HKS has been selected by the Washington Commanders to design a new $3.7 billion stadium in Washington, D.C. on the Anacostia River waterfront for the NFL franchise owned by Josh Harris.
The firm, with offices around the world, will transform the 180-acre, former Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Memorial Stadium site along the Anacostia River into a year-round destination for sports, entertainment, housing, and parks and recreation, HKS shared in a statement.
ESPN reported earlier this month that President Trump is vying to have the forthcoming complex named after himself. (The Washington Post is already taking guesses as to what that name would be: The Donald J. Trump Dome.) According to a senior White House staffer, the dedication is “what the president wants, and it will probably happen.”
The 64-year old RFK Memorial Stadium designed by George Leighton Dahl was approved for demolition in 2024, after sitting vacant for five years. Congress passed a house bill, the RFK Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act, that year to redevelop the site, which sits on National Park Service land. Full demolition is slated for completion this fall.
The new stadium will be funded by a public-private partnership, HKS noted in a press statement. The project is part of a 30-year, $10 billion masterplan to better connect Washington, D.C. with the Anacostia River, and revitalize the waterfront.
Renderings have not yet been shared, but HKS has been tasked with designing a roofed, 65,000-seat football stadium that will most certainly afford views of the Washington Monument, which the site is on axis with. The venue will host 200 activations per year, HKS said, such as sporting events, concerts, festivals, and major national celebrations.
Approximately 30 percent of the 180-acre site will be dedicated green space, HKS affirmed. Between 5,000 and 6,000 residential units will be built on the campus—up to 1,900 of which will be affordable. New youth sports facilities, and hotel and retail components will be developed as well.
“We’re reimagining what home-field advantage means by channeling the rhythm and the roar that made RFK so special and carrying that spirit forward in a bold new way,” HKS global venues director Mark Williams added. “The site, set within the monumental fabric of Washington, D.C., is one of the most extraordinary in professional sports, and we are honored to help write the next chapter in its history.”
Moving forward, HKS will host a series of community engagement meetings, and enter the concept and schematic design phases. Meetings are scheduled for this upcoming November and December.
Vertical construction is anticipated to begin in spring 2027 and full completion is scheduled for 2030.
