Sunday's Washington Times had a big piece ("A Tale of Two Southeasts") comparing the two sections of Southeast DC, in Ward 8 to the east of the Anacostia River and in Ward 6, on the river's west bank and closer to the US Capitol (which of course includes Near Southeast). Lots of discussion of whether the stadium and other development in the western part of Southeast will trickle over to eastern Southeast. There's mention of some Near Southeast projects, alas it would have been nice if they had correctly described the "two new apartment complexes with a total of 298 units" as being for low-income senior citizens.

WMATA has released a Joint Development Solicitation for two sites in Near Southeast--the eastern entrance to the Navy Yard subway station at New Jersey and M, and the chiller plant on the southwest corner of Half and L. The sites would be offered for long-term leases, with the goal being Transit-Oriented Development: "safe, walkable, mixed-use communities that emphasize transit connections and reduce auto dependency." The 4.400-sq-ft New Jersey and M site is interesting because it butts up against Donohoe's planned 1111 New Jersey Avenue office building, and the JDS states: "The Anacostia Waterfront Corporation has indicated a preference for the ground floor area around WMATAs eastern entrance to be an attractive public plaza, complimenting the new development in the area. In this case, development on the parcel would largely occur above the street level." I'm not sure how you create an attractive public plaza that has development above it.... I'm guessing that Donohoe will be quite interested in this land (and their rendering of 1111 NJ does indeed show a very nice plaza). As for the chiller site at Half and L, it's 14,100 square feet, with a 7,700-sq-ft privately owned strip right next to it that combined could allow for a 200,000-sq-ft development (just like 20 M Street just to its south). With two other parcels at the corner of Half and L ready to be developed (the Nation site and the Ron Cohen Square 699N project), I'd imagine this site will garner a fair amount of interest. Proposals are due to WMATA on Nov. 17.

Monument Realty has added to it's web site an "Upcoming Projects" page, listing "Ballpark District - Phase 1." This is the project on the east side of Half Street between M and N we've been hearing about, but it's nice to see it "confirmed" on their web site. It's described as 275,000 sq ft of office space (which would be at M Street, above the Navy Yard Metro station) and 450 condos (down toward N Street and the stadium). The site says "more details to come by Spring Training 2007." No word yet on the outcome of the bidding for the WMATA land.

The Washington Blade reports that Wet and Edge, the nightclubs at Half and L, will be closing on Sept. 23. This is part of the clearing of the tenants on this entire block (Square 699N, bounded by Half, 1st, K, and L), to begin making way for a mixed-use project by Bethesda developer Ron Cohen. It appears all tenants on the block will be out by the end of September (Club 55 is the only other tenant on the block still operating, with rumors a few weeks back that it will be closing Sept. 12). I've been unsuccessful in finding out any more details on what exactly Cohen is planning for the site, beyond what was mentioned when he bought the block for $55 million in Sept. 2005; his company's web site makes no mention of the project (boo!).

They haven't been posted on the Naval Historical Center's calendar yet, but I've received the list of lectures, concerts, and other activities being offered at the Navy Yard in September, and have added them to my Neighborhood Events Calendar.

The latest issue of the bi-weekly Voice of the Hill is now posted on their web site (a big ole' PDF), with a big Voters Guide in advance of the Sept. 12 DC Primary, with question-and-answer tables comparing the stands of the candidates for Mayor, Council Chair, Council-at-Large, and Ward 6 (where Near Southeast is located). There's also on page 36 a nice piece about the history of the Navy Yard, mentioning that the Latrobe Gate at 8th and M is celebrating it's bicentennial this year, with a ceremony on the boards for sometime in mid-September. The Commandant's Office (Building 1) was rededicated in August after it's renovation.

No news yet on the fate of the Herb Miller/Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness plan to solve the issue of parking at the new baseball stadium (despite the Sept. 1 date when the financing was supposed to be in place having now arrived), but the Post editorial page weighs in on the lonely plight of CEO Gandhi trying to make sure that the DC taxpayers' interests don't strike out.

The agenda for the September ANC 6D meeting has been released; items of Near Southeast interest include a vote on the request for alley closings on the east side of Square 701 and also a presentation on changes in the Florida Rock PUD in advance of it's Sept. 18 zoning hearing. (Perhaps the Square 737/739 alley closing will get added to the agenda as well, it was supposed to be referred back to the full commission from the Development Committee for this meeting.) The meeting is on Sept. 11 at 7 pm at 65 I Street SW.

Oops, I missed this badly. The August Hill Rag's report from the July ANC 6D meeting gives us our first description of what's being planned for 1st Street between M and N (just north of the stadium and part of the Ballpark District area): "a 515,000 square foot mixed use office, residential and retail development. The office building will be 11 stories[;] the apartment building, which will contain 252 units, will be 12 stories. There will be 499 parking spaces, more than a hundred more than the number mandated by regulation." This was revealed as part of the alley closing request, which was referred to the ANC's development committee, and will be reconsidered by the full commission at it's Sept. 11 meeting.

The DCRA has approved JPI's building permit application for its 70 I Street residential project, which is listed as valued at $20 million. Still pending is the permit app for 100 I Street, it's sister building to be built right next door. JPI has said that they planned to begin construction on this project in Fall 2006, so that would appear to still be on track. There's also an application filed for 909 New Jersey, JPI's other pending residential tower in Near Southeast (on the site of the Nexus Gold Club), which may also get underway by the end of the year.

NBC4 does a nice piece on the "green" roof at the new Department of Transportation headquarters, but alas can't look at a map and determine that the building is in Southeast, not Southwest.

I'm slow in posting this (political campaigning leaves me cold), but here's the WashTimes description from yesterday of a mayoral candidates forum it recently held, "Candidates Revisit Baseball Deal." Michael Brown's "plan" to halt construction on South Capitol Street and move the stadium to RFK (giggle, chortle) was attacked, and Adrian Fenty said that although he voted against the stadium plan, as mayor it would be his job to make it a success.

Yeah, I ranted a few hours ago about how I wouldn't be taking photos of the stadium every five minutes. But that fit of pique ran right up against the fact that it's been two weeks since I ventured up to my South Capitol Street perch, and the construction is really starting to look like, well, a baseball stadium. So I took a couple of new shots and added them to the Stadium Construction Photo Gallery. While I'm never going to be as up-to-date as the stadium webcam, I do have one leg up on it: different angles :-).

As promised by EYA, a sign announcing the impending Capitol Quarter project at Capper/Carrollsburg has indeed gone up at 4th and L, next to the soon-to-be-sales-center trailers. And with perhaps a stronger level of urgency now felt, the molasses-like demolition of the old Capper buildings on the block bounded by 3rd, 4th, I, and K has shifted into a higher gear, with one of the interior buildings finally demolished this week and demolition underway on the buildings facing 3rd Street. Photos of these terribly important developments are now on my Capper photos page. (I guess I might have to start transitioning out of calling this area Capper/Carrollsburg....)

Just a small reminder/plea.... Construction at the stadium is proceeding briskly, and people are of course very excited about it. However, my goal at this site is really to document an overall feel of change, not necessarily every single iota of progress. I'm getting e-mails from people along the lines of "you should know they poured another concrete pillar today" (a bit of an exaggeration, but not as much as you might think). If you want minute-by-minute views of the stadium's construction, the Clark/Hunt/Smoot Stadium Construction Webcam is the site for you. I'll continue to take photos every few weeks as I always have and put those on my Stadium Construction Photo Gallery, so that you can see how the blocks are transforming, but bookmark the webcam if you're wanting more.

A short blurb from Friday's Post: "D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi asked the city's attorney general yesterday to rule on the legality of a plan for a private developer to build a mix of parking garages, condominiums and shops adjacent to the new baseball stadium. In a two-page letter, Gandhi expressed concern that the plan would violate the $611 million stadium cost cap adopted by the D.C. Council and a ban on using the money the city would receive from development rights near the stadium to build the garages. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) and other city officials are aiming to complete an agreement by Sept. 1 with developer Herbert S. Miller to build the garages and condos." (Boy, I've enjoyed these past few weeks without any news on this. But I'm guessing next week this'll be back with a vengeance. Blech.)

The parade of alley closings and street closings/realignments this year in Near Southeast continues, as the National Capital Planning Commission has on its September meeting agenda the proposed closing of a public alley in Square 701 (the square bounded by 1st, M, N and Half Streets, SE--see my cruddy tax parcel map for assistance on where the squares are). I figured that this was going to be the alleys in the footprint of the Monument/WMATA properties, since Monument has made clear it's plans to move forward with developing the land along Half Street, but instead I find out that the alley closings being requested are on the east side of the Square, between Cushing Place and 1st Street, where the land is owned by the Cohen and Camalier families, who have said little about their plans for these properties. Does this mean we'll be seeing development coming to 1st Street south of M soon, too? And believe it or not, as I was writing this very entry, I received word that Monument has now filed it's application for alley closings on the west side of Square 701 as well as one small alley on Square 700 (behind the Amoco Station). Note that neither of these applications request closings of Van or Cushing. These applications follow successful alley closing requests already this year for Square 0743N as part of the 100 M and 1100 1st Street projects, the street/alley closings for the new ballpark, and the closed alleys and new streets for Capper/Carrollsburg--plus there are the still-pending requests to realign the streets in Square 737 in preparation for William C. Smith's big mixed-use project at 2nd and H and the Lerners' request to close a small portion of an alley in Square 697 as part of their 1000 South Capitol office project (no bills for these yet appearing in the DC Council legislation database).

Within the last 24 hours, two well-appointed cream-colored trailers (or small manufactured homes, if you prefer) have been deposited on the now-cleared-and-smoothed lot at 4th and L, smack dab in the middle of Capper/Carrollsburg. I have no information, I'm merely speculating, but these trailers look very much like the trailers that developers use to house Sales Centers before a project's construction begins. And EYA's Capitol Quarter info page still says "Coming Fall 2006." And it's almost fall. Make of it what you will. And I'll see if EYA has anything they'd like to share. Again, I know nothing for sure, I'm just passing along what I saw. UPDATE: EYA confirms to me that the trailers are indeed for the Sales Center, and that a sign should be installed this week as well, with construction on the Sales Center to begin within a week or two. And, if this is a project that you are interested in, I'd suggest registering on EYA's web site to be contacted with more information when the time comes--people on those types of lists tend to get first crack at the offerings.

I've been told by Opus East, the developer of 100 M Street, that the work being done along 1st and along M this past week or so has been the capping of the utilities in preparation for demolition, which should be starting next week (the week of Aug. 28).

Today's Washington Times reports that DC mayoral candidate Michael Brown has vowed to "stop construction of the Washington Nationals' baseball stadium on South Capitol Street and instead would refurbish RFK Stadium for the team." He will apparently be holding a press conference this week to detail his plans. Additionally: "Mr. Brown acknowledged the apparent difficulties in gaining the approval of all interested parties for a new stadium deal but said he can do it. 'I didn't say it was easy, and there are a lot of different moving pieces.' " In other the-stadium-is-a-boondoggle highlights from the weekend, the WashTimes editorial board compares the financing for the new Yankee stadium to what DC "negotiated" to get the Nats to DC (i.e., stop pointing the gun at us, Bud, we'll give you everything you want, just so you'll finally put a team in one of the biggest markets in the country), but also uses it to once again castigate the Lerners for standing in the way of the city's desire to recoup some money by building the Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness. In addition, local muckraking institution DC Watch has had much discussion from its readers over the past few weeks about the stadium and it's financing, and addresses it specifically in its current issue.