I've been remiss in not yet posting here that construction has begun on the Department of Transportation HQ. Parts of the old brick fence along M Street have been torn down (at the 3rd Street and 4th Street entrances), and digging has begun. Pictures have been taken, but aren't terribly exciting, unless you like Tonka toys.

The demolition of the last of the old boarded-up Capper apartments at 5th and Virginia is finally complete. (Only five months behind schedule!) Construction will probably begin in late spring on the first of two new apartment buildings for low-income seniors. It will overlook the new field/park north of the Marine Barracks (which should be completed fairly soon).

Forest City Enterprises Inc. has been chosen as the developer of the 44 acres of the Southeast Federal Center not included in the DOT HQ project. This is a huge chunk of the entire Near Southeast Redevelopment, so let's keep our fingers crossed that the winners put forth a fantabulous proposal of residential, retail, office, and park/river/green space (as soon as I can get my hands on their proposal, I'll post it here). For more about What It Means, read the Post story, or the Forest City Press Release, or The Slatin Report.

Still waiting for the school buses to be removed from the Canal Blocks area. Once they're gone (DC was given 90 days notice about 100 days ago), William C. Smith plans to start clearing the blocks in the spring, with the real construction on the park (including hopefully a "water feature") will begin in the future.

The National Capital Planning Commission has released a preview of a Urban Land Institute Advisory Panel's recommendations for South Capitol Street; the detailed report will be made public at a later date.

DC Builds: The Anacostia Waterfront, an exhibit at the National Building Museum, is running from January 17 to May 23. Read also the piece the exhibit and the project by Post architecture critic Benjamin Forgey.

The Office of Planning has released the completed Anacostia Waterfront Framework Plan, a 20-year blueprint for transforming the areas on both sides of the river, at an estimated cost of at least $8 billion. (12/3 WP article, plus a graphic detailing the plans). See my Other Projects page for more AWI links.

M Street SE, from the waterfront to the Navy Yard, is included in the "high priority corridors" in the DC Metro system's 10-year expansion plan for light rail or bus rapid transit. Two corridors--from the Anacostia Corridor to the Waterfront Metro station, and from the Silver Spring Metro station to Anacostia--would run along M Street. A three-mile demonstration version will be built in Anacostia in 2004.

One of the "landmarks" of the old M Street disappeared at some point in the last month--the boarded up gas station on the northwest corner of 3rd and M. Eventually there will be another office building there (250 M Street), but there's no firm construction date yet ("maybe in 2004", according to a William C. Smith rep). (May 2004 update: fences have gone up around the lot, but not for construction--it's been turned into a parking lot, so it doesn't look like they're planning for development anytime soon.)