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On March 23, the DC Historic Preservation Review Board will be holding a public hearing to consider whether to designate the Navy Yard Car Barn at 770 M Street (more popularly known as the "Blue Castle") as a historic landmark, and also to consider nominating it to the National Register of Historic Places. The hearing will be at 10 am, Room 220 South, 441 Fourth St. NW. (Remember, you can always check my Upcoming Events calendar to see what meetings, hearings, and other Near Southeast items of interest are happening.)
More posts: Blue Castle, 8th Street
 

The Washington City Paper has a big article about the eminent domain proceedings for the land in the stadium footprint: "Wild Pitch."
More posts: Nationals Park
 

In addition to the pictures I posted earlier from the site of the new baseball stadium, there's also new pictures now on my Capitol Hill Tower, DOT HQ, and 20 M Street pages. I've also got a few new shots and some additional information on the project at 801 Virginia Ave. (if you've been past there, you may have noticed that the buildings on the lot have been demolished.)
 

I hope I didn't jinx things, but on the off chance that construction on the new baseball stadium could actually begin in March (wouldn't that be a hoot?!?), I went for a nice long walk today in the beautiful weather and took what I presume are my final "before" pictures of the stadium neighborhood. The first pictures are of the perimeter of the site, which we'll be able to watch as it transforms from gritty industrial zone to demolished construction site to a stadium. The photos at the bottom of the page are of some of the businesses and buildings that have been the residents of these blocks off South Capitol Street but which will be soon replaced with bleachers, bases, bullpens, and uselessly exorbitant skyboxes. (You've got to take the good with the bad, I guess.) Anyway, enjoy the new photos. UPDATE: Oh, and by the way, I almost got arrested while taking them, as a DC policeman got all tense that I might possibly be photographing the Southeast Federal Center (which I wasn't). Because, you know, it's a government installation, and if I take pictures of it, the terrorists win. It's going to be so much fun having power-mad officers with nightsticks whacking baseball fans for daring to look at the east side of 1st Street. He asked to see my photos, but when I said, "Sure, fine, whatever, I've taken 70 already, do you want us to just stand here and look at the screen?" he got flustered and I took the opportunity to saunter off. (I'll admit I'm really just miffed that I didn't get mistaken for a prostitute, like a co-worker did when walking in the same neighborhood a few weeks back.)
More posts: Nationals Park
 

The Washington Times has "Mayor Confident of Lease Approval": "Mayor Anthony A. Williams yesterday said he believes Major League Baseball eventually will sign off on a new lease for the Washington Nationals' new ballpark and that legislation calling for a cap on city spending for the project will not be sent back to the D.C. Council. He said negotiations involving the league and more than a half-dozen city leaders are ongoing but could be wrapped up by week's end." And, once again, it's all about the parking garage: "Private developers are expected to play a key role in covering the cost of the underground parking garage because its construction will allow for retail or office space to be built at street level. By gaining developer commitments to pay for the parking, city officials hope to lessen any fears from MLB that the league will be responsible for cost overruns. [...] The underground parking is estimated to cost $55 million, but only $21 million for parking -- enough for an above-ground garage -- is in the ballpark budget. 'I think the development community will pony up, or we just won't build [underground parking],' said council member Jack Evans."

More posts: parking, Nationals Park
 

DDOT and the Anacostia Coordinating Council are holding an "Anacostia Transportation and Development Projects Information Fair," on Saturday Feb. 25 from 9 am to 2 pm, at 2616 MLK Ave., SE. It will be providing details on the plans for the Anacostia area, which include 11th Street and South Capitol Street Bridges, the Anacostia Waterfront projects and Poplar Point, as well as other projects that aren't in my Near Southeast purview. There will be bus tours of the sites, and food will be provided. Pre-registration encouraged but not required.
 

At last night's Zoning Commission hearing, approval was given for the second-stage PUD for Capper/Carrollsburg, along with some modifications to the first-stage PUD. This should be the last zoning hoop for EYA to leap through before the project gets underway. The Capitol Quarter web site now says "Coming Fall 2006." But is that when sales start, will any sort of construction begin before then? Right now, I don't know. I do hope, though, that the city gets moving and demolishes the rest of the vacant Capper buildings before EYA has to start marketing the new construction, because it appears some scary elements are squatting now in those buildings (fences have been bent back, and doors to the buildings are broken open).
 

From The Post, "D.C. Finance Chief Approves Council's Stadium Spending Cap": "D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi yesterday endorsed a baseball stadium spending cap adopted by the city council last week, saying he has no objections as long as Mayor Anthony A. Williams and Major League Baseball approve the plan. In a three-paragraph letter to Williams (D) and D.C. Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp (D), Gandhi said the council's $611 million spending limit on city funds for the project will not jeopardize his bid to get an investment-grade rating from Wall Street on the construction bonds. Gandhi said he will issue bonds once baseball officials, who are conducting their own review of the spending cap, endorse the deal and sign a final copy of the stadium lease agreement." Next step, MLB. The article also discusses the path to making the emergency legislation permanent, and also addressing some "minor" issues that arose from the Midnight Madness Session a few days back.

More posts: Nationals Park
 

"Stadium Cost Cap Concerns MLB" is Saturday's Post story, describing a letter from Bob DuPuy to Mayor Williams, as well as indications that Jerry Reinsdorf wants to take the city to arbitration, while DuPuy is more conciliatory. We also now appear to be worried about the funding of a parking garage. I think we need a snowstorm to make everyone take a take a few hours off from it all. UPDATE: The Washington Times story says about the same thing.
More posts: parking, Nationals Park
 

JPI is not wasting time with their plans for a big residential development at 70 I Street, SE; they're going before ANC6D on Monday, and the Bureau of Zoning Adjustment on March 14, and today they've submitted a building permit application for the project. Plans are for two towers and 700+ units; the company has said in various news articles that they plan to start construction this summer. As soon as I can get my hands on a rendering, I'll create a new page for the project.

More posts: 70/100 I, ANC News, jpi, zoning
 

The city council has released the four-page Stadium Cap amendment passed in the wee hours on Tuesday night. A 4:00 pm Post story about the release says that as of early today, baseball officials said they had not seen the legislation; don't know if that has changed.
UPDATE, 5:55 pm: An AP wire story says that MLB has now received the documents, but that they will not issue a response until Friday, at the earliest. But who knows, someone might whisper to someone, and we'll hear about it sooner.
UPDATE, 10: 55 pm: The print version of the Post's story is now available, now including some choice words from Bud Selig: " 'When it comes to demagoguery, a lot of what happened down there would have made Huey Long blush.' "
UPDATE, 2:20 am: And here is the WashTimes story, " MLB Receives Stadium Lease Papers." On the issue of a new team owner perhaps being on the hook for cost overruns: "Last year, MLB accepted bids from eight groups for the team, and settled on a $450 million sale price based on terms that included a ballpark fully financed by the city. If MLB accepts the cap legislation, it might then ask bidders if they would still meet that price, even if they are vulnerable to being responsible for cost overruns. 'This might knock that [$450 million] price right out the window,' said one bidder."
More posts: Nationals Park
 

Let's see if I can remember how to post an entry that doesn't have to do with the stadium... ANC 6D has posted its February Meeting agenda, which has a number of Near Southeast items. First, there will be a presentation by the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation on their plans. Then there will be a (re?)discussion of the proposed alley closings on Square 743N petitioned for by Faison to allow for the construction of two towers on 1st Street. There will also be presentation on the BZA application for the planned JPI residential project at 70/100 Street SE, which should give us our first peek at what's being planned for that site. Finally, there is a public space permit application by the Courtyard by Marriott hotel at 1st and L streets SE for a sidewalk cafe (which might be just fancy talk for an outdoor seating area connected to any food service the hotel will be having). The ANC meeting is on Monday, Feb. 13 at 7 pm, at 65 I Street SW.

 

I can't believe how many times and in how many places I've read in the past few days that the new baseball stadium will be built in Southwest DC, which is 100% incorrect. So let's all review the following, commit it to memory, and make sure to tell your friends, neighbors, enemies, local reporters, etc.:

The new Nationals baseball stadium will be built in SOUTHEAST DC.

And:
It will NOT be built in the "Anacostia" section of Southeast DC; it will be near the Anacostia River, but will be WEST of the river, not EAST.

Thank you. We now return your to your regularly scheduled programming.

More posts: Nationals Park
 

The Feb. 10 DC Register includes the following: "The Council of the District of Columbia hereby gives notice of its intention to take action in less than fiften (15) days on PR16-641, the "Design Build and Completion Guarantee Agreement fo the DC Major League Baseball Park Approval Resolution of 2006". The Council needs to act on this resolution expeditiously in order to avoid delays in the planning and construction of the ballpark."
More posts: Nationals Park
 

WTOP is reporting "Court Ruling Clears Way for Stadium Plans": "In the appeal, the Siegel Group asked the court for an injunction in D.C.'s eminent domain case, citing that the city does not have the right to take land from owners and that the District under-appraised the value of the land. In its ruling, the court said decisions about eminent domain rest with the mayor and the city council and that courts do not have the authority to second guess the city's decisions. The court also ruled that the District's estimates of the land value were made in good faith." There is still the Feb. 24 court hearing on "the District's motion to take possession of the disputed land parcels. The judge in that hearing will determine the date that owners must vacate the land so the city can begin construction. After the Feb. 24 hearing, subsequent valuations trials will be held to determine the fair market price the city must pay land owners." UPDATE: Here is the Mayor's press release.

More posts: Nationals Park
 

The WashTimes Day 2 story also has actual information about the stadium construction, which of course is all I was ever really interested in :). "The construction team [...] has told the city it would like to begin preparing the site for construction by March 1. But first, the city must gain possession of 14 acres at the ballpark site. It filed a court order in D.C. Superior Court asking a judge to force out property owners by last Tuesday, but a ruling is not expected until Feb. 24. The city is focused on acquiring land in the south section of the ballpark site first because that is where the heaviest construction must take place. Meanwhile, in a somewhat surprising development, consultants hired by the sports commission to handle environmental remediation on the ballpark site have reduced their fee from $8 million to about $6.3 million because initial tests of the site do not show as much contamination as expected[...]. Heavy environmental problems had been expected because of the presence of an asphalt plant, trash transfer facility and other industrial buildings."
More posts: Nationals Park
 

We'll kick off with Marc Fisher's Thursday Post column (available early on the web), "Stadium Wrangling in Drama City."
UPDATE, 7:49 pm: Another column, this one from the WashTimes's Thom Loverro ("Late Reversal Nothing New")--and, for the heck of it, here's the WashTimes's Wednesday piece on the lease approval.
UPDATE, 10:17 pm: The Post has "Reeling and Dealing on Stadium," with some good old-fashioned DC fingerpointing between the Mayor and the Council and a little amongst council members themselves as to how the lease agreement came so close to falling apart.
UPDATE, 10:54 pm: Here's the Post's main stadium story for the day, "Stadium Lease Deal Leaves Questions." The main points: MLB still hasn't received the full documents and are saying they are "very concerned," and the city CFO has not yet reviewed the cap and may not be able to sell construction bonds for another 4-6 weeks. Then there's the construction timetable, with the not-really-surprising statement: "Some city officials have begun talking about the possibility that the stadium will not be ready for the Nationals until the middle of the 2008 season, around the All-Star Game break." And of course there's the choice of an ownership group for the team; " 'Baseball has told us it will be done expeditiously,' said Mark H. Tuohey, chairman of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission. 'I interpreted that to mean a matter of a few weeks.' " We'll see whether any of this is more than just the little potholes we've gotten used on this long, strange trip. And check out the fun timeline graphic!
UPDATE, 1:44 am: And we close out with the WashTimes's "Ballpark Lease Concerns Baseball," quoting the same written statement from MLB that the Post used, plus a bit of analysis: "MLB's support for the cost cap likely depends on whether officials believe the team owner will be stuck with overruns. The cap legislation allows for the team's owner to pay for overruns but does not require it. Overruns also could be paid for by other outside entities, such as the federal government or private developers, or through savings on the construction of the stadium's structure." And: "If MLB approves of the lease and cost cap, the league could name an owner within weeks, Tuohey said. Other city and industry sources were more skeptical, believing the league will name an owner only after construction of the stadium is under way."

More posts: Nationals Park
 

Another babystep forward: " District officials say Major League Baseball is pleased with the final vote taken by the D.C. Council on the proposed stadium lease. Mayor Tony Williams says some final details remain to be worked out, but he believes MLB officials will sign the lease soon. Williams says groundbreaking at the stadium site is likely to come some time this spring. "
More posts: Nationals Park
 

The Washington Blade has posted "Graham withdraws bill to aid O St. clubs", explaining Graham's realization that he was incorrect in believing that "changing the citys liquor law could clear the way for the O Street clubs that offer nude dancing to move to a zone similar to the one in which they are now located. Graham said he has learned since introducing the bill that the city's zoning regulations prevent the clubs from moving anyplace other than the central business district and nearby streets, and they must obtain a special variance from the D.C. Board of Zoning Appeals to move there." In related news, there's been no word as to whether Judge Zeldon has ruled on the city's request to order the eviction of all occupants of the stadium site.
 

So, what does all of the torrent of words below mean? The short of it is, after initially defeating the stadium lease agreement 8-5 at 8 pm, the DC Council returned to the chambers at 10:00 pm and worked through the emergency cap legislation enough to satisfy council members Schwartz, Gray, Brown, and Barry, who switched their votes to allow the legislation to pass 9-4 at 12:40 am. The gist is that they passed the stadium lease agreement as given to them by the Mayor and MLB, but added an amendment to it capping the city's costs at $611 million. If the Mayor and/or MLB do not indicate their acceptance of the cap amendment by March 6, the council's approval of the lease will be invalidated. So now we wait for that shoe to drop. The stadium saga is not finished yet, but it's also not circling the drain, like it looked to be earlier this evening. And, if MLB does agree, look for a team owner to be announced quickly, and also (I'm guessing) a floodgate of new development plans and deals in Near Southeast, which have been on hold awaiting the stadium resolution. Then there will be the design, and the zoning, and the eminent domain fights, and yadda yadda yadda.... But let's not think about that right now.

More posts: Nationals Park
 
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