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Thompson Hotel ('20)
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225 Virginia/200 I ('12)
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Yards Park ('10)
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909 New Jersey Ave. ('09)
55 M ('09)
100 M ('08)
Onyx ('08)
70/100 I ('08)
Nationals Park ('08)
Seniors Bldg Demo ('07)
400 M ('07)
Douglass Bridge Fix ('07)
US DOT HQ ('07)
20 M ('07)
Capper Seniors 1 ('06)
Capitol Hill Tower ('06)
Courtyard/Marriott ('06)
Marine Barracks ('04)
 
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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.
 

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.
More posts: ANC News, Nationals Park
 

The Nats owners have finally broken their silence on Mayor Baseball's plan to wrap the required stadium parking with mixed-use offerings, according to "Nats Owners Attack DC Parking Plan" in Saturday's Post: "Incoming team president Stan Kasten released a written statement yesterday discrediting the plan that the D.C. Council appears poised to approve next week. Kasten said the plan is shaky and threatens to blow the construction deadline and budget for the project, which could delay completion of the stadium and cost the team and the city "tremendous losses" in the tens of millions. He urged its rejection." The council's Economic DevelopmentGovernment Operations subcommittee approved the plan today 5-0, and Jack Evans is quoted as predicting the council will approve the plan on Tuesday if CEO Gandhi certifies it. If it doesn't happen, or if the project goes south, the city will be in for millions in penalties if there's no parking ready on-site when the stadium opens. So let's close with an optimistic it'll-all-work-out quote from Stan Kasten: " 'The proposal will not work for many reasons,' Kasten said. 'But most important, it has the potential to cause considerable damage. Our efforts to create a strong fan base will also be harmed for years to come.' " UPDATE: Here is the short WashTimes piece on the parking ("City Can Sell Land Next to Stadium"), which corrects my mistake on which council subcommittee approved the plan on Friday. The Economic Development subcommittee will vote Monday, and the full council on Tuesday. Also, the WashPost editorial page weighed in today in support of the plan (as long as CEO Gandhi approves it).

More posts: Nationals Park
 

Opus East has launched a project page (and posted a press release) for 100 M Street, its 240,000-sq-ft office building planned for the current site of the On Luck Cafeteria at 1st and M, SE. The site says that construction is expected to begin in "late summer 2006", with delivery in late 2008. 100 M's construction will run concurrently with Faison Enterprises's 254-unit residential tower at 1st and L. (Now if Faison would post information and a rendering about it's project!) You can of course see photos (and the 100 M rendering) on my 100 M/1st and L page.
More posts: 100 M, Onyx, Square 743N
 

From Friday's Post, "Mayor's Stadium Proposal Advances": "The D.C. Zoning Commission approved the mayor's plan for the new Nationals stadium in Southeast yesterday, including his proposal to wrap four levels of parking inside two condominium towers, a first for Washington architecture." The commission rejected the backup plan for plain boxy aboveground garages, the ones preferred by the Lerners: "'Going back to exposed garages does nothing for the revitalization of the community,' Commissioner Michael Turnbull said. 'It's not good land use, not good planning.' " This WashTimes story gives additional details. The remaining hurdles to this plan are the city council (which will vote as a whole on the plan on July 11, with a vote coming today from the Economic Development subcommittee) and whether CEO Gandhi can certify the financial aspects of the plan, which he says needs to be done by Aug. 1 in order to allow construction to proceed by Labor Day to keep the project on time. Developer Herb Miller's quote: "What Nat Gandhi wants, we want." However, NBC4's Tom Sherwood is reporting that the DC Council appears ready to reject the plan. UPDATE: Here is Mayor Baseball's statement on the Zoning vote.
 

There are two big hearings today on the fate of the stadium parking--at 10 am the city council's Subcommittee on Economic Development will take up PR 16-852, the "South Capitol Street Development Disposition Approval Resolution of 2006," the proposal to sell the parking lot land to Herb Miller's Western Development Corp. However, Thursday's Post is reporting that DC CFO Gandhi is raising doubts about the ability of the city to work out the financing details quickly enough to allow the stadium to go forward and stay on schedule. (But everyone will breathe a sigh of relief to hear that Marion Barry has an idea for a solution!) Then at 5:30 pm, the Zoning Commission will hold a second hearing on Case 06-22, District of Columbia Sports and Entertainment Commission - Construction of a Major League Baseball Ballpark, and take the case up for action. Fun fun fun!
 

A Building Permit Application has appeared on the DCRA web site for 909 New Jersey Ave., SE, which would be JPI's residential tower on the current site of the Nexus Gold Club. I've heard nothing recently about when Nexis will close, when demolition will begin, or when construction on this project will begin.
 

The Navy Yard's Naval Historical Center has posted its calendar of July and August events open to the public. (I'll add them to my own calendar in a few days.)
More posts: Navy Yard
 

(Apologies for the posting delays, which will continue for about another week) The DC school board has approved the superintendent's plan to close Van Ness Elementary, at 5th and M SE, as part of the plan to shrink the school system's unused space (see the short Post story on the vote). You can read my previous entries on the Van Ness closure here and here.
 

The 11th Street Bridges Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has been released. Two public meetings have been scheduled, on July 26 and 27; the comment period extends until August 28, 2006.
More posts: 11th Street Bridges
 

From ANC 6D: "There will be a special ANC meeting on Wednesday, July 5th to discuss the supplemental proposal submitted by the Sports and Entertainment Commission on the baseball stadium. The meeting will be at 7 pm at 65 I Street SW." The Zoning Commission has asked the applicants to answer specific questions, and to allow ANC 6D to comment on the submission--July 6 is the date of the next ZC hearing.

 

Starting a thread for whatever news comes out of tonight's Zoning Commission hearing on the baseball stadium (and the parking garages!)--Mayor Williams planned to testify, and here are his prepared remarks. UPDATE: The Washington Times says that the Zoning Commission was not anywhere close to impressed with the new garages plan ("Garages Proposal Roundly Criticized"). The short Post story ("Mayor Asks For Stadium Plan Approval") doesn't include any actual detail from the hearing.
UPDATE, 6/29: Here's another Washington Times story, talking about the short timetable the city has to address the Zoning Commission's concerns, and also discussing the additional environmental issues that appear to have cropped up at the site.
 

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."

More posts: parking, Nationals Park
 

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."

More posts:
 

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).

More posts: Capitol Hill Tower
 

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.

More posts: Nationals Park, zoning
 

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.
More posts: parking, staddis, The Yards
 
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