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In yesterday's wrap-up of the Performance Parking meeting, I mentioned how the program wasn't yet "operating in the black," because of the substantial cost of putting in the meters. However, I've been gently reminded that the legislation that created the pilot spells out that, initially, 60 percent of the program revenue will be put toward the repayment of the cost of the meters, with 20 percent of the revenue to be used "solely for the purpose of non-automobile transportation improvements in the zone." (The other 20 percent goes to the DDOT's operating fund.) This means that there will already be some dollars available at the end of 2008 toward improvements.
In a few years, once the meters are paid in full, only five percent of the revenue goes toward meter and signage upkeep in the zone, and 75 percent goes to non-automobile transportation improvements in the zone, such as bike racks, sidewalk repair, etc.
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More posts: parking, Nationals Park
 

Despite my subconscious desire to return to those days when I didn't bother going to public meetings, I ventured out on Wednesday night to DDOT's first quarterly public meeting on the Ward 6 Performance Parking Pilot Program. Much of the discussion centered on issues outside of Near Southeast (such as how Southwest's parking-enforcement hours still run from 7 am to midnight seven days a week, even though Capitol Hill rolled theirs back to 9:30 pm six days a week and no restrictions at all on Sundays), so I don't really have a lot to report in terms of any changes that might be happening to the streets south of the freeway and east of South Capitol.
There are a few numbers to pass along--so far in 2008 (from the start of the program on March 26 through the end of October) the Ward 6 pilot zone grossed a bit over $235,000 in parking fees, with it splitting pretty evenly between the 80 game days ($118k, averaging $1,650 per day) and the other non-game days ($115k, averaging $1,300 per day). However, it cost the city more than $860,000 to install the meters and signage, so the program isn't exactly operating in the black yet.
The current red visitors passes are scheduled to expire on Dec. 31--however, DDOT's Damon Harvey acknowledged that the realities of trying to send them out in late December (in the midst of the holiday mail deluge) and the issue of on-street parking enforcement for the inauguration means that it's likely DPW will be told to not consider the old passes expired until Feb. 1 or some other date.
There was really only one attendee who was vociferously against the pilot's restrictions; others who got up to spoke had concerns about portions of it, but given how these meetings can sometimes go, it seemed that most people were accepting of the program. DDOT's Harvey made sure to emphasize a number of times that this program is not just about ballpark parking--it's to get ahead of all of the expected development and commerce coming to Capitol Hill, Near Southeast, and Southwest, and protect resident and business parking before it gets out of hand.
There were no specific changes announced for 2009--however, it sounded like if there were changes they'd be put in place closer to Opening Day. Although most of the people who spoke at the meeting mentioned that they didn't really see any influx of ballpark-related on-street parking on the Hill or areas further away in Southwest, it would be wise to keep in mind two things for 2009: the possibility that the free Nats Express won't be running (no decision yet), and, on the flip side, the opening of two new office buildings within two blocks of the ballpark that will have three levels of underground parking that could become available (100 M and 55 M, and perhaps also the underground parking now being built in the hole just north of the ballpark, though there's been no announcements of whether any of these will be offering gameday parking). The potential lack of free parking could drive more fans to try to find on-street parking, but perhaps the growth of close-in garage spaces will mitigate that.
Tune in again in February when I'm sure the traffic and parking discussions will heat up for the new season! (Yippee.)
UPDATE: Don't miss my addendum, where I clear up that just because the meters haven't been paid for yet doesn't mean that the neighborhood won't already be seeing some of the revenue.
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More posts: parking, Nationals Park
 

* The WashTimes says that Eleanor Holmes Norton "has asked Congress's Joint Commission on Inaugural Ceremonies to consider opening up more space for visitors than just the Mall, including Verizon Center and Nationals Park." I guess she means as a space to allow people to watch the ceremonies on the big screen (rather than, say, sleeping bags in the outfield)?
* City Paper does a piece on Super Salvage, across the way in Buzzard Point, and how they feel that the city is pushing them to leave but how there's nowhere else inside the District to go. In a related story, the Post reports that one of the concrete plants shut down in early 2006 thanks to the ballpark's eminent domain land takeover has just gotten approval (over neighbors' objections) to build a new facility just outside of Cheverly.
* Over the past couple of days the construction pedestrian walkways at 100 M Street have been taken down, and the sidewalks look pretty close to being ready for use. Does this mean that M Street is going to get its two traffic lanes back soon? It was reported a few months back that Parsons Technology (which has leased about 30 percent of the building) would be moving in in early 2009. We should also be watching for the arrival of a Sun Trust Bank branch in the ground floor, presuming that deal is still done (you never know these days).
* Looks like they're putting the glass panels in around the Navy Yard station entrance in 55 M's ground floor (hence the closures of the entrance after 8 pm that continue today and tomorrow, along with an all-day closure on Saturday).
 

Before the front blew in on Monday I made a rooftop visit to get some new shots of the changing skyline west of New Jersey Avenue and north of M Street. You can see the new shots paired with their "befores" in my Overhead Photos Archive; hard to believe that less than three years ago we didn't have Onyx, or Velocity, or 70/100 I, or 909 New Jersey. (And the next time I take these shots, 1015 Half will be visible, too.) I also made the rounds and took street-level photos from the usual spots, which you can see on those project pages or all in one group; I'll also note that the new Half Street photos show the first floor of 1015 Half now underway. As always, click the for all photos in the archive at a specific location.
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More posts: 1015 Half, square 697
 

Two reminders for your Wednesday planning:
* Onyx (1100 First Street) is having its grand-opening party from 5 to 8 pm, with music, nibbles, and tours.
* And, at 6:30 pm, DDOT is having a Public Meeting on Ward 6 Ballpark District Performance Based Parking Pilot Program, a look at what's worked, what hasn't, and what might change in 2009 with the on-street parking around the ballpark. The meeting is at 6 pm at Friendship Baptist Church, 900 Delaware Ave., SW.
 

Be prepared that on Tuesday (Nov. 18), President Bush will be visiting the US Department of Transporation headquarters on M Street. Given that no parking will be allowed at DOT until noon on Tuesday because of security concerns, be prepared for an onslaught of extra transit passengers at the Navy Yard Metro station and on the bus lines, and extra cars in the daily lots around the neighborhood. No doubt there will also be some traffic disruptions as the president arrives and leaves, too.
 

A bunch of items to start the week with:
* Remember that the west entrance to the Navy Yard Metro station at Half and M is closed every evening this week from 8 pm until closing, thanks to work on 55 M Street.
* On Monday (Nov. 13), the Zoning Commission gave final approval to moving 225 Virginia Avenue into the Capitol South Receiving Zone, which will allow any construction on the block to have greater height and density than the 6.5 FAR/90-ft-height currently allowed. This was approved with two caveats: that there is Zoning Commission review of the design of the portions of a building proposed to rise higher than 90 feet to confirm that the building will be sufficiently setback from the eastern building face, and that any structure will provide a suitable northern focal point for the Canal Blocks Park. Read my entry from the hearing a few weeks ago for more information.
* On Nov. 24 at 2 pm, the city council will be having a hearing about B17-0909, the "Taxation Without Representation Street Renaming Act of 2008," which would "designate the portion of South Capitol Street, SE that intersects with N Street SE and Potomac Avenue SE as 'Taxation Without Representation Street, SE." It just so happens that this is the portion of South Capitol Street that runs alongside Nationals Park, where the council was thwarted in earlier attempts to install an electronic tote board showing the federal taxes that DC residents pay while still having no voting representation in the US Congress.
* Tommy Wells is taking nominations for the Second Annual Livable, Walkable Awards.
* For weeks I've been meaning to post that Nationals Park made the list of Travel and Leisure Magazine's "Must-See Green American Landmarks," thanks to being the first LEED-certified professional sports facility.
 

I have to admit that information fairs aren't quite my gig (especially since I'm immersed in this stuff everyday), but I did wander past today's Anacostia Waterfront Community Information Fair at the ballpark to see what there was to see. I got there pretty early and left pretty early, so didn't see any of the panel discussions (and didn't take any of the bus tours), but if you want to see how they configured the exhibitions within the Stars and Stripes clubs at the ballpark, here's a batch of photos. (And, if you were there, maybe you're in one or two of them!)
I also took a few new photos on First, Third, and New Jersey of 909 New Jersey, Velocity, Onyx, and the Foundry Lofts, which will serve mainly as a reminder of why I don't normally go on photo expeditions on cloudy days. If the weather finally shifts, I expect to be out taking some additional ones on Sunday, especially of 1015 Half, since the first columns are visible above ground-level.
Plus, I felt a burst of inspiration yesterday the likes of which I haven't seen in months, and *finally* created project pages for William C. Smith's 800 New Jersey Avenue development and for the 11th Street Bridges reconstruction. The 800 NJ page has almost no information (since there's so little to be had about the project beyond the basic 1.1-mil-office-residential-retail-and-maybe-Whole-Foods profile); the 11th Street Bridges page is a little better, but still is just a lot of pictures of overpasses and flyovers. Better than nothing in both cases, though!
 

This morning Mayor Fenty held a press conference at Nationals Park with various city officials to highlight tomorrow's Anacostia Waterfront Information Fair, and also talk up the recent progress and near-term next steps for the more than $8 billion worth of economic development, transportation, and infrastructure projects in the pipeline along the Anacostia River (not only in Near Southeast, but from the Southwest Waterfront all the way up past RFK).
Having sworn off taking any more photos of The Mayor at the Microphone (unless he shows up in a Hawaiian shirt and swimtrunks or something), I decided to record the 20-minute event instead, so that the five or six of you interested in hearing the remarks can do so. (It's a 2.6-mb MP3 file; the first few seconds are rough, but then it settles in.)
If you listen, you'll hear how the mayor managed to cajole the notoriously camera-shy Stan Kasten into saying a few words about what's happening along the river and in the neighborhood from the point of view of the area's largest tenant. Deputy Mayor Neil Albert, DDOT Director Frank Seales, Office of Planning head Harriet Tregoning, and the director of the city's Office of the Environment George Hawkins spoke as well. There was some discussion throughout (and especially at the end) about how the slowing economy might be impacting both the city's plans and developers' projects, but the mayor remains optimistic.
The press release from the mayor's office sums up the main points of today's event, but here's the Near Southeast-specific highlights from both the remarks and some other chatter of the day. First up, news of the three big parks:
The city "will break ground at Diamond Teague Park by the end of 2008." (And the guide for tomorrow's fair says that the park will be completed in spring 2009, which is the same date we've been hearing for a while.) The mayor also touted the operating agreement with Forest City Washington to build and maintain the $42 million, 5-acre Park at the Yards (but you knew about this already), as well as the the agreement with the Canal Park Development Corp. to build the $13.1 million, three-block-long park. (No mention of school buses.)
Then there's the bridges: Reconstruction of the 11th Street Bridges is scheduled to begin in mid-2009. (The shortlist of firms vying for the design-build contract was announced a few weeks ago.) Whether we actually see heavy equipment moving in mid-2009, or whether this just marks the first part of the design-build project is not quite clear. I was also told that the contract to demolish the flyover ramps to and from RFK could be completed soon, and that demolition would happen not long after the contract is signed.
Plus, the final Environmental Impact Statement for South Capitol Street and the Douglass Bridge is expected in spring 2009; that's when we'll hear which of the four bridge designs has been chosen.
As for the river itself, the city has started real-time water quality monitoring, updated automatically online 24 hours a day. There's also now the Anacostia 2032 Plan "to make the Anacostia River boatable, swimmable, and fishable in 25 years." And a Green Summer Jobs Corps was created earlier this year to "engage youth in the cleaning and greening of District neighborhoods and parks and to introduce them to green-collar job opportunities."
Finally, a planning process is underway to revamp Boathouse Row, the stretch of boat clubs along the Anacostia between 11th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. (I took a bunch of photos near the boathouses a few months back, and have been lazy about ever getting them posted, though you can see a few boathouse-free shots of the environs here and here.)
There's more about projects elsewhere along the Anacostia, but other bloggers get to cover those. Will update this post if there's any media coverage from today's event, and will have a fresh post on Saturday after the fair. I imagine I'll Twitter a bit from those festivities (like I did from today's); remember that if you aren't a Twitter-er, you can read my tweets on the JDLand homepage--check 'em out frequently, because I do sometimes post news there first, before I write full blog entries.
SATURDAY FAIR UPDATE: They're now going to be providing free shuttle bus service from the New Jersey & M Metro entrance to/from the ballpark, from 12:30 pm to 5:15 pm. (After they heard somewhere that the Half and M subway entrance is going to be closed on Saturday.)
 

Today's print edition of the WashBizJournal has some big retail-related Near Southeast items of interest:
* "The developer of The Yards, the 42-acre Anacostia riverfront project near the Nationals ballpark, is close to landing a jazz club and Dogfish Head Alehouse and may move its local headquarters to the former Navy Yard. The two retail tenants would be the first in the Boilermaker Shops, a three-story industrial building with walls of red brick and plate glass on Tingey Street between Third and Fourth streets SE." (The Boilermaker Shops are scheduled to open in mid-2010, along with the Park at the Yards and the Foundry Lofts.)
* The planned office building at 401 M could become home to Forest City Washington's headquarters; it's the one with the grocery store space in the ground floor. WBJ says Forest City "is 'nearing a deal' with a grocer for 50,000 square feet and an announcement could come in 60 days. He would not reveal the chain, but sources say it is Harris Teeter Inc. which has two D.C. stores and plans a third in Northeast." 401 M is not expected to be constructed before 2011, however.
* Also on the grocery store front, confirmation of the rumor that's been hashed around here lately: "William C. Smith & Co., meanwhile, has been in discussions with Whole Foods Market Inc. about a store in its planned 4-acre development between New Jersey Avenue, H and Second streets, known as Square 737." (See, I tried to tell you folks it wasn't going to be at New Jersey and K; and Jonathan, you're welcome for this tip.)
UPDATE: Finally getting *some* piece of news about 800 New Jersey finally spurred me, after all this time, to create a project page for it. There's no renderings, just a bunch of "before" pictures, but at least it's something. And, since talk of grocery store on this site back in *1999* was one of the first tidbits that led me to start paying attention to the neighborhood, I guess it finally deserves its own page.
 

Now here's some quick-thinking: "With high-end hotels completely booked and District residents renting out their homes to tourists, JPI has joined the inauguration rental frenzy and will rent unleased apartments at two of its recently delivered projects near Nationals Park. The Dallas-based developer will require a three-night minimum stay at the Axiom at Capitol Yard and Jefferson at Capitol Yards. The company did not release pricing information, but said it will offer guests a choice of furnished one or two-bedroom units. They also will receive access to 24-hour concierge service and conference rooms, gym facilities, free wireless Internet access in common areas." (WBJ)
UPDATE: Per Ed's link in the comments, the prices are $750/$1,000 per night for 1 and 2 BR units (with that three night minimum). Here's the Craigslist post.
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More posts: 70/100 I, inauguration09, jpi
 

Nice catch by reader S, who notes that the city's exhortations to arrive at Saturday Nov. 15's Anacostia Waterfront Community Fair at the ballpark via Metro appear to have one small complication:
"The Navy Yard Metrorail station west entrance on the Green Line will be closed for select days this month as a result of safety sensitive construction work directly above the station's entrance. The station's west entrance will be closed on the following dates:
"Saturday, November 15, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
"Monday to Friday, November 17 to 21, 8 p.m. to closing
"Saturday, November 22, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
"Customers who normally use the west entrance will need to use the east entrance located at New Jersey Ave. SE."
UPDATE: They're now going to be providing free shuttle bus service from the New Jersey & M Metro entrance to/from the ballpark, from 12:30 pm to 5:15 pm.
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More posts: Metro/WMATA
 

A reminder that this Saturday (Nov. 15) at Nationals Park is the second Anacostia Waterfront Community Fair, with representatives from not only developers but city agencies manning booths with all sorts of information about all the projects planned along the Anacostia River corridor. It's from 1 pm to 5 pm, and will also have (according to this DDOT press release) "free bus tours to several locations being revitalized on both sides on the waterfront, such as Poplar Point, Waterside (formerly Waterside Mall), Boathouse Row, and Southwest Waterfront." And refreshments, too!
(Let me also just state for the record that I was planning on posting this reminder today, even if I hadn't gotten a robocall just a few minutes ago from Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Neil Albert inviting me to the shindig.)
UPDATE to bump up and also to link to additional information about the activities (including some panel discussions) via Tommy Wells's blog.
 

The folks at Onyx on First apartments are throwing a Grand Opening party on Wednesday, Nov. 19, from 5 to 8 pm, which will include a "special tour," as well as jazz, wine, and hors d'oeuvres. Here's the invitation flyer, along with the information on how to RSVP. (Though I don't imagine they'll lock the door if you try to show up without having called first.)
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More posts: Onyx, Square 743N
 

Just out from DDOT (now online): "The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) will host a quarterly public meeting on the Ward 6 Ballpark District Performance Based Parking Pilot Program on Wednesday, November 19, 2008. The meeting is an opportunity for residents, business owners, churches and other stakeholder groups to provide feedback on the first year of parking operations under the Performance Based Parking Pilot Zone Act of 2008.
"The meeting agenda will include:
"Presentation of the Ward 6 Committee that will assist DDOT in determining how curbside revenue will be allocated.
"Update on multi-space meter revenue collected since the inception of pilot zone.
"Update on Ward 6 Visitor Parking Pass (VPP) program.
"Discussion of potential signage improvements or modifications for 2009.
"Recommendations from community stakeholders for 2009."
It's scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 19, from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Friendship Baptist Church, 900 Delaware Ave., SW (on the corner of I Street). For more information on the Performance Parking program around the ballpark, check my Stadium Parking page.
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More posts: parking, Nationals Park
 

Readers have reported hearing gunshots around 11:30 pm Sunday. I wrote to the Metropolitan Police Department's 1D mailing list (on Yahoo) and received two replies, first from MPD's Nicholas Gallucci: "An unidentified male fired several shots in the area of half and m street sw. No one was injured and nothing was struck. However, if anyone saw this incident and or has any information regarding the male, please contact the police asap."
Then, 1D Commander David Kamperin added some detail: "We had an individual fire shots at a police officer - the officer took cover. No injuries and the subject is still out and wanted. Anyone with information please call 202-727-9099."
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I've been meaning to do this for months, and this morning the inspiration finally hit. Now you can subscribe to an RSS feed of the blog comments, so that you don't miss an iota of the conversation around these parts.
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Nov 7, 2008 9:59 AM
* The agenda for Monday's ANC 6D meeting has been sent around (not yet posted online). They'll be revisiting the designs for exterior trash enclosures on certain Capitol Quarter townhouses that were discussed and given the thumbs down last month. Other items include the potential modification of the 70 bus route, the franchise agreement between the city and Verizon for FiOS, and street closures for the SunTrust National Marathon on March 21. The meeting is at 7 pm at St. Augustine's church, Sixth and M streets, SW.
* Meeting at the same time on Monday (well, starting at 6:30 pm) will be the DC Zoning Commission, with a vote on the proposal to move 225 Virginia Avenue into the Capitol South Receiving Zone (read about it here).
* The city's Public Space Permit feed is back. Yay! Hopefully the Building Permit feed won't be far behind.
* One thing we've all learned over the years is to not believe anything about the school buses leaving Canal Park until we actually see them all drive away. But I will note that the DC Housing Authority currently has a solicitation out for a contractor to build surface parking lots at DC Village (which is where the buses are relocating to). Bids are due Nov. 18. I'm hearing "mumbleJanuarymumbleFebruarymumble" as a potential timetable for the departure of the buses, but see sentence #1 of this paragraph.
 

Nov 6, 2008 7:04 PM
Some news out of this afternoon's unveiling of the team's 2009 uniforms:
* "Nationals manager Manny Acta and outfielder Lastings Milledge said on Thursday afternoon they would like President-elect Barack Obama to throw out the first pitch at the team's home opener against the Phillies on April 13." (MLB.com)
* "The Nationals also released a preliminary schedule that features six weekday games. They include the April 13 opener against the World Series champion Phillies at 3:05 p.m., 12:35 p.m. starts against Houston on May 5 and Florida on Aug. 7, and three 4:35 p.m. games on the final days of home stands. The team did not play any weekday afternoon games last year, during its inaugural season at Nationals Park, because of worries how traffic and parking would be impacted in the neighborhoods surrounding the stadium. Additionally, the start time for Friday night games has been moved from 7:35 p.m. to 7:05 p.m. Last season, several scheduled Friday fireworks nights were canceled because slow-moving games pushed the Nationals past a curfew team officials had agreed upon with neighborhood leaders." (Examiner)
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More posts: Nationals Park
 

Nov 5, 2008 9:15 PM
(Sorry that this is about a week old) From WTOP: "Baseball fans who took free shuttle buses from RFK Stadium to Nationals Park as a way to get to games this past season -- may be out of luck next year. D.C. Councilmember Tommy Wells tells WTOP he is recommending to the Nationals that the shuttles stop running in 2009. 'The buses add a layer of traffic that is not necessary. I would like to see them stop running.' Wells says he has received numerous complaints from residents in Ward 6 about the danger of the buses as they pass through neighborhoods. Some buses also sit and idle in less than desirable locations. Traffic troubles that were predicted around the stadium never really did materialize in the ballpark's first year. Wells thinks that's all the more reason to discontinue the bus service." What do the Nats say? "As of right now, the Nationals have not announced any plans to change the shuttle bus service next season."
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More posts: Nationals Park
 
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