JDLand.com (Ballpark and Beyond/Near Southeast DC Redevelopment)

Partial Roof Collapse at 1008 Third Street SE

DC Fire & EMS reported on their Twitter feed a few moments ago that the two-story apartment building at 1008 Third Street SE (one of the pre-redevelopment-era private residences in the neighborhood) has suffered a partial-roof collapse with cracks in the walls, and that an "evacuation zone" has been set up. Two folks over at 909 New Jersey and Capitol Hill Tower have passed along these pictures of the EMS response. I took this photo yesterday that shows the building, which is ~~four~~ three doors down from Cornercopia.

Another DCFireEMS tweet just sent gives additional details: "end of row unit appears to be separating - cracks, etc - 4 person evacuated so far - no injuries".

I will update here when I get more information, but follow my Twitter feed (also available on Facebook) for the fastest updates.

(PS: Just also want to pass along, not that it has anything to do with the above news, that tonight's scheduled ANC 6D meeting has been postponed until Wednesday.)

UPDATE: First off, my apologies, I had the wrong building, after getting confused by the phrase "apartment building." The house with the initial roof collapse is a little yellow rowhouse, the third one down from Cornercopia (now properly circled here and also seen a bit better in this 2004 photo). Unfortunately, an update from DC EMS says that the apartment building I had originally keyed on might have problems, too, with six residents there possibly to be evacuated. Third Street is closed between K and M.

2/8/10 7:42 PM | Comments (4)

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State of the Hood 2010

Jan. 2010 Photos

Google Map:
Near Southeast Crime Incidents, 2005 - Present

11th Street Bridges Updated Graphics

Some Day-After-the-Snow Photos

I was one of the 750,000 people wandering around DC with a camera today, and I trudged around a bit through Near Southeast to get photos of what it looked like the day after the Blizzard of 2010*, because it's always fun to go back during the next great snowstorm to compare how deep the drifts were. And because I needed the exercise before the Super Bowl Smorgasbord begins.

I'll eventually put the whole batch in the photo archive, but for now here's a Quick Gallery of my favorite images. I especially like the trapeze school tent, which looks like Ice Station Zebra. Also, you'll see a shot of the icicles along the roofline of 1100 New Jersey Avenue, which is posted more as a public service to remind people to watch out for falling debris. I almost got clocked when a chunk of ice fell off of 100 M, though I must admit it would have been poetic justice if I had met my maker thanks to the redevelopment of Near Southeast.

And, there's even a surprise contained in the gallery: my first photos of the "slinky" pedestrian bridge now under construction in the Park at the Yards. Let's give a big shout-out to the five-foot-high piles of snow in the parking lot just to the north of the bridge, which I climbed to be high enough to take photos over the fence:

See the gallery for these shots, and more. And, for people wondering, I can report that the surface parking lots in the Yards are pretty much clear of snow. Parking lot F at First and M hasn't been touched, and neither have lots T and U on Third Street. And Subway is open, but Five Guys isn't. Half Street hasn't been plowed, and K and L are pretty dicey. First, New Jersey, Third, and Fourth are plowed, but narrow and not down to the concrete. M isn't clear, but is mainly slushy. (Until tonight when it all freezes.)

(* Apologies, but I don't go in for all the silliness of hash tag titles for snowstorms. Call me old school. And cranky. You kids get off my lawn, while you're at it!)

2/7/10 2:49 PM | Comments (0)

Blizzard of '10 Open Thread

I don't intend to do much blogging over the next few days as the Blizzard of 2010 ramps up--there's only about 18,000 other places around the web where you can get all the general DC news, and I figure I don't need to repeat all of it here, though here's a Tommy Wells post with things residents might need to know. (I do operate under the assumption that this is not the only blog you folks read.) If there's some Near Southeast-related news, of course, I'll post.

But feel free to chat in the comments about what you're seeing. CVS running out of supplies? Traffic-be-damned sledding down the neighborhood's biggest hill (M from Seventh to Fifth)?

In the meantime, I'm in my own person Snow Tracking Center, living a weather geek's dream weekend.

More posts: site

2/5/10 3:50 PM | Comments (7)

More Details on the Marines' Space Needs

Voice of the Hill has just posted an informative article giving a lot more detail on the Marine Corps' plans to replace the aging barracks building "20" on the north side of the freeway at Eighth and I, along with their desire to build additional facilities, including a fire station, child development center, gym, pool, parking, meeting space, post office, basketball and tennis courts, an indoor parade field, and a new Marine Barracks Washington museum. All in all, the Marines are looking for 173,000 square feet of space, some of which would be accessible (they say) to Hill residents.

Possible locations they're looking at for the new barracks appear to be north of the freeway (and outside of my boundaries!), including the Potomac Gardens public housing project at 12th and G, SE, and the Tyler Elementary baseball field at 10th and I, SE, but they are also considering the Marine Corps Institute site within the Washington Navy Yard. Also shown on their maps as a possible site is Square 882 (across from the barracks annex built in 2004), currently Nats Parking lot W on the site of the old Capper Seniors building, but the Voice article says that the DC Housing Authority has taken that block off the table--I've been hearing that DCHA is close to securing financing for the mixed-income apartment building they intend to build on the north side of that block, and would possibly begin construction by the end of this year.

The article also says that the current owners of the Blue Castle, Madison Marquette, have expressed an interest in leasing space in the old trolley barn to the Marines.

The Marines' web site for the development project has been updated with the packet from last week's open house, an FAQ, and other materials. There apparently will be a series of community meetings, which are described by the FAQ thusly: "The current plan is for the first workshop (February) to focus on needs and goals, the second workshop (March) to focus on potential development sites, the third workshop (April) to focus on CIMP alternatives, and the fourth workshop (May) to focus on CIMP consensus elements. Additionally, a charrette focused on the CIMP way forward will be held in fall 2010." (If you're interested in these, you should plan to attend rather than waiting for a JDLand report--I tend to stay away from community meetings that are pure planning sessions, because, well, they drive me insane.)

And note that this is a *different* armed forces expansion plan from the one we heard about last week, where the Navy is looking for additional office space outside of the walls of the Navy Yard. Got to keep your service branches straight these days!

More posts: barracks, bluecastle, capper, 600m

2/1/10 6:54 PM | Comments (9)

Fireworks Testing at the Ballpark on Wednesday

From the MPD-1D mailing list: "The Nationals will be conducting firework tests on Wednesday, February 3rd starting at 7pm. DCFD and MPD will be monitoring and there will be some street closures around the stadium during this event that should be temporary."

More posts: justinscafe, velocity

1/26/10 10:23 AM | Comments (5)

Tidbits From the Past Few Days (Foreclosure, Marines, WMATA Cuts, 11th Street Bridges, 1015 Half)

Rounding up some new and Tweeted tidbits, now that I've recovered from cranking out the State of the Hood:

* (h/t "reader X") The second foreclosure sale held yesterday for the boarded-up apartment building and surrounding lots at Potomac, Ninth and L brought no bids above the $2 million starting point, so the properties will now return to the lender. An earlier auction back in October had brought a $2.461 million winning bid, but that deal fell through. The properties were originally bought by ICP Partners in 2006, along with the gray building at Eighth and Potomac, for $9 million.

* Via ANC 6B03 commissioner Norm Metzger, the Marines have created a web site for their "Community Integrated Master Plan." The site describes this planning process as evaluating "community-military development partnering options" because "[t]here are unmet facility needs and security requirements at Marine Barracks Washington and a potential to meet common community and military needs through the process" and that their goal is "to use a coordinated planning process to create a win-win in meeting the development needs of the local community and Marine Corps." Now that that's cleared up, you can go to the open house they're having on Jan. 27 from 5 to 8 pm in the North Hall of Eastern Market, to "assist the planning team in identifying issues, concerns, and potential opportunities for military-community development partnering."

* One of many service reductions proposed by WMATA to help close their FY2010 budget gap is to shut down one of the two entrances to the Navy Yard metro station on weekends. (They don't say which one.) The public hearing on their various proposals is Jan. 27 at 5:30 pm. UPDATE: From Michael Perkins, in the comments, it would be the west entrance, at Half and M. I wonder if this would only be when there are no stadium events?

* Via the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce's Twitter feed, there will apparently be one more Lower 8th Street visioning session, on February 22. After this final session, the group will forward its recommendations to the Office of Planning on what sort of development should be emphasized for these blocks south of the freeway.

* In Sunday's Post, Dr. Gridlock took a look at the 11th Street Bridges project, telling drivers what to expect as the construction unfolds, and that the "new bridges will forge a link between Maryland, the District and Virginia that has been missing since the original highway plan for the District was abandoned decades ago. And it will create a new link between neighborhoods on both sides of the Anacostia while relieving them of some of the commuter traffic that spills onto local streets."

* As part of the start of work on the bridges, a raze permit application has been filed to demolish the old red brick buildings between the current bridges that housed the Anacostia Community Boathouse, whose operations are now moving up-river to a temporary (maybe permanent) home at the Anacostia Marina.

* A little time spent trolling through public records shows that within the past month a bunch of the liens brought against Opus East when they liquidated and stopped work on 1015 Half Street have been settled. No indications from the new owner (Douglas Wilson Companies) as to when construction might restart, despite their statements back in October that it would be happening soon.

More posts: 8th st., 816-20 potomac, barracks, metro, 11th st. bridges, 1015half, boathouse row, square 697

1/21/10 10:35 AM | Comments (6)

2010 State of the Hood: Looking Back, and Ahead (and Updated Residential Occupancy Numbers, Too)

It's become a tradition for me to do a yearly overview of what's happened in Near Southeast over the preceding 12 months, and what the next 12 months are looking like, and in my typically understated way, I've dubbed it "the State of the Hood." This year's missive is now posted, and while the expectation would be that 2009 was a whole lot of nothing, there were more milestones of note than perhaps it seemed--two residential buildings and one office building were finished, the first residents moved into Capitol Quarter, water taxis and Circulators arrived, Cornercopia opened, and work began on the new 11th Street Bridges. There were less auspicious events, too, with construction being halted on two projects, foreclosures hitting various commercial properties and private homes, and the drying up of the "development pipeline." But there's still a few new things coming in 2010, like the Park at the Yards and Justin's Cafe.

Whether you're new to the neighborhood, or an old hand, I hope you'll take a few minutes to plow through the whole thing. (And maybe even read the old ones, too, to relive the insane years of 2006, 2007, and 2008.)

As part of putting the SOTH together, I got the updated residential occupancy numbers from the BID--they say that nearly 2,800 people now live in the "Capitol Riverfront." Here's the breakdown of leasing/sales percentages for the multi-unit buildings:

Rentals
Onyx		95.5% leased, 94% occupied (250 of 266 units occupied)
Axiom		91% leased, 89% occupied (219 of 246)
Jefferson		77% leased, 76% occupied (340 of 448)
909 New Jersey		82% leased, 75% occupied (178 of 237)
400 M		100% leased and occupied (138 of 138)
Condos and Co-ops
Capitol Hill Tower (Co-op)		83% sold and occupied (285 of 344)
Velocity		32% sold, 8% occupied (16 of 200)
Capitol Quarter		82% sold, 28% occupied (32 of 113) (ownership units, 56 still under construction)

(Note that Capitol Quarter's numbers are a little behind the others, so these are higher now as the move-ins continue)

More posts: site

1/19/10 1:22 PM | Comments (11)

Happy Anniversary (Version 7.0)

I'm starting to feel like the aged relative pulling out the slide projector and retelling stories as the kids roll their eyes, but I do always feel the need to stop and recognize January 19, since it was on this date in 2003 that I forced my husband to drive around the neighborhood south of the Southeast Freeway while I snapped photos (crooked and poorly framed) of this little-known neighborhood that supposedly was starting to be targeted for redevelopment. Then I tossed them up on my personal web site mainly so that my parents could check them out, not ever imagining that it was the first step toward creating the obsessive-compulsive monstrosity that now rules my life.

Definitely take a moment to browse through the photos from that chilly Sunday seven years ago, to see the buildings that are gone as well as some that are still here (hello, trash transfer station!). Enough time has passed that some of the vistas--like this one of the boarded up rowhouses that stood until 2006 where the lobby of 909 New Jersey now sits--are now completely alien to the many new residents who have arrived in Near Southeast in the last two years. These photos also bring home what I feel is as important a part of JDLand.com as the never-ending stream of tiny tidbits of news, and that's the keeping alive of the history of this neighborhood, letting newcomers see what their surroundings looked like not all that long ago, before the city decided it was time for the area to get a makeover and before it was even considered a remote possibility that the Montreal Expos would be brought to DC and be given a shiny new stadium on South Capitol Street.

This anniversary is also always a good time to thank all of you who wander by and read my ramblings and look at my photos, and who send along tips and rumors, because there's no way I'd still be keeping the site going if I didn't feel the energy coming back from the folks who live and work in Near Southeast or who just find its redevelopment oddly fascinating. I will admit that much of 2009 was tough for me as I dealt with a persistent bout of flagging enthusiasm, but I feel like the doldrums have finally passed, and hope to keep chugging along for the foreseeable future.

Check back later today for my other January 19 ritual: the State of the Hood!

(Note to Mom and Dad: See, I told you that ditching journalism school and getting my degree in history would work out okay.)

More posts: site

1/19/10 7:59 AM | Comments (3)

WeLoveDC Profiles Near Southeast

The WeLoveDC blog is highlighting Near Southeast today in its Where We Live series, and gives a pretty good overview of the history and current state of the neighborhood, which I would say even if they weren't quoting me and saying all sorts of nice things about JDLand!

(And, as an aside, "Near Southeast" and the "Capitol Riverfront" are actually slightly different areas, with Near Southeast being a subset of "the Front." The BID's boundaries include Buzzard Point in Southwest, an area just past my western borderline, the South Capitol Street median. My firm desire to *not* expand my zone keeps me tied to "Near Southeast" as my coverage area.)

More posts: site

1/15/10 2:37 PM | Comments (1)

Lots on Potomac/9th/L Back Up for Auction

(thanks to reader C for the tip) If you are desperate to own the nine lots along Potomac Avenue, Ninth, and L that were foreclosed on earlier this year, you've got a second shot. They were picked up at auction in October for $2.461 million, but apparently that sale has fallen through, because the lots are once again on the Alex Cooper Auctioneers web site, scheduled to be auctioned again on January 21. The properties were owned by ICP Partners, who defaulted on a $2.3 million loan in 2009. ICP tried hard earlier this year to drum up interest in these lotsplus the gray building at Eighth and Potomac that houses Quiznos (which is not part of this foreclosure), after a previous sale attempt in 2008 went nowhere. ICP paid $9 million for all 10 properties in 2006.