December 13, 2005
D.C. CFO: RFK site cheaper
Throw a couple more cost estimates on the fire! D.C. CFO Natwar Gandhi has issued his latest price tag for the Washington Nationals stadium, and there's good news and bad news: It's not the $714 million that was reported last week, but it is $667 million, well over D.C.'s $589 million budget, and 51% higher than the $440 million that was originally proposed 15 months ago. Gandhi further reported that a new facility on the site of the current RFK Stadium would cost just $606 million, even after adding in $31 million in contingency funds.
It's all likely to be a topic of heated debate at today's D.C. council hearing on the Nats lease, which is now underway and streaming online. Already this morning, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams has called the ballpark plan a "multi-trillion-zillion-dollar development." Guess that's one way of avoiding charges you're lowballing costs.
