Adrian Washington of the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation gave a preview of the soon-to-be-released Ballpark District plans to the Washington Post last week, as described by Dana Hedgpeth ("Anacostia Group Looks Beyond the Ballpark"). From the article: "Under those plans, about 9 million square feet of residential and commercial buildings and parking garages will be built over the next decade on 50 acres around the stadium, said officials with the Anacostia Waterfront group. They estimate that the new development -- on land that is now mostly auto repair shops, nightclubs and empty lots -- will be worth about $4.5 billion." However, "Washington declined to release any sketches for publication, saying they were not final." Waaaaah!

The Post's architecture and urban planning columnist, Roger K. Lewis, has a piece in Saturday's Post discussing the ballpark garage contretemps ("The Right Garages for the Stadium"). His summary: "Fortunately, the mayor and city planners are doing the right thing, recognizing that it isn't enough to build garages to satisfy only stadium parking needs. Creatively designed garages must help satisfy another, equally important goal: enhancing the urbanity, functionality and economic potential of this neighborhood."

From the hot-off-the-presses July issue of the Southwester (see page 4): "The DC Office of Planning will make a presentation of that portion of the Comprehensive Plan affecting Near SW/SE (now to be known as the "Anacostia Waterfront area") on June 27th from 6 to 8:30 PM at Kreeger Theatre in Arena Stage, 1101 6th St. SW."

There continue to be delays at Capitol Hill Tower residences, with move-in dates having now been pushed back multiple times. I've been getting messages from the increasingly grumpy not-yet-residents, and now one of them has created a blog where shareholders (since it's a co-op) can exchange information about the delays. Please contact the owner that blog with comments or questions, not me, since I'm not at all involved in this. UPDATE: Link changed to reflect new blog URL (now moved to Blogspot).

This week's Washington Business Journal has "Developers, AWC Wrestle with Ballpark-Area Plans" (not yet available online). It mentions (just like someone else!) that the unveiling of the Ballpark District Master Plan is now more than two months behind schedule, and that the lack of plan is hampering what is already a pretty complicated venture, especially when you add in the new potential garages deal with Western Development and the fact that the AWC still has not finished negotiating with either WMATA or WASA to get access to their acreages that are considered part of the Ballpark District. AWC head Adrian Washington says he'll have something ready for the council to approve by fall (though it would then need approval by the Zoning Commission as well), but you wonder if Monument Realty (one of the four Master Developers, and the only one that actually owns land within the Ballpark District) is starting to get just an itsy bit antsy to start building and start recouping their $50 million investment....

This Monday (June 26) is the all-important Zoning Commission hearing on the baseball stadium. They appear to have gotten their live webcasts back up, so you can watch it in your fuzzy slippers at home (with the alcoholic drink of your choice close at hand, to ease the pain) via their webcast page, starting at 6:30 pm. Note that the webcasts are not archived, you can only watch it live.

A story in Wednesday's Baltimore Examiner about the Cordish Company signing a deal with NASCAR to develop a string of racing-themed restaurants also gives a teeny tiny bit of information about Cordish's part of the Nationals stadium Ballpark District (Cordish and Monument Realty are working together to plan the northern part of the district, the "gateway" to the park from M Street to N Street and from South Capitol to 1st). According to the article, "plans for the company's Nationals stadium development are expected in the next few weeks." (Original delivery date for the AWC's Ballpark District Master Plan was April 15, but who's counting?) Also from the article: " 'The goal is to create a truly vibrant destination and gateway into the stadium,' said Jon Cordish, vice president of Cordish. 'It will be a dynamic and entertaining ground-floor experience [similar to what] we've done throughout the country on these types of developments.' Cordish is also creating entertainment districts for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers. While no concrete plans have been released yet on what the Nationals development will look like, John Cordish said the company is exploring licensing options, such as the NASCAR Sports Grille, as well as original concepts. 'Aspects of it may well feel like the Inner Harbor at Baltimore, yes,' he said. 'But will there also be things unique to the Anacostia Waterfront? Definitely.' "

Now that the tiff over the 1,200 on-site spots required by the Stadium Lease Agreement seems to be heading toward some sort of settlement, attention is turning to the lack of additional parking. WTOP reports ("Not Enough Parking Planned at New Stadium, Critics Say"). I've heard of plans for temporary surface parking at the Southeast Federal Center until that project gets more built out, and of course there's plenty of underused land at Buzzards Point that I might guess could be converted to temporary parking lots (which would also funnel more people toward the open South Plaza and away from the northern entrance by the garages), but people used to 10,000 surface spaces at RFK (the same people who have no interest in taking Metro) are getting antsy. Then again, how many on-site spaces are there at MCI Center (especially in comparison to the acres of parking lots at the old Capital Centre)? But, as Adrian Washington of the AWC is quoted as saying, "Almost every development that will go in there on other parcels -- that either we control or private developers control -- will have a substantial amount of underground parking." This handout from a Nov. 2005 community meeting mentions on page 15 the surface lots on undeveloped land, noting that they estimate a need for around 4,000 spaces.

In less fractious stadium news, F&L Construction and the Wrecking Corporation of America, the two companies who created a joint venture to get the stadium site demolition contract, have sent out a press release announcing that they have "neared completion of the complex project."

The Post's Day 2 story on the stadium parking garages, "City Urged to Support 2 Proposals," says that team owner Ted Lerner "wants city officials to adopt his proposal for aboveground-only parking as a backup if the mayor's plan for parking aboveground and below falls through. [...] The Lerner group stressed that it will agree [to the city's plan for both underground and aboveground parking with surrounding development] but asks that the city consider the group's plan for aboveground parking with no other development as a Plan B." As for logistics: "The city's chief financial officer, Natwar M. Gandhi, is analyzing whether he can certify the money is available for the city's parking plan. D.C. Council member Sharon Ambrose (D-Ward 6) has scheduled a hearing on the stadium July 6. And the council will vote July 11 on a resolution to transfer development rights on the stadium site near South Capitol Street and the Navy Yard in Southeast Washington to private developers." In a classic chicken-and-egg scenario, CFO Gandhi wants a letter from Herb Miller's financial backers before he certifies the plan, but the backers want to see that the plan is supported by the Zoning Commission at the June 26 hearing before proceeding. The WashTimes story from today has similar comments, saying that approval of the plan by the Council is likely as long as Miller can show "how the project can be paid for without threatening the city's $611 million spending cap for the stadium." This story says that approval of the aboveground structures by the Zoning Commission is less certain.

From the Post: "D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams announced plans today to build a mix of underground and above-ground parking adjacent to a new baseball stadium in Southeast Washington as part of a complex that will include shops, restaurants, 660 condominiums and a swanky New York City-based hotel. [...] [T]he compromise plan would call for 900 parking spaces on one level below ground to serve the condo owners, hotel and retailers. Above ground, there would be two different structures. The first two levels of both structures would be restaurants and shops and on top of those would be four levels of parking -- totaling 925 spots -- wrapped by condominiums. Another eight levels on top of that would be more condos, including 140 units priced below market value for lower-income residents. A 180-room hotel also is planned for the corner of First and N Streets SE." Developer Herbert Miller is going to pay the city $70 million for the property, and his investors will finance the additional $300 million needed for the project. He says that the parking will be completed by April 2008, but the rest will take an additional year. And for the ugly foreboding part of the story: "The city still faces a few hurdles. It must win approval for the project from both the D.C. Council, which must authorize the transfer of land rights to Miller, and the D.C. Zoning Commission, which will hear the plans Monday." And we know how much the council likes passing stadium-related legislation!

More posts: parking, Retail, Nationals Park, zoning