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Today's Post has a piece that gives more details on how Monument Realty has been tied to Lehman Brothers over the years, and how that might impact Monument's Half Street project: "In addition to an equity stake in Monument's Half Street project with San Francisco-based MacFarlane Partners, Lehman holds a $12 million secondary loan and Chicago-based Corus Bank holds the $72 million construction loan on the first phase of that development, a nine-story office building rising above the Navy Yard Metro stop. The rest of the project has not secured outside financing. [...] Monument began searching for another investor to buy out Lehman's positions soon after the credit markets began to tighten. Some bids were presented earlier this year, two sources familiar with the negotiations said, but Lehman rejected them as too low."
 

(I've been out of town for the past week, so will be trying to catch up over the next few days.) From Friday's WBJ (subscribers only): "A bill before the D.C. Council would rename a portion of South Capitol Street SE as 'Taxation Without Representation Street.' [...] It's unclear what portion would be renamed. Our guess: The stretch near Nationals Park, ensuring plenty of out-of-towners are introduced to D.C.'s fight for a vote in Congress." The bill, B17-0909, was introduced back in July, but is not yet available online, so no more details than this (including whether WBJ's guess as to the potential location is accurate) are available for now.
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Two pieces in Friday's Post of interest to Near Southeast fans: "Nationals Park Revenue Falls Short of the Mark," detailing how tax revenue for the first year at the ballpark is expected to be about $2.6 million short of the $13.5 million originally projected, and a sidebar piece, "Though Developers Built It, The Tenants Did Not Come," about the empty buildings in the neighborhood, using Lerner's 20 M Street as a jumping off point: "In many ways, the Lerner building -- owned by the Bethesda real estate family that also owns the Nationals baseball team -- is symbolic of the emerging district around the ballpark. Sleek new buildings with offices, condos, apartments and retail space have popped up all over. But many remain empty, seeking tenants in a sluggish economy."
The first piece, on the taxes, also talks about the ongoing dispute over whether the stadium was "substanially complete" by Opening Day, and that the Nationals are still withholding their $3.5 million rent payment. On the other hand, the article says that the city has enough money to cover the debt service on the stadium financing because the special ballpark tax on city businesses is bringing in more revenue than expected.
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More posts: Retail, Nationals Park
 

A few readers have written in this morning noting some action on the 1345 South Capitol Street lot, across from the ballpark at South Capitol and O. This is where Camden Development has plans for an apartment building, which originally was supposed to start construction early in 2008 but which has been "on hold." Apparently today's work is some demolition of the few structures still on the site; I checked with Camden earlier this week on the status of the project, and was told that it's still up in the air but that they think they'll start construction before the end of the year. [Insert standard "We shall see...." disclaimer here.] See my project page for renderings and additional details (as well as photos of what was on the lot before the first batch of demolition at the beginning of the year). There's also some additional overhead photos of the lot as seen from the ballpark, if you feel like having an additional vantage point.
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From EYA: "Capitol Quarter will accept contracts on our next 5 market rate homes on Sunday, September 21, 2008 at 11:00 a.m." (I'm on my cell, so can't link right now. Go to eya.com for details.) UPDATE: Okay, I'm back. The five homes are being offered in the $630,000 - $645,000 range. Here's my Capitol Quarter page, just because I can't ever pass up an opportunity to link to it.
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More posts: Capper, Capitol Quarter
 

Sep 17, 2008 1:36 AM
I think I Twittered a few days back about a couple of Monument Realty-requested building permits recently approved by the city for construction of a three-story underground garage in the 1200 block of Half Street. I wasn't sure whether this was just Monument getting its bureaucratic ducks in a row, or if it's an indication of movement on the south end of Monument's Half Street project, where a hotel and 340 units of residential are slated to be built just past the getting-close-to-completed 55 M office building.
Then, a few correspondents wrote in today to mention seeing the delivery of a construction trailer nearby to the site, along with a new "Bovis Lend Lease" sign hung on the fence at Half and N. Does this mean construction is about to commence? I've sent a message to Monument, but haven't heard back yet. In the meantime, there's always the Half Street Cam to keep an eye on possible action in that big hole in the ground.
A few folks have also written in about today's WBJ piece on the impact of Lehman Brothers's demise on various projects in the DC area, which mentions that Lehman holds an interest in Monument's Half Street project. This starts to get way above my pay grade, but there are some "Certificate of Satisfaction" land records from the mid-August where Monument appears to have paid off two "purchase money deed of trusts" held by Lehman totaling a little more than $23 million for lots on the east side of Half Street between M and N. (It then did the same a few weeks later for its property on the northwest corner of Half and N, which it then sold to Akridge.) So, perhaps Monument has disentangled itself from Lehman on these properties? (Like I said, this is totally out of my comfort zone, so if anyone wants to explain further or correct me, please drop me a line.)
As always, we shall see....
UPDATED, 9/17: Sometimes, the tea leaves aren't quite saying what they seem to be. Monument tells me that while they are "hoping" to begin the hotel/residential project by the end of the year, the movement seen at Half and N over the past few days is for work related to the office building and other improvements (not defined) on Half Street (perhaps the public space stuff I've been writing about).
 

Sep 15, 2008 1:32 PM
Hard to believe that the first season at Nationals Park is almost over--Opening Night feels like it was about a month ago. And today the Nationals have released the schedule of promotions for these last 10 games, where they will hand out more than 130,000 items to celebrate the end of this inaugural season. There's too many giveaways and events for me to try to summarize here (and I'm short on time), so take a gander at the press release if you want more details. (UPDATED to fix stupidly incorrect link.)
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Sep 15, 2008 11:55 AM
* Tonight is ANC 6D's monthly meeting. Alas, no agenda has been released yet, so I can't tell you what might be happening. (And I can't go, so I won't be able to tell you what happened.)
* We'll have to wait a little longer to find out what exactly was meant by that "146 fountains" part of the public space improvement application by Monument for 1200 Half Street (aka 55 M) that I posted a few weeks back--they've asked for a postponement and are no longer on the Sept. 25 Public Space Committee agenda. The draft agenda had said: "Application by M.R./BR Residential #1A, LLC for installing various fixtures in public space ( 23-benches, 9 trash containers, 32 lights, 146 fountains, 8 bollards, 18 bike rack all located around Half Street in public space."
 

Sep 15, 2008 2:33 AM
I'm sorry I had to miss Saturday's Opera in the Outfield simulcast of the Washington Opera's premiere of La Traviata, which The Post says drew 15,000 people to Nationals Park. Even Placido Domingo popped across town from the Kennedy Center to check it out: " 'It's phenomenal,' he says backstage before he jumps into a limousine and heads back to the Opera House. 'The sound is phenomenal. You see kids playing in the outfield. That is beautiful. We hope to do more productions like this. But this is special. It's opening night.' "
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More posts: Nationals Park
 

Sep 12, 2008 8:52 PM
A reminder that tomorrow (Saturday) is the "Opera in the Outfield" event at Nationals Park, a free simulcast on the HD scoreboard of the Washington Opera's performance of La Traviata. Gates open at 5:30, performance begins at 7. Here's what the web site says about various rules and restrictions: "Nationals Park Concessions will be open for the simulcast. No alcoholic beverages may be brought into Nationals Park. No bags larger than 16 inches x 16 inches x 8 inches will be allowed into the ballpark. All bags are subject to inspection. Guests are prohibited from bringing hard containers into Nationals Park. Guests who plan to sit in the outfield may bring blankets and/or chairs. Click here for a complete list of prohibited items in Nationals Park." (Here's the Post and the WashTimes on the event.)
And, if you prefer your ballpark events to be socially conscious, Thursday night's game with the Mets is Voter Registration Night, according to The Post: "Attendees can register to vote while enjoying pregame and postgame events, including live music and activities. Voter information will be provided by Rock the Vote and the Federal Voting Assistance Program."
Another upcoming ballpark "event", according to the Wall Street Journal, is a protest outside the stadium scheduled for Monday by a group called StrikeOutExxon.org", which is targeting Exxon's corporate sponsorship of the eco-friendly ballpark. The group, says WSJ, "also wants the Nationals' owners to guarantee the park will never take on that corporate moniker and become 'ExxonMobil Stadium.'
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Sep 12, 2008 2:51 PM
This is one of those real estate-section puff pieces, not a straight news story, but it's a quiet Friday so I'll link to the WashTimes's "New in DC: Batter, and Buyers, Up,"which gives an overview of Capitol Quarter. If you're looking for a summary of what's there, it runs through all the basics. For photos and lots more information, my Capitol Quarter page has plenty to keep you occupied.
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More posts: Capper, Capitol Quarter
 

Sep 11, 2008 10:11 AM
Did anyone see some people traipsing around the old Post Plant this morning? There apparently was a site visit was scheduled at 9:30 am as part of the city's move to unload its sublease of the building. The Office of Property Management now has a page devoted to 225 Virginia, with some additional overview documents and rough sketches of how the building could be re-adapted. It also mentions that the original Sept. 26 deadline for responses to the Request for Expressions of Interest is going to be extended, by not less than a week. UPDATE: The deadline is now set for October 3.
For those who haven't been following along, in late 2006 the city signed a sublease for the building with the intent of moving many functions of the police department there. But in the summer of 2007 OPM decided not to go forward with the move, leaving the building empty and the city paying over $500,000 a month in rent. They are looking for some developer to completely assume the sublease, that also contains an option to buy the building outright.
 

Sep 10, 2008 1:20 PM
Will update with more later today, but did want to let everyone know that JDLand.com won the Citizen Media award at today's 2008 Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism. Big big thanks to them for the recognition.
UPDATE: Here's the press release, and the section of most interest: "Winning a $2,000 Citizen Media Award is the ambitious JDLand.com, Jacqueline Dupree's digital chronicle of redevelopment, construction and community concerns in Washington, D.C.'s rapidly changing Southeast/ Ballpark district. Using text, Twitter, interactive maps, and before-and-now photos, the site is 'an incredible wealth of information, especially impressive for a one-person effort,' the judges said." (Winning the $10,000 first prize was Wired.com's WikiScanner, while PolitiFact.com and Ushahidi.com both won $2,000 Special Distinction awards.)
There's a lot of people who have been very generous in giving me their time and information over the past five-plus years--and equally important are the folks who have stumbled into this nook of the web and allowed me to feed off their enthusiasm for the information and the photos. Thanks to all of you! This is about the highest honor a little site like this can ever reasonably expect to receive, and so I'm just beyond thrilled.
Fun factoid: Ron Paul, Bob Barr, Cynthia McKinney, and Ralph Nader were holding a press conference in the ballroom next door to the Knight-Batten awards (at the National Press Club), and just before the Knight shindig got underway, Ron Paul stuck his head in for a moment to see what was going on. Presidential candidate meets innovative journalism.....!
UPDATE 2: And here's my press release, such as it is.
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Sep 9, 2008 11:06 PM
In the agenda for Thursday's meeting of Metro's Finance, Administration, and Oversight Committee, there's a tantalizing sentence in a request to extend the special evening-and-weekend N22 (Union Station to Navy Yard via Eastern Market) Metrobus route service until March of 2009:
"The District of Columbia has advised WMATA of its intent to transfer the entire Route N22 as well as non-regional Route 98 (Adams Morgan-U Street link) to the DC Circulator effective March 29, 2009."
In poking around the DC Department of Transportation web site, I found this newsletter on the joint DDOT/WMATA Neighborhood Circulation Study that's now underway, and the newsletter has this to say: "DDOT is currently developing plans for future expansion of DC Circulator routes in 2008 to serve Union Station-the new Capitol Visitors Center and the new Nationals Baseball stadium. Another route in consideration would connect the Woodley Park/Adams Morgan/U Street/Corridor." (I'm guessing they mean 2009.) None of the four scheduled public meetings are in Ward 6, so perhaps there will be more sessions at a later date that will be more tailored to Ward 6 concerns. And WMATA will have to have its own public hearings on the discontinuation of the N22.
As always, we shall see, but I imagine just the prospect of a Circulator bus running to and from the Navy Yard station will generate some excitement.
 

Sep 9, 2008 5:52 PM
Tim Lemke of the WashTimes, writes on his Sports Biz blog about how the organizers of the college bowl game (now called the Washington DC Bowl, not the Congressional Bowl) were eyeing Nationals Park from the beginning, with the support of the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission, but: "In essence, it came down to whether the Nationals were willing to hold the bowl game inside the stadium, and my sources tell me that the team simply didn't want the game there, or at the very least was not particularly receptive to the idea." So tomorrow there's a press conference where they'll announce all the particulars. And, since it won't be at the baseball stadium, I get to stop paying attention. (Yay!)
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Sep 9, 2008 1:09 PM
At last night's Zoning Commission monthly public meeting, the DC Housing Authority made a presentation on the latest request for changes to the approved Planned Unit Development at Capper/Carrollsburg. I wrote a long explanatory entry about this request and the plans for multi-unit residential buildings at Capper back in July, and so I'm just going to plagiarize myself here:
"There are five new apartment buildings slated to be built, three of which along the east side of Canal Park where the temporary parking lots are, and another at New Jersey and K on the trash transfer site. And there is a new plan for a fifth apartment building, on L Street across from the Marine Bachelor Enlisted Quarters (B.E.Q), on the northern portion of the old Capper Seniors footprint.
"Under the original Capper plans, there was to be a strip of 61 townhouses built on this spot, but the DC Housing Authority has recognized that these homes would be dwarfed by the B.E.Q. to the north and the two planned office buildings directly behind them at 600 M Street. So DCHA has now filed a request with the Zoning Commission to allow an expansion in the total number of housing units allowed at Capper to 1,747, which would allow the construction of a four-story 189-unit apartment building (with a massing very similar to the B.E.Q.) on this stretch of L Street known as Square 882N. This Zoning Commission request is also looking to expand the number of units in the planned apartment building on the south side of L Street between Second and Third (let's call it Square 769N) to 171 units, as a result of its block-mate 250 M Street having recently gotten approvals to be built higher than originally requested."
As for last night's Zoning Commission presentation, there was a feeling apparently that it wasn't clear enough, so DCHA will be returning in early October with additional details.
 

Sep 9, 2008 12:04 PM
The folks at the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District have asked me to point interested readers to an online "perception survey" they've currently got underway. From the intro page: "Your answers are an important way to measure the effectiveness of services, progress made, and gauge community priorities as further programs are being planned."
 

Sep 8, 2008 11:11 PM
From the MPD's First District mailing list comes the news that on Sunday (Sept. 7) at 3:30 am a man was shot at the bus stop at 10th and M streets, SE. From 1D Commander David Kamperin: "We have no motive or suspects at this time. The victim is currently listed as critical in a local hospital. Anyone with information should contact the 1D Detectives Office."
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More posts: M Street, square 976
 

Sep 8, 2008 3:09 PM
Friday was the deadline for interested parties to file petitions to run for Advisory Neighborhood Commission seats, and, according to this list from the DC Board of Elections, longtime ANC 6D07 commissioner Bob Siegel is being challenged by Capitol Hill Tower resident Geoffrey Kreiss. ANC races will be on the Nov. 4 general election ballot, and if you haven't registered to vote for the general election, you have until October 6. The boundaries of 6D07 are pretty much all of Near Southeast between South Capitol and 11th Street, except for the portions north of M Street from Seventh Street east.
And, speaking of voting, tomorrow (Sept. 9) is primary day for DC council and congressional races. The Ward 6 seat is not on the slate this year, but at-large races are. Here's the primary's Voters Guide.
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Sep 8, 2008 9:47 AM
According to this Friday piece from the WBJ about EagleBank being in negotiations to be a sponsor for the Congressional Bowl college football game scheduled for Dec. 20, the mini bombshell is dropped that the game is now going to be played at RFK and not Nationals Park. The DC Sports and Entertainment Commission is having a press conference on Wednesday about the game, so we should hear more about it then (there's nothing about the Bowl at all on the DCSEC web site). It was announced back in July that this game, between the Naval Academy and the 9th-best ACC team, would be at the new baseball stadium.
(PS: Hey, DCist, a little credit might be nice.)
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