As District lawmakers weigh the proposed deal to bring D.C.’s NFL team back to the city and build a new stadium, the team is shoring up its development ranks.
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The Commanders have hired Matt Haas, previously of JBG Smith, as the franchise’s head of construction, Haas announced on LinkedIn last week.
In the description of his role, he wrote: “Responsible for construction of the new stadium, support facilities, and surrounding developments.”
Haas had been head of construction at JBG Smith since 2019. He was promoted from the title of senior vice president to executive vice president at the beginning of the year.
He is no stranger to developing placemaking sports venues in the District. He was on the construction team that developed Nationals Park as a 33-year-old project executive for Clark Construction in 2008.
“Matt’s contributions have helped shape key elements of JBG SMITH’s growth and success,” a JBG Smith spokesperson told Bisnow in an email. “We are proud to see him take on a new challenge with the Washington Commanders and wish him all the best.”
The Commanders also last month hired Ben Spiritos as director of development. Spiritos, who updated his LinkedIn profile with the new role, also had a stint at JBG as a development analyst between 2015 and 2019, according to his profile. He most recently worked as director of acquisitions at Atlas Capital Group.
A spokesperson for the Commanders confirmed both hires but didn't provide a comment.
The Commanders now have at least three JBG veterans. At the start of this year, the team brought on Andy VanHorn — who oversaw JBG’s development projects for more than 15 years until his departure in 2021 — as head of real estate.
The NFL franchise is adding local real estate expertise as it waits for D.C. to finalize its deal for the proposed $3.8B stadium project.
The team has agreed to put up $2.7B for the project, but D.C. hasn’t yet given final approval for the $1.1B that Mayor Muriel Bowser is proposing to build out the stadium’s infrastructure and parking.
The council is still weighing the proposal. It voted to advance D.C.'s portion of the funding in a first budget vote Monday. It still needs to give the funding final approval as well as approve the deal language through a separate bill.
At a Bisnow event last month, Bowser and VanHorn urged the council to move swiftly to approve the deal and the funding. The football team envisions moving into the new stadium by 2030, meaning initial construction would need to start in the first half of next year, VanHorn said.
Under the terms of the deal, the Commanders would also serve as the master developer of the approximately 6M SF of housing-centric development envisioned to surround the stadium.
UPDATE, JULY 14, 8 P.M. ET: This article has been updated to reflect the D.C. Council’s vote on the stadium funding Monday.
