Flickr / Eddie Welker

On Wednesday, the House Oversight Committee passed legislation that would extend the city’s lease long-term and allow the District to redevelop the RFK Stadium site–and potentially lure the Commanders back to the District. The next step is a vote in the full House of Representatives.

Local officials have long wanted more control of the roughly 190-acre site just east of the river near the Stadium-Armory Metro. But city officials say that even if D.C. gets long-term control of the federally owned land, there remains a years-long path before anything new is built on the site of the crumbling old stadium.

The bipartisan RFK Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act was first introduced by co-sponsors Rep. James Comer (R- Kentucky) and Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D – Washington, D.C.) in July. The legislation provides for a 99-year lease with fewer restrictions on how the site can be redeveloped.

Discussion during a subcommittee hearing on the bill on Tuesday and a markup session Wednesday showed wide bipartisan support for the legislation.

While the bill would not allow D.C. to buy the land outright as some city officials initially hoped, it includes two crucial provisions that hand over more authority and could potentially be the first step in bringing the Commanders back to the District.

The bill would extend D.C.’s lease with the federal government for another 99 years at no cost to the city. It would also allow the lease to be extended at a later...

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