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Good news for anyone who is a stake holder at National Harbor: Disney has purchased land at the back of the development to build a resort hotel.
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By Thomas Heath
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Walt Disney Co. has bought a 15-acre parcel at Prince George's County's sprawling National Harbor development, a shot in the arm for a project that opened with big ambitions a year ago, only to run headfirst into one of the sharpest economic declines in decades.
Disney plans to build a 500-room hotel resort on the parcel, providing another anchor for a 300-acre venture that seeks to rival the District as a conference and convention destination. National Harbor already includes six hotels; more than a dozen restaurants; and a giant conference center run by Gaylord Entertainment, owner of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
Business, though, has been slowed by the recession, and many of the 400 residences at National Harbor have not been sold. A Disney spokesman said the company will almost certainly go ahead with the project despite the economic climate, but the company did not provide a timetable.
"The addition of Disney as a partner to the National Harbor mix validates and fulfills the shared vision that we will be a world-class waterfront destination resort," said Milton V. Peterson, chairman of Peterson Cos., who has staked hundreds of millions of dollars on the harbor venture. "It's an extraordinary compliment in this economy."
Disney's move to Prince George's comes more than a decade after the company pulled out of a project to build a history-themed park, called Disney's America, on 3,000 acres of rolling farmland near the Manassas battlefield. Disney scrapped the project after months of opposition from politicians and citizens' groups
Peterson has been wooing Disney in the years since then. He even hosted Walt Disney president and chief executive Robert A. Iger on a visit to the site.
"I have been working on this Disney project with Milt for four years," said Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D). "Milt has been working on it for 10. There were times when it looked like it wouldn't happen, but the perseverance paid off."
Source: Washington Post. View Article.
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