1:12Prince George\u2019s County votes to pass Sphere venue at National Harbor<\/p>\n
The Prince George\u2019s County Council gave final approval Tuesday to a deal committing the Maryland county to financing about $200 million to help bring Sphere to National Harbor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the final day of the council\u2019s legislative session, the 8-0 vote was rather anticlimactic, with the real drama happening behind the scenes in the weeks leading up to Tuesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n
County Executive Aisha Braveboy held a news conference to celebrate the passage immediately after the vote.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, Prince George\u2019s County enters the global stage and redefines itself as a destination for investment, entertainment, technology and innovation,\u201d Braveboy said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The council authorized up to $215 million in special obligation bonds to help build the 6,000-seat entertainment venue and the surrounding complex. The Sphere Entertainment Co. would gradually repay those bonds to the county.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis project represents a $1.3 billion dollar economic impact to Prince George\u2019s County and a $1.5 billion dollar impact to the state of Maryland,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cThis project is projected to generate $63 million annually in just property tax and sales and amusement tax alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
It also provides a boost to a county that\u2019s been stung in recent years by the Washington Commanders\u2019 plans to move back to D.C. and the closure of the Six Flags amusement park in Largo.\u00a0Braveboy said the new entertainment venue will pay off more than those entities ever did.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision to go after Sphere \u2014 to work to bring it to Prince George\u2019s County \u2014 will more than triple in tax revenue what we are losing with the Commanders leaving in a few years and the closure of Six Flags,\u201d Braveboy said.<\/p>\n
More than that, she said it will help the reputation of a county not known for being business friendly, though it took Braveboy and the governor\u2019s office to push the council to get to the \u201cyes\u201d vote that occurred Tuesday. In the early going a majority of the council was determined to require a Project Labor Agreement ensuring union labor as a condition for approval \u2014 a red line that the owners of Sphere would not cross.\u00a0It nearly killed the deal.<\/p>\n