Today's WashTimes has "Hotel Industry Gathers Momentum in Near Southeast", keyed to today's "opening" of the Courtyard by Marriott at New Jersey and L. (They're having a grand opening party tonight, but of course the hotel actually opened to customers in March.) The article mentions three other hotel projects on the boards, at Florida Rock (That's "FRP Development" in the story), Herb Miller's garage-wrapper plan just north of the stadium, Half and L (the Ron Cohen project, which I've heard nothing about for quite some time), and Maritime Plaza (east of 11th Street). The project it doesn't mention is the rumored sale at 50 M Street of the Sunoco station to a hotel developer of some sort--still no confirmation of that anywhere.

The tentative agenda for the National Capital Planning Commission's August meeting has been posted, and there's one item of Near Southeast interest: a request for some street and alley closings, and also some street openings, in Squares 737 and 739 (see my terribly low-tech map of the Near Southeast Tax Parcels). What is being requested is to close the current 1st and Canal "streets" on Square 737, and at the same time allow H and I streets to be extended from 2nd Street through to New Jersey Avenue. Making the request is the William C. Smith Company, which owns the land on Square 737 that's currently a surface parking lot--they have plans for a big (900,000 sq ft) mixed-use development, although I've heard nothing about these plans moving forward. Perhaps this request is the first hint that they are thinking about it? And I know people will also be wondering if this means that the dreaded DPW station at New Jersey and K is also on the way out, to which the answer is: eventually, but I don't know when. (The DPW lot/Square 739 is actually part of the Capper/Carrollsburg planned-unit development, with an apartment building slated to be built there. Someday.)

A correspondent passes along this link, a July 6 story originally from GlobeSt.com (which goes behind a paywall soon after publishing stories), "Monument Details Plans for Half Street." Nothing earthshatteringly new in this piece, but for folks who don't follow every iota of news in Near Southeast like SOME people, it's a good summary of what will be coming to the Ballpark District area just north of the stadium. Monument has bought all available land (the WMATA properties not being for sale) that faces Half Street between M and N, plus all the parcels facing N between Half and South Capitol, and about half of them between Half and 1st. They are planning to begin construction in mid-2007 of their Phase I, which apparently is the land on the east side of Half Street. There will be a 250,000-sq-ft office building on top of the Navy Yard Metro station at Half and M, and also a 450,000-sq-ft residential building along Half Street. The article says that "the tone of the street . . . is supposed to be celebratory, urban streetscape, . . . with restaurants on both sides." The news to me in this is that Monument will be able to develop the air rights above the Metro station as well as the WMATA lot in this first phase. Also possibly part of Phase I, according to the article, is a 125,000-sq-ft office building at the site of the Good and Plenty carryout on the northwest corner of Half and M. My Ballpark District page has lots of photos of these sites (now nicely festooned with the bright yellow Monument Realty signs). But we'll find out much more about these plans whenever the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation finally gets around to releasing the Ballpark District Master Plan. And, for those of you who often ask about the land bounded by 1st Street, Cushing, M, and N, I still have no news for you--it's owned by a couple of different families with ties to DC-area development, but no plans have been announced.

A small but fun tidbit--today a building permit application was filed for "1500 South Capitol Street SE" - yes, the Nats ballpark.

Short notice, but on Tuesday July 18 the DC Sports and Entertainmnet Commission is sponsoring "Straight Talk and Lessons from the Field," a roundtable on LSDBE participation and workforce opportunities at the stadium. Scheduled attendees include council member Kwame Brown, along with representatives from various DC agencies and from Clark/Hunt/Smoot. See the flyer for details and RSVP info. Also, the DCSEC announced on Friday that the stadium construction "is meeting its contracting and employment goals as set by Mayor Anthony A. Williams and the DC City Council. Through the end of June, approximately $212 million has been awarded for construction subcontracts, supplies and professional services. Of that amount, $108 million has been committed for Local, Small and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (LSDBEs)."

Nation, the nightclub at Half and K, is closing its doors after Saturday night, and the Washington Blade has a look back at VelvetNation, the Saturday night gay dance party. I've not heard anything on when the building might be demolished, or when construction might start on 1015 Half Street, the 250,000-sq-ft office building planned for that site by Potomac Investment Properties (the people who brought you 300 M Street). Check my North of M page for information and photos about that little slice of Near Southeast.

Residents on floors 1-6 have now begun the settlement process and are moving in to the co-ops at Capitol Hill Tower, after some delays and gnashing of teeth. Residents might be interested in the CHT Shareholder Community blog that was launched to organize unit owners.

With the squabble over the stadium's on-site parking garages finished, attention is turning to how the city will provide additional parking to the teeming masses who will insist on driving to the new Nats ballpark. Eventually (as certain sage local observers have noted on multiple occasions), the many new developments that will be sprouting in the Ballpark District will have plenty of underground parking that will be usable for baseball attendees. But until then, where will people park? Friday's Post has a big piece on the scrambling being done by the DC government (with considerable prodding by the Lerner/Kasten team) to line up existing lots (or create new lots) by Opening Day 2008 - here's the Post graphic showing the location of the lots. Some spots aren't surprising--the Southeast Federal Center, WASA, and Buzzards Point are all going to be developed in the future, but in the meantime can offer plenty of space for surface lots. But I also see that they're saying that the site of the current Capper Seniors at 7th and M could be available--putting aside that it's just a touch far away, could it really be emptied and demolished and paved by Spring, 2008? (Not if they hire the same folks currently using forks and knives to demolish the second ribbon of Capper/Carrollsburg.) Yes, some are a bit of a hike--but gosh, don't we all need more exercise these days, anyway? (it's a JOKE, people!) UPDATE: Here are articles on the city's parking presentation from the Examiner and the WashTimes. UPDATE II: Added the link to the Post map of the lots.

With the "crime emergency" that's been announced in DC over the past few days, I did want to mention that crime in Near Southeast is certainly down from a few years ago, which isn't a surprise given that it's got about 1,000 fewer residents now (because of the closure of Capper/Carrollsburg). But what's become apparent over the past few months is that some bad guys have figured out that the on-street parking spaces of Near Southeast are now filled with the cars of construction and office workers, who are parking on empty streets that then are all but devoid of human beings for hours and hours while everyone is working. So that makes these cars very easy pickings. Thefts from autos are also very big at nighttime on the streets near the Half and K nightclubs. So, if you park in Near Southeast (or anywhere in the city!), be street-smart and don't leave any valuables (or even anything unvaluable) in sight in your vehicle. Just common sense.... If you want to browse through the most recent crime reports filed with the city, visit crimeports.com (Near Southeast west of 6th Street is in PSA 105, in the First District). (PS, very soon the city is going to be offering RSS feeds of crime incident data, and once they do, I'll be making Near Southeast crime incident reports available here.)

Big surprise this morning--a correspondent reported that the Sunoco at 50 M Street (Half and M) is being dismantled as we speak. (Waah, where will I track gas prices now?) There's been no record of a land sale in the DC Property Sales database (although that currently runs about 6 weeks behind and is only updated right now through late May). However, a call to the station's phone number revealed a change to a new number with a 703 area code, and the person who answered said that Sunoco had sold the land "to a hotel or something." So do we have yet another new development arriving on M Street? More as I get it.

The Post's Thomas Boswell writes today ("Look No Farther Than Pittsburgh") on the stadium, the Lerners' concerns about dealing with the DC government ("Where's their sense of urgency?" is the quote from one Nationals source), and the worrisome drop in Nationals attendance.

More to come when news stories are posted, but I can report that the city council today passed without debate PR 16-852, the resolution to sell some of the stadium property right along N Street to developer Herb Miller, so that he can build not only the 925 parking spaces required by MLB but also a mix of residential, retail, and hotel offerings. (Without debate! Will wonders never cease!) Now the real fun begins, seeing whether he can actually pull this off on schedule and on budget. While it's quite a gamble, I don't think there's many residents who would have preferred two aboveground parking garage-boxes rather than mixed-use offerings in this location. Now we'll just see whether the gamble pays off. Batter up, Herb. UPDATE: here's the Post story, including that news that Miller "intends to produce the first $5 million or $6 million [of financing] in September to start excavation of the land, and the bulk of the financing would come by Dec. 1." UPDATE, 9:48 am: And here's the WashTimes story. UPDATE, 7:39 pm: And a late addition, this Examiner story says what I've suspected all along: "In its unanimous support of developer Herb Miller's project, to be built on two city-owned parcels adjacent to the ballpark's north end, the council sent a message, members said: Major League Baseball has long had the city over a barrel, but not in this case. " 'It's the first time the council has stood up and said, "This is ours," said Ward 5 Council Member Vincent Orange. "These are our development rights." ' "

Do not adjust your monitor, the Near Southeast home page has indeed grown wider. Blame it on the developers--I ran out of ways to keep adding all these projects to the neighborhood map in its old incarnation, and finally had to increase its size. For those of you running resolutions like 800 x 600, I apologize, but my options were limited. If it makes you feel any better, the news items column is now slightly wider, too. But I do think the revamped map now also conveys a bit more information at first glance, which should be helpful.

WTOP has a short piece about the Navy Yard Metro station, talking about what needs to be done to get it ready for the onslaught of Nats fans in 2008. They say it can currently handle 15,000 people an hour (the same as Stadium-Armory), but that they'd like to add "Another elevator ... an additional set of stairs, and another escalator from the mezzanine down to the platform" (quoting Dan Tangherlini). But so far, no funding.

Donohoe appears to be continuing to move forward with its office project on New Jersey Ave., now christened 1111 New Jersey (just north of the Navy Yard Metro station at New Jersey and M). A page on the Donohoe Real Estate Services web site describes the project: 146,000 sq ft, 12 floors, designed by WDG (who've also designed a pile of other buildings in Near Southeast), and delivery in 2008 (which would mean that construction would need to start by early 2007). At this time, the project doesn't include the land still occupied by St. Matthew's Baptist Church at New Jersey & L--I've heard through the grapevine about negotiations over the past year or so, but apparently no deal has been reached. (I haven't yet created a page for this project, I'm waiting a bit to see if anything changes with the church.)

Another item to add to your busy Zoning Commission calendar: The Zoning Commission has placed on its July 10 agenda the new office building project at 250 M Street--it is actually part of the Capper/Carrollsburg planned unit development, so this is coming before the Zoning Commission as a second-stage PUD. UPDATE, 7/11: The second-stage PUD was approved for setdown; a hearing date should be set before too long.

The second-stage PUD hearing for Florida Rock has now been scheduled for Sept. 18, having been originally slated for December 2005 but then postponed. Reading the two announcements (Dec. and Sept.), it doesn't look like there's been any significant changes to the application (though it might be hard to tell from these documents). My Florida Rock page has renderings of the plans for the development, taken from the documentation provided to the Zoning Commission last year. Note that this PUD was supported by ANC 6D 7-0 at it's November 2005 meeting--at this meeting, it was predicted that construction would begin in 2007 (moving east-to-west), but I don't know if that's still operative.

From the Post: "The D.C. Council's Economic Development Committee voted unanimously yesterday to transfer to developer Herb Miller development rights to two parcels of public land next to the Nationals stadium site in Southeast Washington." The full council will vote on the measure today, PR 16-852.

It's been a while (I've been out of town), so I'm now catching up and giving you updated construction photos of 20 M Street and Capper Seniors #2, which are both making good progress. I also added two new shots to my Stadium Construction Gallery, but I didn't visit my perch on the South Capitol Street Bridge today, and until the stadium skeleton actually starts to appear, I probably won't have too many new photos, and it might be just as interesting to visit the Clark/Hunt/Smoot Stadium Construction Cam every so often. Holes in the ground are tough to make exciting from street level :-). As always, let the icon be your guide. (I'd post updated photos of the continuing Capper demolition, but for crying out loud they're STILL not finished with the tiny block bounded by Virginia, I, 3rd, and 4th, which they started eight weeks ago. I think I could have done it faster with a hammer and shovel.)

These are a little bit old at this point, but I'd still like to point people toward these two pieces in the July Hill Rag: ANC 6D chair Andy Litsky spells out the commission's reasons for opposing the baseball stadium, and the report on the June ANC 6D meeting includes the many concerns about the stadium, the parking, the lighting, and the traffic, expressed by the ANC commissioners.