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Thompson Hotel ('20)
West Half ('19)
Novel South Capitol ('19)
Yards/Guild Apts. ('19)
Capper/The Harlow ('19)
New DC Water HQ ('19)
Yards/Bower Condos ('19)
Virginia Ave. Tunnel ('19)
99 M ('18)
Agora ('18)
1221 Van ('18)
District Winery ('17)
Insignia on M ('17)
F1rst/Residence Inn ('17)
One Hill South ('17)
Homewood Suites ('16)
ORE 82 ('16)
The Bixby ('16)
Dock 79 ('16)
Community Center ('16)
The Brig ('16)
Park Chelsea ('16)
Yards/Arris ('16)
Hampton Inn ('15)
Southeast Blvd. ('15)
11th St. Bridges ('15)
Parc Riverside ('14)
Twelve12/Yards ('14)
Lumber Shed ('13)
Boilermaker Shops ('13)
Camden South Cap. ('13)
Canal Park ('12)
Capitol Quarter ('12)
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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11th and M Exxon Closing; Retail at 900 M?
Within the past few days there has been some news from the eastern end of the neighborhood (and thanks go out to the folks who live up that way for passing along the information). Here's what I've heard:
* The Exxon on the northwest corner of 11th and M will apparently be closing this week, having been sold. There's rumors of development of some sort planned for the site, so I'm trying to find out if there's any details available yet, and will post if and when I find something out. This is the last gas station in Near Southeast, joining the departed Exxons on South Capitol at I and K, the Sunoco at Half and M, and the BP Amoco at South Capitol and N. Nowhere left for me to track gas prices anymore!
* The low-slung building at 900 M Street, which apparently was once a Hudson automobile garage and most recently was home to a dialysis unit, is going to get a facelift to become a retail space, with most likely "three national tenants" who presumably would be seeing the many Navy Yard employees across the street as an enticing opportunity. I'm told the plan is to reintroduce the historic storefronts that this building apparently used to have, and designs have been presented to the Capitol Hill Restoration Society, ANC 6B's Planning and Zoning Committee, and the DC Preservation Office; I'm hoping to get some renderings soon. The current expectation is building permits for the exterior renovations will be applied for this summer.
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More posts: 900m, M Street, Retail
 

Building Permits Hint at Wachovia's Arrival at 20 M
My retrieval this morning of the DC Building Permits Feed (which has been on vacation for a few weeks) lets the cat out of the bag that Wachovia Bank is preparing to come to the first floor of 20 M Street. For most of 2007 there had been "Coming Soon" signs in the ground floor window of 20 M for both Wachovia and FedEx/Kinkos--when those disappeared earlier this year, there were concerns among observers (read: me) that the two retailers had bailed, but now it does appear that Near Southeast's Bank #2 will be opening before too long. (Bank #3--SunTrust--is expected early next year at 100 M.)
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More posts: 20 M, Retail
 

Harry's to Ballpark? And Monument Responds to WBJ
Two articles from today's Washington Business Journal (online for subscribers only at this point):
* Arlington-based Harry's Tap Room has signed a partnership deal with concessionaire Centerplate that could include a plan to put a Harry's in at the ballpark where the Red Porch currently is. There could also eventually be Harry's outlets at FedEx Field and the DC Convention Center, both locations where Centerplate provides the concessions.
* After last week's piece that detailed what WBJ described as the "pinch" that Monument Realty is feeling in the current real estate climate, Monument principal Michael Darby has penned a WBJ Guest Comment, rebutting many of the points made in the original article. As for Monument's Half Street projects, where the southern part of the block has a deep hole where the hotel and residential offerings are planned, Darby writes: "We have not had trouble finding construction financing for the residential building in the first phase at our Half Street project. We could not start construction until we received construction pricing after the building design was completed. We received prices from three prominent Washington contractors last week. These prices will be incorporated into our financing package and sent to lenders. Once we agree to terms and complete the loan documentation, we can begin construction."
(This would be a good place for my mea culpa that I've not yet gotten around to writing a summary of last week's council hearing about the alley closing Monument is requesting for the BP Amoco site at South Capitol and N. I'm trying to pace myself.)
 

ANC 6D Monthly Meeting Agenda; Parking Tweaks
It's that time of the month again (wait, that didn't come out right). Monday night is ANC 6D's monthly meeting, and the agenda has now been posted. (Yay!) No specific Near Southeast items are included, but there will be a discussion of changes that are coming to the Performance Parking Plan, some of which were telegraphed at the community meeting last month and described in the latest Hill Rag.
These parking plan changes include an earlier end on weeknights and making Sundays free for the metered parking on the commercial strips north of the freeway. There have also been changes made already to the multiple-guest pass system (for all those dinner parties and book clubs that everyone on the Hill is apparently having every night)--residents don't need to gather visitors' car and license info anymore, they can just go to the 1D or 1D1 police stations and pick-up one-day passes that can be filled out at home.
I won't be able to be at the ANC meeting, but I'm sure it will as always be a scintillating and uplifting discussion of the issues.
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More posts: ANC News, parking
 

Nationals Park at Night (Inside and Out)
I guess I must still be missing my treks around the ballpark, because I decided to venture there tonight with camera in hand to take my first exterior shots of the stadium at sunset and into the evening. Here's the result, a Nationals Park at Night Gallery, which starts with shots from South Capitol Street and out on the Douglass Bridge and ends with a few interior photos from the Beer Pen, which was pretty darn crowded (thanks probably to the Ladies' Night promotion).
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Thursday Afternoon Baseball, Thursday Night Movies
Thanks to yesterday's monsoons, the Nationals are giving hooky-loving fans another crack at sneaking out from work to the ballpark, with last night's game against St. Louis rescheduled to 1:10 pm this afternoon, still to be followed by the scheduled 7:10 pm game.
And the debut Riverfront Reel event at Tingey Plaza behind DOT, including the showing of Field of Dreams on a 32-foot screen, has been rescheduled to tonight, with the fun and games starting at 6:30 pm and the movie itself starting at 8:50 pm.
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More posts: Nationals Park
 

Upcoming Events Calendar Now Google'ed
Instead of watching the heavens erupt this afternoon, I hunkered down and did what I should have done a long time ago, which was to move my Upcoming Events Calendar into a Google Calendar interface, which not only displays in a somewhat festive embedded version here on my home page but which allows Google Calendar users (and people who can handle iCal feeds) to add/view the items directly in their own calendars. (There's also an RSS feed.) I've added the various Capitol Riverfront events coming over the summer, and all Nats home games, and will add neighborhood meetings and whatnot as they come down the pike. As is the case with most of the stuff I do on this web site, I did it mainly for myself, but figure if there's anyone out there who wants to benefit from my labor, go right ahead.
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More posts: JDLand stuff
 

Nats Players at Tyler and Bowen Elementary Schools; Hill Rag Looks at Performance Parking
* From the Nats: "Nationals catcher Wil Nieves and pitcher Saul Rivera will visit Tyler Elementary School on Thursday, June 5 for the Everybody Wins! DC year-end celebration. The players will speak to the students about the importance of reading and help distribute medals for the 5th and 6th grade graduating students. Anthony Bowen Elementary school will host an Appreciation Day on Friday, June 6 in advance of the school's permanent closure. Nationals catcher Paul Lo Duca and outfielder Rob Mackowiak will attend the appreciation day and visit with the students and teachers of the school."
* Neither of these have to deal with parking by the stadium per se, but I'll point to two articles in the new Hill Rag that discuss the impact of and negative response to Performance Parking on Capitol Hill and Barracks Row.
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Final Photos of Capper Seniors Site, Finally (Fixed)
It's only taken three months for me to finally get over to Seventh and M with camera in hand, but at last I've completed my mission, and have added the "afters" to my Old Capper Seniors page (and no, I'm not going to rename it my Nationals Parking Lot W page). Eventually, a 500,000-sq-ft office building by Forest City is planned for the site, but no timeline for getting that underway has been announced. (UPDATE: Link fixed. Oops.)
 

Nats Park 'Gets its Green On' June 4
From the Nationals (emphases mine): "The Washington Nationals have partnered with Planet Green, Discovery's new 24-hour eco lifestyle and entertainment channel, for a 'Get Your Green On' promotion on Wednesday, June 4 when the team takes on the St. Louis Cardinals. All fans attending that evening's game are encouraged to wear green and participate in the night's promotion.The first 5,000 fans who exit the Navy Yard Half Street MetroRail Station will receive a loaded farecard for their trip home. Fans who enter the ballpark via Half Street, SE will walk up a green carpet to the Center Field Gate. Nationals players and ushers will don green hats for the night and the Nat Pack & Racing Presidents will sport green t-shirts. Nationals fans will benefit from 'Random Acts of Greenness' throughout the game.
"Planet Green will flip the switch to their new programming from Nationals Park at 6:00pm. Discovery President & CEO David Zaslav will throw out the ceremonial first pitch from the green pitching rubber. Capital Blend, an a cappella group comprised mostly of Discovery employees, will perform the National Anthem. The line-up card delivery to the green ceremonial home plate will be handled by Eileen O'Neill, Planet Green President and General Manager. Emeril Lagasse, star of Planet Green show Emeril Green, will start the game by announcing 'Washington--Let's Play Ball'.
"Nationals Park is the only LEED-Certified sports venue in North America."
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Summer Outdoor Movie Series Starts Wednesday
The Capitol Riverfront BID launches another summer series to go with its Tuesday DOT farmers market and Wednesday noontime concerts; now it's "Riverfront Reel" on Wednesday nights, starting June 4. The shindigs start at 6:30 pm on the plaza behind DOT at New Jersey and Tingey with "inflatable baseball themed interactive games, snacks, beverages, music", followed at 7:30 pm by big-screen Wii baseball competitions, and then heading toward home with movies at 8:50 pm on the 32-foot screen. You can see the lineup of baseball-themed films on the promotional flyer, and I've added them to my Upcoming Events calendar.
They open up this week with Field of Dreams, followed on July 11 by what is truly the greatest baseball movie ever, Bull Durham. As for the July 2 showing of Bad News Bears, it darn well better be the untouchable original one with Tatum O'Neal and Walter Matthau, though I fear it'll be the totally weak remake. (Boo.) Five of these movie nights coincide with games at Nationals Park, so you can either stop by for food and the inflatable games (?!) before heading to the ballpark, or plop down for the movie after you leave the game. Or both.
 

In Case You Missed It (Last Week's News Again)
There was a big pile of news this past week from Near Southeast, so I'll boil it down to bullet points and links in case you couldn't keep up:
* Construction is really about to begin on the first townhouses at Capitol Quarter, now that financing has been closed for the public housing units;
* The first phase of the waterfront park at The Yards got the thumbs up from the Zoning Commission, and is expected to be completed by summer 2009;
* Onyx on First will be opening its first five floors of apartments in late July or early August, and initial rents have been announced;
* 100 M will be substantially completed in November, and tenants should start moving into the office building early in 2009. SunTrust Bank is the first retail tenant, and the developer is looking for restaurants for the other spaces;
* The planned office building at 250 M got Zoning Commission approval for a modification to its design; and
* Street vendors will start popping up for ballgames north of M Street on Tuesday (June 3). You can see the map of where they'll be.
 

Financing Closes for Capitol Quarter Rental Units; Construction Phase Starts Monday
On Friday, the DC Housing Authority successfully closed the financing for the 39 public housing rental units scattered within the 121 market- and workforce-rate townhouses at Capitol Quarter. The $5.1 million in bonds and other high-finance actions outside of my limited ability to explain will fund the $10 million in construction costs needed for these Phase 1 rental units, which will be available to persons making between 30 and 60 percent of the area's median income (adjusted for family size).
Because the private financing is already in place for the for-sale townhouses, the closing of this deal and the acquisition of various other approvals, permits, and whatnot allows EYA to start construction forthwith, and they tell me that the construction phase will indeed start tomorrow (Monday) with "land moving." The first buildings should start coming out of the ground in July on L Street between 4th and 5th, behind the 400 M Street apartment building, and residents should start moving in by the end of the year or early 2009. The rest of phase one houses will be built on the blocks between Fourth and Fifth streets and the triangular block bounded by Virginia, I, Fourth, and Third.
EYA also tells me that the next workforce housing release should be coming later this summer.
For more information, you can see my Capitol Quarter project page, or EYA's web site for additional details and contact information.
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More posts: Capper, Capitol Quarter
 

Yards Park Phase I Gets Zoning Approval
In what chair Anthony Hood remarked might have been the Zoning Commission's first-ever landscape architecture-only case, the Zoning Commission on Thursday night approved the design for the first phase of the waterfront park at The Yards, the nearly 6-acre green space along the Anacostia River on the site of the once walled-off Southeast Federal Center. My project page has a number of the renderings that were displayed during the presentation, and additional descriptions of what's planned for the site can be found in these two blog entries.
Representatives of Forest City said that they are committed to opening the first phase of the park in the summer of 2009. The second phase, which will include the renovation of the Lumber Storage Shed and the construction of other retail pavilions and buildings, is expected to come before the Zoning Commission this fall. Phase 3 will be the piers and marinas. Somewhat surprising was the news that the floating boardwalk connecting the Great Lawn on the western side of the park to Diamond Teague Park and the ballpark is now going to be built by the city as part of the construction of Teague rather than by Forest City as part of this park.
Much of the discussion by the zoning commissioners (that I saw--I watched from home in my fuzzy slippers and the webcast went wonky a few times in the middle) centered around the pedestrian bridge that runs across the bulkhead and the new freshwater canal. Its very "forward" design---described by Commissioner Etherly as an "aggressive architectural play" and by vice chair Jeffries as a "Slinky," a moniker that I'm sure the developers would probably prefer to not catch on--was not met with universal acclaim. The commissioners did seem recognize its intended role as a piece of art and one of the iconic elements of the park. Jeffries emphasized--and others agreed--that because the designs for the buildings and for the "art tower" are coming at a later date, the bridge is setting the stage for the rest of the architecture at the park, and that the future designs must play off what the bridge has started.
Peter May did not like the bridge (though I missed a lot of his comments because of the webcast problems). He expressed a worry that the bridge, along with the not-yet-designed art tower and whatever's planned for Poplar Point, could create a series of "Look at Me" moments along the Anacostia, all trying to compete for attention. "The 'Look at Me' moment for a waterfront park should be the river itself," he said.
There were also discussions of the lighting plans, and concerns as to whether or not the bridge has a railing (it does). Jeffries asked a lot about the vegetation planned for the different sections of the park, and expressed a wish for some landscaping that is a bit more "wild" in nature, to which Forest City seemed receptive.
There were letters of support from ANC 6D, which voted 7-0 on May 12 to approve the plans, as well as from the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and the National Capital Planning Commission, which approved the park's design back in February. So, in the end, the commission decided to go ahead and vote for approval of the plans immediately, although the issuance of the final order is subject to the commission receiving some new renderings showing more clearly the railing on the bridge. The vote was 4-0-1, with commissioner Turnbull not present.
 

Ballpark Vendors Coming June 3; Map of Locations
DCRA has selected via lottery the street vendors who will get the 28 available locations in Near Southeast. Here's a map of where they'll be hanging out their shingles, starting June 3. Note that there are none south of M Street; on the other hand, the spots at New Jersey and I might be a nice greeting for Capitol South-arriving fans. As mentioned a few days ago, there will be new lotteries for the spots on the last Tuesday of each month.
(Boy, today is like the old days, with so much news. [So be sure to keep scrolling.] And I'm even sitting on two more items, waiting for the rush to die down!)
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More posts: Nationals Park
 

Meanwhile, Next Door at 100 M.....
Getting the scoop on Onyx today spurred me to check in on the doings next door at 100 M Street, the 240,000-sq-ft office building that's been built in tandem with Onyx (though they are being developed by different organizations). Opus East tells me that they expect 100 M to be "substantially complete" in November, with tenants beginning to arrive in January 2009. Reports last year indicated that Parsons Technology has leased about 30 percent of the building. You can check my project page for before-and-after photos, especially if you want to gaze longingly at the On Luck Cafeteria....
And, since retail is what folks really want to know about, I can pass along that 100 M has SunTrust Bank signed up as their first retail tenant, and is looking for restaurants for their other spaces.
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More posts: 100 M, Retail, Square 743N
 

Onyx Opening Late July/Early August; Starting Prices
I had a nice chat today with a representative of Onyx on First, the almost-finished 266-unit apartment building on the southeast corner of First and L streets. Confirming what a commenter mentioned a few entries back, they're expecting to deliver the first five floors of the building in late July or early August. Rents have not been set for the individual units, but are expected to range up from $1,950 for a studio, $2,050 for 1 br, $2,225 for 1 br/den, $2,500 for 2 br/1 ba, $2,450 for 2 br/2 ba, and $2,800 for 2 br/2 ba/den. (You can compare them to the out-of-the-gate rents at 70 and 100 I here.) The new web site is OnyxApts.com, though as of now there isn't much there beyond a sign-up sheet if you want them to contact you with more information.
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More posts: Onyx, Square 743N
 

May 30, 2008 9:24 AM
Congressional Bank Classic on Saturday
Just a reminder that tomorrow (Saturday May 31) is the first Congressional Bank Classic at Nationals Park, showcasing the top baseball teams from DC's public and private schools. Starting at 9:30 there will be a game between Maret and St. Albans, followed by McKinley and Wilson. At 3:30 the city's all-star game will be played, and at 7 pm the winners of the two morning games will face off. Tickets are $5 for adults and free for school-aged kids. Rain date is Sunday, June 1. More information available here.
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More posts: Nationals Park
 

May 29, 2008 3:10 PM
250 M Gets Preliminary Zoning Approval
Last night the Zoning Commission voted 5-0 to extend the allowed building height and expand the total square footage of the proposed office building at 250 M Street in what is technically a modification to the Capper/Carrollsburg second-stage PUD that this office building is part of. The building, which will be going for LEED silver certification and which will have ground-floor retail, will now be 130 feet high and have 233,405 square feet of space. The discussions at the hearing centered mainly on the penthouse structure, the "next generation" elevator technology that allows for less overhead space, and how exactly the agreement with ANC 6D should be viewed.
William C. Smith's Brad Fennell testified that the developer has agreed to additional amenities beyond those in the original PUD (which included $325,000 toward the funding of Canal Park). He described the new amenities as "recruiting construction workers from ANC 6D by purchasing quarterly ads in the Southwester, creating an overall goal of 20% first-source employment for qualified ANC 6D residents, and providing contracting and new hiring opportunitiess for local residents and subcontractors by giving tiebreaking preferences to subcontractors headquartered in ANC 6D and for qualified construction workers living in that area." On May 12 the ANC tied 3-3 on the project, but apparently some subsequent tweaking of the proffer into this final form resulted in a letter from the ANC indicating that four commissioners would support the project with these additional amenities. The Zoning Commissioners felt that, since this was not an official vote of the ANC, it couldn't be given the required "great weight," but could be looked at the same as any feedback from a neighborhood association. The fact that no ANC members appeared at the hearing to testify in opposition also was noted.
You can read the Office of Planning report for all the specifics you could ever want about the changes in the design; if you're really interested, you can also read the original second-stage PUD approval of 250 M from last July, that last night's ruling is modifying. (The original Capper PUD is worth a look as well if you aren't familiar with what's been approved for the area's redevelopment.) Also, since I haven't mentioned it lately, it should be noted that this office building is technically a joint venture between WC Smith and the DC Housing Authority, with the monies from it helping to "financially leverage" the rest of the redevelopment of the Cappers.
This was the first vote; final action on this modification will be scheduled for a month or so from now. Earlier this year a WC Smith representative had told me that construction could begin in the middle of this year, but there was no mention of start dates at the hearing.
 

May 29, 2008 2:52 PM
No Eagles at the Ballpark
Looks like the negotiating to get the Eagles to Nationals Park on July 26 has fallen through. After first showing up on their tour calendar, and then being removed a few days later, the July 26 DC date is now posted again, but at Verizon Center. Tickets go on sale June 9.
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