The path is clear for Sphere Entertainment Co. to build a 6,000-person entertainment venue at National Harbor, a district right outside the nation’s capital.
The Prince George’s County Council on Tuesday approved a legislative package authorizing incentives and financial obligations from the county for the project to get started. The sphere would be about a third of the size of Las Vegas’ venue. It’s set to rise 302 feet and span 389 feet wide, with an interior display spanning 3.7 acres.
The county council voted unanimously to approve up to $130M in bonds for the development — part of a larger, nearly $200M state, local and private financing incentive package. And it approved a Sphere Community Impact Fund, which would reroute at least 15% of the revenue generated by the venue to the surrounding community.
The venue would provide a revenue source for a county that’s suffered several recent economic setbacks and has historically lacked the same investment as its D.C.-area neighbors. Bowie’s Six Flags shuttered in November after being open since 1999. The county is slated to lose the Washington Commanders, who play at Landover’s Northwest Stadium, with their planned move to D.C. And the FBI’s planned headquarters move from D.C. to Greenbelt, Maryland, is in limbo as it goes through the courts.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Emily Wishingrad over at Bisnow
