Richmond and the Redskins agreed to allow the city EDA to cease annual cash payments to the team as its training camp nears the end of its contract. (Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Center)
The Richmond Economic Development Authority on Thursday unanimously approved the elimination of the required annual cash contribution the city has had to make to the Redskins since the deal was struck in 2013.
The change waives the EDA’s outstanding 2019 payment balance of about $161,800, and there won’t be any cash payment this year, either. This year is the last of the eight-year training camp contract.
The authority already had paid about $386,000 as part of its 2019 allocation. Officials from the city and the Redskins discussed the amendment to the agreement for several months, and the deal isn’t specifically related to the coronavirus pandemic, said Leonard Sledge, EDA director.
The agreement comes as the city seeks to marshal resources to help businesses and residents get through the disruptions of the coronavirus pandemic. The EDA will use the funds saved by the deal to back an emergency small business loan program it approved Thursday, according to a city news release.
The authority and the team agreed there still will be a 2020 local contribution of $500,000. However, this year’s allocation won’t involve any cash. Instead, it will be in goods and services, and any shortfall won’t constitute a default, according to the agreement the authority voted to approve.
As per the agreement signed in 2013, the EDA agreed to contribute $500,000 annually to the Redskins in both in-kind resources and cash to cover costs associated with the team moving the training camp to town.
The team has the option to extend the partnership, Sledge said.
City Council approved a plan to finance the Redskins’ facility located behind the Science Museum of Virginia in 2012. The roughly $10 million project involved a large investment from Bon Secours. The deal also gave Bon Secours relative control of the former Westhampton School site in the city’s West End, where an apartment and medical office development is in the works.
Richmond and the Redskins agreed to allow the city EDA to cease annual cash payments to the team as its training camp nears the end of its contract. (Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Center)
The Richmond Economic Development Authority on Thursday unanimously approved the elimination of the required annual cash contribution the city has had to make to the Redskins since the deal was struck in 2013.
The change waives the EDA’s outstanding 2019 payment balance of about $161,800, and there won’t be any cash payment this year, either. This year is the last of the eight-year training camp contract.
The authority already had paid about $386,000 as part of its 2019 allocation. Officials from the city and the Redskins discussed the amendment to the agreement for several months, and the deal isn’t specifically related to the coronavirus pandemic, said Leonard Sledge, EDA director.
The agreement comes as the city seeks to marshal resources to help businesses and residents get through the disruptions of the coronavirus pandemic. The EDA will use the funds saved by the deal to back an emergency small business loan program it approved Thursday, according to a city news release.
The authority and the team agreed there still will be a 2020 local contribution of $500,000. However, this year’s allocation won’t involve any cash. Instead, it will be in goods and services, and any shortfall won’t constitute a default, according to the agreement the authority voted to approve.
As per the agreement signed in 2013, the EDA agreed to contribute $500,000 annually to the Redskins in both in-kind resources and cash to cover costs associated with the team moving the training camp to town.
The team has the option to extend the partnership, Sledge said.
City Council approved a plan to finance the Redskins’ facility located behind the Science Museum of Virginia in 2012. The roughly $10 million project involved a large investment from Bon Secours. The deal also gave Bon Secours relative control of the former Westhampton School site in the city’s West End, where an apartment and medical office development is in the works.
Oh how nice, after wasting $10 million we never got back on a loan that was supposed to be paid off by revenue from the facility and events AND after paying over a million in cash in total since 2013 to a billionaire’s play group for their annual visits, in the final year and in the middle of epidemic, they decide yeah more cash is not needed. How generous. A bad deal and now voting/negotiating behind closed door in a crisis where public meetings are essential banned for a deal this controversial shows lthe City still doesn’t get it. No… Read more »
Dan Snyder owner of Redskins worth $2.6 Billion. Sounds like city of Richmond got fleeced as usual .
Maybe Richmond can dump the savings into another bicycle race that shuts the city down and costs taxpayers even more money. Or perhaps they can hand it over to an out of state brewery looking to move into the area.
Can’t wait to see the new and exciting ways city leadership will come up with to burn these newfound dollars.