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909 New Jersey Ave. ('09)
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20 M ('07)
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Courtyard/Marriott ('06)
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Reader AW was nice enough to pass along news of a fence banner along Half Street, SE, just south of 70 I that is shouting "1st Community in DC to Offer Verizon FIOS!" (This is the high-speed fiber optic TV/internet service that is available throughout the 'burbs.) I went to verizonfios.com, and did some address searching via the Check Availability page, and got positive results for 70 I, 100 I, and 1000 New Jersey (Capitol Hill Tower). However, if you click one of the addresses and continue along, you're then told that FIOS TV isn't yet available for that address, but FIOS high-speed Internet is. (As I posted back in June, JPI has been marketing 70 and 100 I as "pre-wired" for FIOS.)
UPDATE: Read this entry's comments to see that, not surprisingly, "First Community to Offer FIOS" isn't quite what it seems just yet. But if there's any neighborhood in the city where the infrastructure work could already have been done to get fiber in place, it'd be the one that's being entirely rebuilt from scratch....
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More posts: Capitol Hill Tower, jpi
 

With the city council now almost in its summer recess until mid-September (though not before David Catania introduced legislation yesterday trying to raise the sales tax at Nationals Park in what appears to be an attempt to get back at the Lerners for withholding the rent), and with the Zoning Commission and most ANCs taking August off, the pace of bureaucratic-type news in these parts will be slow if not nonexistent for the next few weeks. We've got a Metro board meeting next week that might (or might not) be telling us the developer of the Navy Yard station's 14,000-sq-ft chiller plant site on the southwest corner of Half and L, but otherwise the calendar is all but empty until after Labor Day. (At least I can report that on Monday night ANC 6D voted 7-0 to approve a public space permit by 100 M Street to install sidewalks and city arborist-recommended willow oak and elm trees.)
That said, I should have some interesting items in the next few days, including hopefully an update about everyone's favorite What's the Deal With....? subject. And of course I'll have photo updates every few weeks, especially since it's expected that framing of the first Capitol Quarter townhouses will get underway by early August. But beyond that, expect the pace around here to be more leisurely during the dog days. As it should be!
 

From Tuesday's Post: "Yes, the Nationals are riddled with injuries and the team is among the worst in Major League Baseball, which resumes its schedule Thursday after tonight's all-star game. The team's owners, the Lerner family, are in a messy dispute with the city, which financed the $611 million ballpark. The stadium, meanwhile, is developing a happy following. The reviews so far: generally good. Getting to the ballpark, along the Anacostia River in Southeast Washington, is fairly easy most nights and weekends. The stadium is winning praise for its sightlines, scoreboard and atmosphere. Food prices are another matter." And there's this: "Neighbors who worried about fans clogging streets are breathing easier. 'As of now, I think it's been managed well, especially by the team,' said Andy Litsky, a Ward 6 neighborhood leader. 'It's not as bad as we anticipated.' " On the other hand, the lack of a parking/transit/traffic catastrophe as predicted by so many for so long has left JDLand all but devoid of content....
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More posts: Nationals Park
 

0807 Wyoming 635 Mount Rushmore 0807 Wyoming 490
I'm back from a week in Wyoming, Montana, and South Dakota, where I took all sorts of photos despite the fact that there were almost no buildings under construction. And what better way to get back in the blogging saddle than to post notice of Monday's ANC 6D meeting. The agenda has one Near Southeast item, which is a public space permit for 100 M Street (for trees, a driveway, and sidewalk paving). The rest of the agenda includes a presentation by the Office of Planning on a zoning study of Southwest, a resolution on the proposed moratorium on "singles" (alcohol, not unmarrieds), and admin minutiae in conjunction with some events planned in Southwest. The meeting starts at 7 pm, at St. Augustine's church at 6th and M Streets, SW. I'll be the one in the audience griping about not still being out west.
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More posts: 100 M, ANC News, Square 743N
 

On Friday night one passenger was killed and another seriously injured when the open-top double-decker bus they were riding in went under an overpass while the two were apparently standing up. The news reports of the accident are all over the map--they were going to the game, they were heading back to RFK from the game, they were on the Southeast Freeway, they were on I Street near 9th, it was the 11th Street overpass. Here's the Post story, Channel 9's story, and last night's Fox 5 story, before it was confirmed that one passenger had died. On the Ballpark Guys thread discussing the accident, fans report seeing the westbound freeway closed during the accident investigation, which would seem to indicate that the bus was going to the game.
UPDATE: The Post reports late on Saturday that the second victim has died as well.
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More posts: Nationals Park
 

From the Post: "More than midway through the baseball season, the Washington Nationals' owners have failed to pay $3.5 million in rent for the District's new ballpark, contending that the state-of-the-art stadium is still incomplete. Besides withholding rent, the team is demanding damages of $100,000 a day, dating from March 1. The team and the city are also at odds over the timing of sales tax payments on tickets, with the Nationals paying game-by-game and the city wanting tax revenue from pre-sold ticket packages upfront." The dispute will be going to arbitration.
UPDATE: Here's some additional details from Tim Lemke's blog at the WashTimes, including how Mayor Fenty reacted in it'll-all-work-out fashion today on WTOP. Ditto from the Post's DC Wire.
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More posts: Nationals Park
 

I'm out of pocket for a bit, so I'll just quickly mention that the National Capital Planning Commission's National Capital Framework Plan was unveiled today, with all sorts of visions about reworking and improving various areas of the city. Here's the section of the report dealing with South Capitol Street (I must admit to wishing they'd update their drawing to one that has a realistic depiction of Nationals Park). Much of this section is really just a restatement of the goals announced in their 2005 report on South Capitol Street. Here's the Post's article on the new framework plan. (UPDATED to fix broken link.)
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More posts: South Capitol St.
 

This is kind of old, but I only heard about it after the fact--on July 1, DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton held a "Capitol Riverfront BID briefing" at the US DOT HQ as part of her continuing efforts to encourage federal agencies to move to "developing" areas of DC. We heard last week that the Department of Agriculture is looking around down here, and perhaps the FBI as well. Here's Norton's press release on the briefing--I'm interested in the paragraph near the bottom listing the area's coming amenities, where it says "two first class supermarkets are planned." We know that there's space for one in the ground floor of the proposed office building at 401 M Street at The Yards, which isn't scheduled to be completed until 2011--I don't know about any firm plans for another one.
 

According to the Post's DC Wire blog, the final chapter of the Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness saga has now been written: "Developer Herbert Miller has settled his $40 million lawsuit against the District government over the failed plan to build two 13-story condominium towers just outside Nationals Park. Under the settlement, the city will pay Miller's Western Development $2 million and the company will drop its legal grievances, according to Miller's son Ben, who is now the company's president." Above is the design for the condo/garages, and here's my various entries on the Miller plan. While you look at those links, think about the current four-story parking lots in the outfield and imagine them with another eight stories on top. And no centerfield plaza, either.
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More posts: parking, Nationals Park
 

From today's Washington Business Journal print edition (subscribers only): "The Department of Agriculture, in search of 330,000 square feet, has been poking around the ballpark district. Michael Stevens, executive director of the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District, says the government has heard proposals from Opus East LLC, planning 411,000 square feet of offices at 1015 Half St. SE, and the mixed-use project planned for First and M streets SE by Potomac-based Willco Cos., which will have 350,000 square feet of offices. The agency is looking to relocate 1,255 employees from seven other locations, at a max rate of $47 per square foot." The Willco space is the current location of Nats parking lot F, on the southwest corner of First and M; and of course Opus isn't *planning* office space at 1015 Half, they're already digging the hole. The blurb also says that the FBI is looking for 180,000 square feet of new space, and that Akridge pitched their as-yet-untapped three-block space on Second Street SW in Buzzard Point.
Also in the WBJ, a story on two small investors who spent 18 years amassing a batch of 23 small properties in Southwest, who are finding that the new ballpark still hasn't brought anyone calling to meet their $12 million asking price for the lots, which are encircled by the Syphax Gardens and James Creek public housing developments. They apparently are hoping that the city would decide to redo the two projects (a la Capper), but the DC Housing Authority says that they don't currently have the funding, and that the residents would have to be really supportive of any redevelopment plans as well.
 

Not that there's probably anybody left in town (*tap* *tap* -- is this thing on?), but just in case, here's a few items before I downshift into low-posting holiday mode over the weekend and into next week:
* My Ballpark and Beyond column in today's Post covers some of the latest news on retail (i.e., banks) I've posted here over the past few weeks (Wachovia at 20 M, SunTrust at 100 M, plans for 900 M). There's also a blurb on the month-old news of the zoning approvals for the Waterfront Park at the Yards. The column normally appears in just the District Extra, but If you live in Prince George's County, you got a crack at it this week as they snuck it in on page 11 of the P.G. Extra, too. But note that we're scaling way back on how often the column will appear (probably just monthly from now on) since the news isn't flowing as fast and furious-ly as it was last year.
* No one's invited me to the roof of any of the sparkly new Near Southeast buildings to watch the fireworks. I'll say it: I'm miffed. I do and I do and I do for you people, and this is the thanks I get.... [/sarcastic martyr mode off]
* I've tinkered again with the big homepage map, trying to have it make a little more sense. I've added checkmarks for the completed projects, and turned the list of projects down the left side (marked on the map with boxes) into only ones that are under construction or ones which the developers have done an especially good job of making me believe they'll start soon. The rest of the map is a whole lot of stars marking proposed projects. And they're all color-coded to differentiate between office, residential, and recreational/retail.
My real desire is to completely redesign the homepage, but I haven't had any inspirations come to me yet. Although, in the meantime, I've added another three random before-and-after photo pairings down on the bottom right of the homepage (after you do a lot of scrolling), just to fill some space. I also expanded my Neighborhood Blogs list of links.
Happy 4th, everyone!
 

Rumors of this first came my way over the weekend, and now WBJ has the somewhat official word, in this article about the closing of a $60 million construction loan to allow the completion of the 200-unit Velocity condo building at First and L streets: "Rockville-based Cohen Cos. is currently negotiating a deal with a first-class hotel operator for Phase II and is in negotiations for a full building user for the 280,000 square-foot, Class A office building in Phase III." Phase II, on the north side of the block, facing K Street, was originally planned to be a twin of the building currently under construction; the three levels of underground parking are already built, which presumably would speed up any sort of construction timetable for a hotel on that spot. Phase III is the section of the block facing Half Street. The article also says that the condo building is currently 25 percent leased.
 

Jul 2, 2008 9:44 PM
A letter arrived in the mail at JDLand HQ today (how old school!) from DDOT director Emeka Moneme, saying that DDOT "has heard your concerns regarding the hours of enforcement for the enhanced Residential Parking Permit (RPP) program in your neighborhood. I am pleased to announce that as a result of the success of our campaign to encourage transit use and based upon community feedback, DDOT has decided to modify the hours of enforcement for all residential streets within the following boundaries[,]" which is basically all residential streets east of South Capitol, west of 9th St., SE, and south of Pennsylvania Avenue. Beginning June 23, the hours on these residential streets in Near Southeast and Capitol Hill were changed to Monday through Saturday from 7 am to 9:30 pm, with no enforcement on Sundays. West of South Capitol Street, in Southwest, RPP rules remain the same (7 am to midnight seven days a week), except for ending these restrictions on M Street SW.
Also, according to the updated Multispace Meters Rates and Hours of Operation sheet from DDOT, parking at the green multispace kiosks in Near Southeast is no longer off-limits during stadium events. It now costs $2 for the first hour, $8 for the second hour, $8 for the third, and $2 for the fourth. This equals the cost of most of the cash lots operating near the ballpark. (See that sheet for the updated rules for Pennsylvania Avenue SE and Barracks Row.) I haven't paid close enough attention over the past few weeks to see if this meter change has been in effect since before June 23--but clearly the ample parking and well-flowing traffic near the ballpark has lessened the original fears that allowing on-street parking north of the ballpark would bring a crunch of drivers circling looking for spaces. ($4 gas might be helping that, too.)
I've posted on my Stadium Parking page the updated map from DDOT showing these changes and the explanations of the parking restrictions around the ballpark as they now stand, after these alterations. I suppose I should get off the sofa and go see if the street signs here on my Capitol Hill residential block have been updated to show these new hours, but I'm lazy tonight. Still worn out from last night's fast-forwarding extravaganza, I guess.
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More posts: parking, Nationals Park
 

Jul 2, 2008 12:53 PM
Since I know you all want to know this.... From a Tommy Wells press release: "On Tuesday, July 1, Council voted to approve the 'Southwest Waterfront Financing Act of 2008.' The legislation provides $198 million in a combination of tax increment financing (TIF) and payment in-lieu of taxes (PILOT) financing for the long awaited Southwest Waterfront project. [...] The legislation provides the necessary financing for the public infrastructure on the Waterfront; just part of the overall $1.5 billion project. The public investment enables the project to move forward with the neighborhood's vision for a waterfront that will rival the excitement of other major metropolitan areas and will deliver investment, jobs, affordable housing and community services to the residents who have driven this public process for almost 15 years. [...] The legislation will come before Council for a final vote on July 15, 2008. A companion piece of legislation to address land disposition issues is awaiting a public hearing by the Committees on Economic Development and Workforce Development and Government Operations."
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Jul 1, 2008 9:46 PM
At the end of a long day of legislating, the City Council this evening passed an emergency bill to expand the number of spots for vendors on the streets near Nationals Park. I haven't seen a copy of the bill, but apparently it specifically mandates 14 new vending slots, seven of them on Half Street between M and N, and other specific slots on N Street and on First between N and N Place. This was done because of what council member Graham referred to as the "cruel joke" of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs placing the original 28 vending slots in locations that can't charitably be called "near" the stadium. (See the map to judge for yourself.) As mentioned in this morning's entry, the Nationals are not in favor of vending south of M Street, considering it competition.
Council members Cheh and Wells opposed the measure, saying that the council should not insert its own judgment if DCRA and DDOT consider these locations to be a "threat to public safety" because of the construction in the area and the movement problems that there could be in case of a mass egress from the ballpark (like if Zimmerman busts the Capitol dome again). Wells tried to say that the council perhaps doesn't know better than DCRA how to apportion space for vendors; council member Barry explained how he walked the area around the ballpark with vendors and police officers, measuring out locations, sidewalk sizes, etc. Originally council member Catania said he would not support the bill because of the "haphazard" way that the new slots would be awarded to vendors (Barry took offense to "haphazard," but I think he was misunderstanding what Catania was referring to, which was the lottery system and not the identifying of new slots).
Barry asked for the vote to be deferred, and at 7:50 pm, it returned to the agenda, with some tweaked wording--the mayor has until June 21 to add these 14 new positions and hold a lottery for them that will allow the winners to have the spaces until the end of the year. (The lottery for the original 28 spaces will be handled as before, with new drawings held every month for the spaces.) Council sources tell me that the original version of the bill required that 14 new slots go to RFK vendors only--the amended version allows any qualified applicant to enter the lottery for these spots. This gave Catania what he needed to support the bill; Cheh and Wells renewed their objections. In the end there were enough votes to pass the bill on an emergency basis.
Catania was strongly in favor of preferences for District residents, but those have proven problematic when attempted in other areas. However, Barry said that he and Catania and Graham will work on ways to get a residential preference, perhaps by leasing the slots, which would then allow the city to use Local, Small, Disadvantaged Business (LSDBE) rules. More to come, I'm sure.
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More posts: Nationals Park
 

Jul 1, 2008 9:29 AM
Today is the city council's monthly legislative meeting, and since they don't have one in August, this one--like all July ones--has an agenda a mile long, with a few items related to Near Southeast:
There's an emergency bill to correct a problem with the 2005 bill that transferred Tingey Street to the city--a drafting error apparently drew the road through part of the Pattern Shop Lofts.
And the "Taxation Without Representation Federal Tax Pay-Out Message Board Installation Act of 2007" (Bill 17-0028) is finally getting a vote--this is the bill that would put electronic tote boards on the Wilson Building and the ballpark showing the federal taxes that District residents pay while still having no votiing representation in Congress. You can read more about it here and here--I don't know if the bill being voted on today has the same language as the original one introduced in 2007, since the council was told pretty clearly by the Sports and Entertainment Commission that the stadium's lease agreement states that the Nationals control the signage on the stadium's interior, exterior, and perimeter, and the DCSEC's outside counsel feels that this tote-board bill "could conflict" with the lease.
But first up, on the consent agenda, is the bill to close the alley between South Capitol and Van just north of the old BP Amoco station on N Street across from the ballpark. This request is coming from Monument Realty, so they can combine the Amoco lot with the parking lot to the north of the alley and develop the site as a residential building with somewhere between 180 and 210 rental units, with 15 or 16 of them being affordable units priced at between 50 and 80 percent of the area median income. There would also be about 14,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.
I failed my fiduciary duty to ever post a summary of the hearing on this bill held back in May, but most of what was said at the council hearing wasn't too different from the presentation about the closing to ANC 6D in January. Monument's representatives told the council that they would expect to start the project approximately 18 months after receiving the alley closing (depending on market conditions, of course), meaning it wouldn't deliver before 2011. Monument is not so far committing to any sort of LEED certification for the building (though I imagine that changes if they don't build it before the city's new green building laws go into effect). The project would also need a Capitol Gateway Overlay Review by the Zoning Commission.
The hearing starts at 10 am, and can be seen on DC Cable 13 or via streaming video. I'll update this entry later today with the various outcomes.
UPDATE: I haven't started watching the proceedings yet (I'll be spending my evening fast-forwarding through them), but the Post's DC Wire blog has an entry on another bill of interest being brought up today, to improve upon the locations carved out for street vendors near the ballpark (here's the map). Some council members want the vendors much closer (presumably, along Half and N streets), which the Nationals and MLB are not much in favor of. Other council members say that bringing the vendors closer should wait until the construction near the ballpark is completed. We'll see what happens with the bill today.
FAST-FORWARDING UPDATE: What more could I want to do with my evening than to sit here speeding through 8-plus hours of city council proceedings? Here's what I'm finding:
* The Square 700 alley closing passed its first reading on the consent agenda.
* The Tax Pay-Out Message Board bill passed its first reading--Chairman Gray said that the second message board would be built "on public space near the Washington Nationals baseball stadium," which gets around the problems I described above with the original bill. Apparently Chairman Gray had discussions with the Nationals earlier this year about putting the sign at the ballpark, and the Nationals did not indicate any sort of desire to have the sign, so the compromise was hatched to put it on public land near the ballpark (I'm trying to find out where). Marion Barry pronounced himself "appalled" at the Nationals' refusal to put up the sign at the city-funded ballpark, calling the team "not good citizens." The sign at the Wilson Building is to be erected in time for the 2009 presidential inauguration, so that the entire parade can march right past it.
* The "Tingey Street, SE Right of Way Amendment Emergency Act of 2008" passed its first reading, so the street will no longer run through Building 160. Whew!
* I'm going to address the vending expansion bill in a new entry. Check back later for that.
 

Jun 30, 2008 10:16 PM
The fine folks working the Wendy's drive-through window this evening at South Capitol and I tell me that their closing date is now the end of July. At this point (this is the third date I've now heard, starting with end-of-May, then end-of-June), I'm just going to not say anything more about it until I see locks on the doors. The property is part of the footprint for JPI's fourth Capitol Yards apartment building, 23 I at Capitol Yards, which JPI has said would be starting constuction this fall. We shall see....
 

Jun 29, 2008 11:13 AM
The "Jefferson at Capitol Yards Block Party" was held Saturday afternoon, and I used it as an opportunity to get inside of this now-opened apartment building at 70 I Street to update the not-quite-finished-yet interior photos I originally posted back in May. You can see the new batch here, which includes lots of photos of the resident pub, the other amenities, two of the models, and of course the views from the roof. For now, the first three floors are available for leasing; the rest will open in phases over the next few months, with the building expected to be completed this fall.
I also added a few of the roof views to my Overhead Photos Archive, which you can compare with the ones I took at 70 I a month ago to see the progress in four weeks at 909 New Jersey, Velocity, and even the hole in the ground that will become 1015 Half Street.
Hopefully in a few weeks I'll be able to do the same thing for sibling 100 I when they open its public spaces and models.
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More posts: jpi
 

Jun 27, 2008 2:50 PM
I've been coveting electronic versions of the newer twilight-styled renderings of upcoming Yards projects, which have been taunting me from the fence drapings along Tingey and Fourth streets; and now I've gotten my mitts on them. Above is an overhead shot of the Waterfront Park, showing not only the various landmarks planned for this stretch along the Anacostia, but also perhaps a first peek or two at designs for some of the later-phase buildings to the north of the 5.8-acre park. I've also now got dusk-time renderings for the brown-and-white Pattern Shop Lofts apartment building and the retail-to-be Boilermaker Shop. All three of these projects should open in 2009 (though the park's piers and retail pavilions will be happening in future phases).
 

Jun 27, 2008 11:28 AM
If you've been wondering what this white tent-like structure is at the First and N entrance to The Yards (across from the ballpark), the nice folks at Forest City have told me it will be "The Yards Pavilion," which they describe as a "sort of marketing gallery for the project that will be open and staffed on home game dates for the Nationals for the remainder of the summer months. It will contain exhibit panels dealing with the proud industrial history of The Yards site as well as info and images of the development components to come. There will also be a fun 'Yards Personality Quiz' and helpful folks on hand to answer questions." It will also become home to the "Yards Street Team" that has been roaming the area during Nats weekend home games handing out Yards marketing material. The pavilion will make its official debut during the July 8 Nats home stand.
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More posts: The Yards
 
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