Saturday, November 26, 2011

Disney backs out of National Harbor Project

For the second time, Disney backs out from a project in Virginia, the first time was in the 1990's when they decided to give up the Disney's America theme park in Prince William County after many in the community objected.

And today Maryland news announced that Disney decided they backs out of the "National Harbor" project and canceled plans to build a 500-room resort hotel at National Harbor, dealing a blow to an ambitious project that is seen as an integral part of the economic future of Prince George’s County. More details about this:

"Disney had plans for a huge resort hotel at National Harbor, and even bought the land for the project back in 2009. It's a prime spot up on a hill that overlooks the rest of the development. It also has a view of the Potomac and even the Washington Monument.

But now, Disney says the timing "isn't right to proceed with another new project of this scale."

"We remain focused on new Disney experiences currently in the pipeline, which include a new cruise ship, a massive expansion of Fantasyland at Walt Disney World ... our expansion of Hong Kong Disneyland and our new Shanghai Disney Resort," Disney spokeswoman Kristin Nolt Wingard said in a statement.

National Harbor developer Jon Peterson says the decision is disappointing, and he will look to buy the land back so it can be used for something else.

Despite the disappointment, he says there are still plans to break ground over the next year on a big Tanger Outlet center and a new mixed use apartment complex.

Prince George's County officials are also dismayed by the news.

"The Baker administration is disappointed, but it wont stop us from continuing to aggressively pursue other development opportunities," says Scott Peterson, spokesperson for County Executive Rushern Baker.

The county will use the new development fund introduced this year to help bring other projects to the county, Peterson says".


Want to know more about this Disney project that will never exist? Then jump to Werner's article on Mice Age HERE.

Text: copyright Maryland News

1 comment:

  1. Marco Antonio GarciaNovember 28, 2011 at 8:55 AM

    Does Disney also want to become a big hotel chain not linked with Theme Parks, like Hilton, for instance?

    For me, as I'm a DVC member, this would be excellent, but I'm afraid that the company may be over-stretching too much.

    ReplyDelete

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