JBG SMITH Releases Statement on Potomac Yard Entertainment District Proposal

JBG SMITH (NYSE: JBGS) today issued a statement on the Potomac Yard Entertainment District.

Statement from Matt Kelly, CEO, JBG SMITH to stakeholders:

Dear JBG SMITH Stakeholders:

In December, we announced plans to develop an entertainment district in Potomac Yard, anchored by the Washington Capitals, Washington Wizards and the Monumental Sports & Entertainment corporate headquarters. Today it was announced that discussions between Monumental, Alexandria and the Commonwealth of Virginia have been terminated. While we had made great strides in advancing the project’s transportation plan, overall design and financing structure, the opportunity was derailed largely due to partisan politics and, most troubling, the influence of special interests and potential pay-to-play influences within the Virginia legislature.

This was a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a world-class arena and entertainment district at Potomac Yard and to realize the vision of that community as a dense, mixed-use neighborhood. We are thankful to those who made the opportunity possible in the first place, especially Monumental Sports. We are also thankful to our local partners, specifically the City of Alexandria and its City Council, Alexandria Economic Development Partnership, and the Governor’s office, and the many public supporters along the way who engaged in thoughtful dialogue about how to move this important opportunity forward.

Despite our best efforts, this project was unable to get a fair hearing on its merits with the Virginia Senate. It is now clear that our efforts may have been complicated and ultimately blocked, in part, by special interests seeking to move the Monumental arena to Tysons Corner and to combine it with a casino. The Washington Post and other outlets have reported on this scheme and the hundreds of thousands of dollars, enormous sums in Virginia politics, of political contributions associated with it – a large portion of which were directed to key senate leaders. When one follows the money, the implications are deeply troubling for Virginia and for the future of transparency in economic development pursuits, especially those that seek certainty through the now damaged MEI legislative process.

Beyond the arena, state and local governments will lose needed tax revenue, economic development credibility, and what could have been Virginia’s last best chance to land a professional sports franchise for at least a generation. Economic development and growth thrive on transparency and predictability. The scheming and special interests that plagued this opportunity in the Virginia legislature will no doubt cause future employers and the next Monumental to question whether their opportunity will get a fair hearing.

This opportunity also brought with it the potential to add tens of thousands of jobs and needed housing units, including 1,000 units of affordable housing preservation in Alexandria which we had pledged as part of the arena proposal. Traffic and transportation investments, including possible Metro funding, are also likely gone. Instead, the existing surface-parked, single story shopping center on the site will remain through the remaining 20-year term of the Target lease and development on the remaining land will likely be far less dense. To say we are disappointed is an understatement; we are disgusted with the back-room-dealing and opaque scheming that took place as this played out.

With this chapter now closed, we will continue to pursue alternate uses and amenities to further develop our sites adjacent to the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus. We will also continue to work tirelessly to attract business and customers to the Commonwealth of Virginia and the local communities in which we invest, and most importantly we will always conduct ourselves in a manner in which we and our stakeholders can be proud. We thank you for your continued trust and confidence.

About JBG SMITH

JBG SMITH owns, operates, invests in, and develops mixed-use properties in high growth and high barrier-to-entry submarkets in and around Washington, DC, most notably National Landing. Through an intense focus on placemaking, JBG SMITH cultivates vibrant, amenity-rich, walkable neighborhoods throughout the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Approximately 75.0% of JBG SMITH's holdings are in the National Landing submarket in Northern Virginia, which is anchored by four key demand drivers: Amazon's new headquarters; Virginia Tech's under-construction $1 billion Innovation Campus; the submarket’s proximity to the Pentagon; and JBG SMITH’s deployment of 5G digital infrastructure. JBG SMITH's dynamic portfolio currently comprises 14.2 million square feet of high-growth office, multifamily, and retail assets at share, 99% of which are Metro-served. It also maintains a development pipeline encompassing 8.8 million square feet of mixed-use, primarily multifamily, development opportunities. JBG SMITH is committed to the operation and development of green, smart, and healthy buildings and plans to maintain carbon neutral operations annually. For more information on JBG SMITH please visit www.jbgsmith.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained herein may constitute “forward-looking statements” as such term is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. They represent our intentions, plans, expectations, and beliefs and are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties. Consequently, the future results of JBG SMITH Properties (“JBG SMITH” or the “Company”) may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. You can find many of these statements by looking for words such as “approximate”, “believes”, “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “would”, “may”, or similar expressions in this press release. We also note the following forward-looking statements: lease terms for Target and the surrounding shopping center; future development plans in Potomac Yard adjacent to Virginia Tech Innovation Campus; future transportation investments in the region; lost tax revenue. Many of the factors that will determine the outcome of these and our other forward-looking statements, entitlements, and plans are beyond our ability to control or predict. These factors include, among others: adverse economic conditions and the political climate in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, the timing of and costs associated with development and property improvements, financing commitments, and general competitive factors. For further discussion of factors that could materially affect the outcome of our forward-looking statements and other risks and uncertainties, see “Risk Factors” and the Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 and other periodic reports the Company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For these statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. We do not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to our forward-looking statements after the date hereof.

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