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New DC Water HQ ('19)
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Virginia Ave. Tunnel ('19)
99 M ('18)
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1221 Van ('18)
District Winery ('17)
Insignia on M ('17)
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Camden South Cap. ('13)
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225 Virginia/200 I ('12)
Foundry Lofts ('12)
1015 Half Street ('10)
Yards Park ('10)
Velocity Condos ('09)
Teague Park ('09)
909 New Jersey Ave. ('09)
55 M ('09)
100 M ('08)
Onyx ('08)
70/100 I ('08)
Nationals Park ('08)
Seniors Bldg Demo ('07)
400 M ('07)
Douglass Bridge Fix ('07)
US DOT HQ ('07)
20 M ('07)
Capper Seniors 1 ('06)
Capitol Hill Tower ('06)
Courtyard/Marriott ('06)
Marine Barracks ('04)
 
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I've just added to my Calendar of Events the March schedule of lectures, concerts, and other events at the Navy Yard's Naval Historical Center. The schedule for their monthly Naval History Seminar has been released through June, as well. If any of these events interest you, be sure to contact the museum at least 24 hours in advance so that your entry into Fortress: Navy Yard can be assured.

More posts: Navy Yard
 

Councilmember David Catania's office has posted the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission's January report on the new Nationals ballpark; it's a pretty detailed and wide-ranging document on where all aspects of the stadium project stand, I definitely recommend taking a peek. I have been so very remiss in not pointing to these in the past, but Catania's office has done a good job of archiving these reports and other ballpark-related documents, and I promise to keep up with them in the future. Bottom line? On time and on budget. (Though it's possible Mr. Catania may draw a different conclusion.)

More posts: Nationals Park
 

The latest weekly permit report from the DC Historic Preservation Office shows that a raze permit application has been filed for 601 L Street, SE, which is the address of the old Capper Seniors apartment building. This is not a huge surprise, I've been hearing that the plans are for this building to be demolished by the end of this year (mainly so that the lot can be cleared in time for Opening Day 2008 so that it can be used for baseball parking). Some of its residents have already been moved to the newly opened Capper Seniors #1, and the rest should be moved by the end of spring into Capper Seniors #2. It will be quite something to watch that building come down.

 

Just a reminder that tomorrow (Wednesday) there is an Anacostia Waterfront Corporation Public Board Meeting; its agenda includes a presentation and public comments on the new AWC Draft Environmental Standards and "Workforce Intermediary Services plans; it will be at St. Matthew's Baptist Church (1105 New Jersey Ave.) at 5:30 pm.
Additionally, there was supposed to be a status hearing tomorrow on the liquor license application by the owners of the old Star Market (the "little red building") at 156 L Street; but I'm told by the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration that an agreement has been reached by the applicants and ANC 6D (which was protesting the application), so the status hearing was removed from the calendar. (Attempts to get additional information from the property's owner and from ANC Commissioner Bob Siegel have been unsuccessful at this point.) Perhaps this means we'll be seeing a resolution on this project soon.
 

An ad began appearing late last week (h/t Richard Layman) for "Ballpark Apartments", trumpeting income-limited units with "Views of the water and monuments/shopping and dining at Barracks Row/Metro Access at Navy Yard Station/Catch a Game at the New Ballpark." The web site gives no clue as to where they're located, and the contact phone number is just a recording. I have heard nothing about any project like this up to now, and all attempts to figure out who is behind it have come up short. But some of the hints within the ads--coming this spring, income-limited--seem to point toward the conversion/ renovation of an existing property rather than new construction. I suppose It could be remotely possible that this is an ad for one of the rumored Southeast Federal Center projects or new Capper/Carrollsburg apartment buildings planned for 2nd Street (the ad is using a portion of one of the Capper images, but perhaps the Ballpark Apts. folks just assumed no one would figure that out), but those certainly aren't coming this spring, and they wouldn't be only income-limited units. And within the actual borders of Near Southeast (between South Capitol, the freeway, and the river), there's maybe three properties I can think of that could possibly be this project, but none of them have "water views" (maybe one of them could conceivably be marketed as having "monument views")--heck, "water and monument views" could also mean Southwest, or even Anacostia. I've put out some feelers to see if I can dig up more, but it would not surprise me at this point if the marketers are perhaps playing a bit loose with the description of the project (after all, if it were really close to the ballpark, wouldn't you want to say exactly where it is?). If anyone has any scoop, drop me a line.
 

In addition to the latest stadium photos that I posted on Saturday, there's also a smattering of new photos on the 20 M Street and Capper Seniors #2 pages, and even the Monument Half Street page (showing the hole in the ground starting to be dug as part of the Navy Yard Metro station upgrade). I also tossed in a few updated photos of the 4th and K and 4th and L intersections into the Photo Archive as well.

 

Another gorgeous Saturday, so I've posted an updated batch of photos in the Nats Ballpark Construction Gallery, including shots of the new roof canopy now starting to be installed.
More posts: Nationals Park
 

Last night was the public hearing and Capitol Gateway Overlay Review for 1325 South Capitol Street, a 244-unit residential building planned by Camden Development for the northwest corner of South Capitol and O streets, right across the street from the new baseball stadium. First, I will admit right off that I am only grudgingly following this project (I still optimally want my coverage area to end in the South Capitol Street median), but I'm not sure that excuses the sordid truth that, while watching the webcast of the hearing, I kind of, well, um, nodded off. Multiple times. So apologies that what follows does not rise to the normal level of JDLand OCD Detail.
In general, the ZC commissioners were favorable toward the project and were also cognizant that 1325 is a bit of a test case in terms of being the first structure going up on South Capitol Street under all the new rules; they were also quite happy to see a residential project on South Capitol, seemingly expecting that the street would only be drawing in office developments. There was some concern that the ground floor level of 1325 is not completely retail--there will be a two-story retail component on the O Street corner, but the rest of the first floor will include a gym and other areas for residents; but these areas will have the same sort of glassed-in look to make it appear "active." There was also discussion of the west side of the building, which abuts a number of townhouses and will be easily seen when looking eastward from the neighborhood, that because of this layout it can't really be considered the "back of the building", and so the commissioners want more "articulation" on that side. Also, the project will not being applying for LEED certification, but the commissioners want to hear more about what "green" steps the project will be taking. There was also some discussion about the Inclusionary Zoning (i.e., affordable housing) components, and whether the project can restrict those units to the lower floors.
If all requested additional submissions are made in time, a ZC Special Public Meeting will be scheduled for March 20 for an initial vote. (Perhaps I won't be as sleepy on that night.) It is expected that construction would begin sometime this summer, with delivery in summer 2009.
 

I've received word that all permits have at last been secured for 801 Virginia Avenue, the 40,000-sq-ft residential/retail/office project on the southeast corner of 8th and Virginia. It will have 17 residential units (condos), plus about 8,000 sq ft of office and retail space. The developers expect to begin construction within the next 90 days, with completion expected in summer 2008. More information is available on the this web site (geared toward selling the office/retail space)--marketing of the condos should begin "soon", I'm told.
More posts: 801va, 8th Street
 

Thanks to reader Scott for snagging this press release off the wires [links mine]: "Patriot Transportation Holding, Inc. announced today that its subsidiary, Florida Rock Properties, Inc. ("FRP"), continues to pursue its efforts to obtain approval of a final planned unit development application for its Washington, D.C. property located on the banks of the Anacostia River across Potomac Avenue from the new baseball stadium being constructed for the Washington Nationals. In response to comments recently received from members of the District of Columbia Zoning Commission, FRP is seeking to refocus the proposed project to respond to the concerns raised. FRP believes that its proposed project, which had previously received preliminary approval, will complement the new stadium and will contribute to the overall redevelopment of the baseball stadium district. At this time, Patriot is uncertain when the Zoning Commission will act finally on the FRP application or what action the Commission may take." If you read on, you'll even get a nice little explanation as to how Florida Rock Properties, Florida Rock Industries, Patriot, and Vulcan Materials are connected (or not connected). It's like they wrote it just for me! For background, read these previous posts.
More posts: Florida Rock, zoning
 

Wasting no time after the permits were approved last week, JPI has within the past few days put up a construction crane now towering over the Southeast Freeway at 70 I Street, where the digging down for the company's 448-unit residential project must be pretty close to done. I imagine there will eventually be another crane for 100 I Street (the companion 246-unit building) within a few months.
A few blocks to the south at the Nationals ballpark, the roof canopy has started to be installed--they've even repositioned the Stadium Construction Cam to give a good view of the work. Before long, the lighting that will sit beneath the canopy will start to be put in place as well.
But be careful while you're wandering around looking upward at these new sites--some monster potholes have erupted as the temperatures have warmed. If you do the circuit around the stadium site, this is your fair warning to drive incredibly slowly until the holes get filled in, because otherwise your car is a-gonna-get swallowed.

More posts: 70/100 I, jpi, Nationals Park
 

Tomorrow night (Feb. 22), the DC Zoning Commission is having a public hearing on Case 06-41, a Capitol Gateway Overlay Review for 1325 South Capitol Street, the planned 244-unit residential building at South Capitol and O streets SW, right across from the ballpark. The ZC hearing is available via live webcast. Apparently this project was presented at the Feb. 12 ANC 6D meeting, but since the ANC for four of the last five months has been unable or unwilling to send out its agendas before the meetings or post them on their web site (check out those dates!), I wasn't able to post a heads up that this project was going to be discussed.
On the other hand, the agenda has already been released for the Feb. 28 Anacostia Waterfront Corporation Public Board Meeting, where one of the main items will be a presentation and public comments on the AWC's Draft Environmental Standards, and also a presentation on their new Workforce Intermediary Services. See the agenda for time and place and how to participate.

 

From the Examiner: "An Illinois-based environmental group plans to spearhead a large-scale environmental cleanup in the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers in late March.The Capital River Relief cleanup effort, launched by Chad Pregracke of the Living Lands and Waters nonprofit agency in cooperation with a host of local environmental groups, will work to remove trash from the polluted rivers waters starting March 28. This year's efforts seeks to beat the 40 to 50 tons the cleanup pulled from the rivers last year. The program, which lasts until April 22, calls on hundreds of volunteers to scour the shoreline of the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers picking up trash that will be stacked onto a 110-by-30 foot barge which stores the bottles, bowling balls, refrigerators and coconuts that Pregracke said volunteers have found over the last three annual cleanups. By the end of the nearly monthlong event, the trash on the barge resembles an aluminum popcorn bag after heating on a stove, ready to burst, Pregracke said." For more information, see the Living Lands and Waters web site and the Capital River Relief site (though it still just shows info from last year's cleanup). The Anacostia Watershed Society is said to be participating in the cleanup as well.
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Yesterday it was announced that Florida Rock Industries was acquired by Vulcan Materials for $4.6 billion in cash and stock (h/t to reader Mark). Like all good citizens of the 21st Century, my initial reaction was "Very nice, but how does this affect ME?" The Florida Rock property along the Anacostia River is actually owned by FRP Development (aka Florida Rock Properties, not the company just acquired by Vulcan) which is a subsidary not of Florida Rock Industries, but Patriot Transportation Holding Inc. Whaaa? Here's how it shakes out, according to the Patriot company profile at Reuters: "Florida Rock Properties, Inc. owns real estate, of which a substantial portion is under mining royalty agreements or leased to Florida Rock Industries, Inc. (FRI), a related party." You can get a feel for how these separate-but-related companies are intertwined by reading these transactions summaries. But to go back to the original question, of how the Vulcan Materials acqusition of FRI might impact the Anacostia riverfront Florida Rock project--I have no idea, but will watch for tidbits and hints.
UPDATE: I would have hoped this went without saying--no, this story is NOT reporting that the Florida Rock site across from the stadium was sold for $4.6 billion. It's a story about big companies acquiring other big companies. And that one of those big companies has interests in a site in Near Southeast.
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More posts: Florida Rock
 

For those of you who subscribe to my Near Southeast RSS feed at the old URL (ending in nearse-rss.xml), that feed is being shut down as of, well, now. You'll need to point to my official Feedburner feed in order to keep receiving updates via RSS. Sorry for the hassle, but this needed to be done....
More posts:
 

At this point I hate to even utter the phrase "parking garages," but I would be remiss if I didn't pass along the news that this week building permit applications were filed for 25 N Street and 75 N Street (and another one for both addresses together), which would be the address of the two lots on the north end of the stadium site where the garages are to be built. The applications really don't tell you anything, but it's certainly a sign that the garages are moving forward. In other building permit news, Monument Realty has gotten its shoring/sheeting/excavation permit approved for their big Half Street/Ballpark District project, and they tell me they expect to have the site cleared by early March. (Alas, you can't yet see this approved permit in my DC Gov't Building Permit feeds module, because that feed has apparently been taking some snow days this week.)
More posts: parking, Nationals Park
 

In other news from the same press release announcing the interim AWC CEO: "Yesterday, the District of Columbia, AWC and the JBG Companies signed a Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILOT) agreement to secure the development of the US Department of Transportation headquarters, a JBG-owned property. The PILOT will fund $140 million in infrastructure investments for the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative. The revenue stream from the agreement will be dedicated to support District issued bonds. These projects include: Southeast Federal Center, Anacostia Metro, Reservation 13, Ward 7 Waterfront, Marvin Gaye Park, [and the] Southwest Waterfront." See previous posts on this PILOT agreement here, here, and here.
That $140 million must be burning a hole in the AWC's pocket, because they've already posted an RFP for a Construction Manager for several AWC capital projects: "The total construction value for these activities is up to $140 million." There is a good tidbit buried in the accompanying press release, that AWC intends to break ground in 2007 on both Washington Canal Park and on the first phase of Diamond Teague Park, the planned 39,000-sq-ft public plaza at the terminus of First Street on the banks of Anacostia, nestled between Florida Rock, the Earth Conservation Corps, WASA, and the Nationals ballpark. (And who is Diamond Teague? Read this NOW With Bill Moyers transcript from 2004.)
 

A press release from the Mayor's office: "Today, with the support of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation (AWC) Board of Directors appointed Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Neil O. Albert to serve as interim president and chief executive officer of the AWC. The appointment follows Monday's resignation of Adrian G. Washington as president of the corporation, chartered in 2004 to revitalize land and communities along the Anacostia River." The press release goes on to say that some of Albert's duties, while Mayor Fenty "awaits Council review of both AWC and the National Capital Revitalization Corporation (NCRC) as well as the findings of a report analyzing alternative structures of the corporations", will be "examining the organization's structure, assessing staff and leadership positions, driving development initiatives, [and] reviewing AWC finances and budget." Hmmm....

 

Today's Washington Business Journal print edition (available online to subscribers only) addresses Monday's Zoning Commission decision to request large-scale changes to the Florida Rock development plan (which the WBJ had trumpeted merely a week ago as being on the cusp of approval), saying that the recommendations for a redesign "were news to the developer and the Anacostia Waterfront Corp., which has been involved in the project-planning process. 'We were astounded,' says David Briggs, FRP's representative and land-use attorney at Holland + Knight. FRP plans to meet with the District's Office of Planning to determine its next course of action. The Office of Planning is expected to reconnect [JD: recommend?] incorporating the commission's suggestions unless the developer wants to leave the site as is -- a concrete mixing and gravel storage area."
More posts: Florida Rock, zoning
 

Today's DC Register has published the final version of the text amendment (case 05-10) to the Capitol Gateway Overlay District zoning regulations that has been winding through the process since early 2005. From the order: "The amendments place limits on density transferred through combined deployments, extend the Zoning Commission review and approval process and design guidelines to additional properties within the boundaries of the Capitol Gateway ("GC") Overlay, and establish preferred retail and entertainment use requirements and regulations along First and Half Streets S.E. within the area. In addition, the rules impose, within the Overlay, a 15-foot setback and a 1:1 upper story step-back above a height of 110 feet for buildings fronting South Capitol Street; an upper stories set-back for building[s] fronting Half Street S.E.; and a 1:1 upper story step-back above a height of 110 feet for buildings fronting Potomave Avenue S.E. and S.W. The rules also provide for referral to the National Capital Planning Commission of all applications for the review of buildings and uses on lots that abut South Capitol Street." Whew! The CG Overlay has yet to be posted in its entirety on the Zoning Commission web site (see that "Reserved" for Chapter 11?), but in the interim I've cobbled together the various ZC orders and other documents (we're still waiting on the publication of the final order for ZC case 06-25, which extended the CG Overlay boundary across South Capitol Street) into a single sleep-inducing document. You can also read my explanatory treatise from a few months back on this Overlay and its companion, the Southeast Federal Center Overlay.
 
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