater Capitol Heights Improvement Corporation, a nonprofit public charity dedicated to revitalizing, redeveloping, and reinvesting in central Prince George’s County, Maryland’s inner-Beltway communities.