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On March 26 29 at 6:30 pm, the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission is holding a Public Meeting on the Nationals Ballpark Traffic Operations and Parking Plan, which should be a festive meeting-of-the-minds between the public and representatives of DDOT, the Metropolitan Police Department, the Nationals, and the DCSEC. See the front-page story from the April Southwester for more information. UPDATE, 3/27: It would help if I could *read* - the meeting is this Thursday, March 29, not yesterday.
More posts: parking, Nationals Park
 

A few items of Near Southeast interest were on last night's Zoning Commission agenda. First, the commission unanimously approved the modification to the Capper/Carrollsburg PUD to change the makeup of Capper Seniors #2 (now nearly completed at 4th and M) from all units for low-income seniors to add some workforce-level (30-60% median income) units as well. Seniors will have first preference, followed by former Capper/Carrollsburg residents who meet the income requirements; because there are no one-bedroom units in the public housing portion of Capitol Quarter, making this switch at Capper Seniors #2 means that former residents in need of a one-bedroom have the chance to move back this year, instead of waiting for 2011 when the multifamily mixed-income buildings get built along 2nd Street. In return for this modification, the developers agreed to amendments recommended by the Office of Planning that additional shared parking spaces be created within three blocks of the building, and that two ride-sharing cars be located at Capper/Carrollsburg (also within three blocks of Seniors #2). So, look for more news in the coming weeks on the "Ballpark Apartments".
The commission also unanimously approved a modification to the office building at 100 M Street that needed to be undertaken because their sidewalk along 1st Street is being narrowed thanks to a decision by DDOT to widen 1st Street north of M to allow for two traffic lanes, two parking lanes, and a bike lane. The commissioners were not happy with DDOT's move, lamenting that the ZC's attempts to create walkable communities with vibrant ground-floor retail and outdoor seating space can get thwarted by a DDOT decision like this one. But the commissioners also agreed that the 100 M developers shouldn't be penalized for DDOT's mischief.
There was supposed to be a final vote on the Capitol Gateway Overlay Review for 1325 South Capitol, the new residential building across from the Nationals ballpark, but that has been deferred to the commission's April 9 public meeting.

 

There was a media tour of the Nats ballpark site today, and I was lucky enough to be part of the group. I'm plowing through the pictures right now, and will have a bunch posted soon--including not only from concourse level from way up in the upper deck. So keep checking back. UPDATE: Here's the big pile of new photos from inside the stadium, taken from the concourse level, the club level, and the upper deck in right field. I made the images larger than usual, so the page may be slow to load for you. I also uploaded a few minutes of video to YouTube, but the quality is pretty poor. (My crack staff of photographers and videographers weren't multitasking real well.) I will eventually incorporate some of these pictures into my Stadium Construction Gallery, but I wanted to get them posted first.
I will be updating this entry with links to the tour coverage in the local media as it comes out--Nationals President Stan Kasten gave a shout-out to my web site during his remarks, we'll see if it makes it on-air....
UPDATE: Here's the story from WTOP, with some accompanying video, too.
UPDATE II: The Post's afternoon story focuses less on the tour and more on Mark Lerner's positive pronouncements that the parking situation: " 'We're working hard on it,' Lerner told reporters during a tour of the stadium construction site in Southeast Washington. 'We have a team of people who are working on it. . . . All the local developers around the stadium are being very cooperative. We're very optimistic we'll be able to secure additional parking.'
UPDATE III: Here's Fox5's story on the stadium, very nicely done. And I'll add here the story from MLB.com, which also nicely captures what clearly was a fair amount of surprise from the tour attendees that the park was so far along (if only there were a web site with frequent updates on the progress!) and that it appears headed toward being quite a crowd-pleaser. (Although note that the MLB story is wrong when it says that home plate has already been placed--there's still four feet worth of dirt to be excavated before they get down to field level.)
UPDATE, 3/27: And the Examiner weighs in.
More posts: Nationals Park
 

Near Southeast's representative on the city council has launched his web site--go visit TommyWells.org for community news and updates on the political process for all of Ward 6.

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On a dreary, marathon-tinged Saturday morning, it was nice to be able to check the goings on along Half Street without having to leave the house, thanks to the Stadium Construction Cam--and, lo and behold, on Camera 2 starting at around 8 am, I was able to watch the demolition of the last building on the Monument Half Street lot, the gray garage at 68 N Street, which is now memorialized as #117 on the Demolished Buildings lineup. This building is where the glorified alley known as Cushing Street will be punched through to N Street as part of Monument's project--the apartment building along N Street will actually be built above and around the Cushing Street right of way, leaving just enough space for vehicles to squeeze under and through.

 

Demolition has begun of the old Capper Community Center at 5th and K--this will eventually be replaced with a new two-story 28,000-sq-ft center (see renderings on my page) that will include a daycare facility for 66 children, a rec center, a computer lab, a gym, a game room, and meeting/classrooms. I'm told that the Spring 2007 issue of Architecture DC has an article about the center and some renderings, but it's not online and I haven't seen the print version yet; I'll post it here when it's available on their site. I'll add photos of the demolition soon.
UPDATE, 3/24: Oops, meant to mention that the Community Center's demolition was completedearlier this week. Its page has been updated again with photos, and it's now Addition #116 to my Demolished Buildings page.
More posts: Community Center
 

For all of you who can't get enough tidbits about parking enforcement, vector control, and stoplight resynchronization, I'm pleased to tell you that the DC Service Requests feed has come back online after a short hiatus. (And all those parking enforcement entries should serve as fair warning to incoming DOT staffers who are thinking "Oh, I'll just park on the side streets.")
In additional data feed news, I've upgraded the Building Permits feed into an home-brewed hybrid--not knowing whether DC ever plans to add the pending applications to the RSS feed, I decided to take matters into my own hands and expand the city's daily RSS feed of approved permits and with records on new-but-not-yet-approved applications that I'm scraping from DCRA's Building Permit Status database. The pending applications contain almost no information other than the address and date, but it's better than nothing.

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From this week's Washington Business Journal print edition (online for subscribers only), a story about water taxi service being established between Alexandria, Georgetown, and the new National Harbor also addresses the possibilities of expanding the service to the stadium area:"[When the first segment of National Harbor opens in 2008], the Nationals' new baseball stadium in Southeast is expected to be ready, and waterfront planners are looking into building a dock system near the Earth Conservation Corps offices on First Street SE [note from JD: this is the Diamond Teague Park location]. To date, representatives of the Anacostia Waterfront Corp. haven't had any discussions with Peterson or Potomac Riverboat about running the water taxis there for baseball games. But that should change in the coming weeks, says Nia Francis, a project director with AWC. Preliminary research has shown that the demand for a landing near the ballpark is contingent on commuter traffic and other uses for the dock, Francis says. An arrangement with a dining cruise operation will also be examined. 'We're in the midst of a feasibility study for building a landing down there,' Francis says. 'I'm sure we will approach [Potomac Riverboat] while the study continues.' "

 

The closure of the inbound lanes of the South Capitol Street/Frederick Douglass Bridge planned for this weekend has been postponed until next weekend (March 30-April 2) because of tomorrow's National Marathon, which has the bridge on its route.
 

From today's Examiner: "Mayor Adrian Fenty said Wednesday he supports consolidating two quasi-government agencies charged with developing major interior and waterfront properties and bringing their responsibilities under his authority. With Fenty's backing, the days appear numbered for the Anacostia Waterfront Corp. and the National Capital Revitalization Corp. as they exist today. The D.C. Council is considering a bill that would dissolve both agencies and shift their duties to the office of Neil Albert, Fenty's deputy mayor for planning and economic development. 'We can support that legislation if it would consolidate the functions of the AWC and NCRC under the deputy mayor's office,' Fenty said of the legislation, introduced by Ward 2 Council Member Jack Evans. Restructuring the corporations was a top priority for Fenty in his first 100 days, and a report analyzing various structural alternatives was delivered to the council this week. But the mayor had yet to take a position on Evans' bill, now under consideration by the council's economic development committee. 'The likelihood is that the organizations will be consolidated in some fashion and it will be under the control of the mayor,' Evans said."
UPDATE, 3/23: Here's another roundup of where the AWC and NCRC stand, from Voice of the Hill, with a focus on how Ward 6 residents and representatives are viewing the issue.
 

Perhaps harkening back to the days when their new stadium had everyone excited, today's Baltimore Sun profiles the new Nationals ballpark ("Future Distinctly on Rise for Nationals"). " 'Just remember what we've gone through trying to get baseball here, and the cost of the ballpark, and remember that Washington had baseball and then it didn't,' said Chartese Burnett, a Nationals vice president who grew up in the area. After such a turbulent ride to get a team, Burnett said, the city is going to breathe a giant, collective sigh of relief when the new park opens. 'It's going to be like 'Wow, this has been a long time coming,' she said. " The article mentions the design features that have previously gotten a lot of attention, like the cherry trees in the outfield and the views of the Capitol (for now) from the upper decks--but they might want to ease up on making a big deal about the oval-shaped clubhouse, from what I understand there's about 10 non-square locker rooms in MLB already....

More posts: Nationals Park
 

From the Examiner: "The District of Columbia could get its first gold-rated 'green' building courtesy of Washington Nationals owner Ted Lerner, the family announced Wednesday. The 190,000-square-foot office building, located at 20 M St. SE near the under-construction Nationals baseball stadium, was constructed to match the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold standards for environmentally friendly buildings. The building, the first built under Lerner Enterprises' Green Initiative Program, will be submitted for certification from the Building Council, officials announced. Projects are awarded certified, silver, gold or platinum certification depending on the number of credits buildings receive under the Building Council's grading system. The Lerners have endured criticism from some environmental activists for not including enough green materials in the new Nationals stadium."
More posts: 20 M
 

Friday's Washington Business Journal print edition included "Development agencies fated for major shake-up", surveying the landscape in the wake of the council hearings on the fate of the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation and the National Capital Revitalization Corporation. (I'm a few days behind on this, and it's a subscription-only article, so I'm just failing all over the place.) "No decisions have been made yet, but several D.C. Council members have made it clear they're not pleased with the work done by the Anacostia Waterfront Corp. and the National Capital Revitalization Corp. At recent hearings, complaints were voiced about their lack of progress on several projects and what council members called inconsistent leadership and poor communication with the city. [...] At the very least, AWC's operations appear poised for a takeover by the city. Neil Albert, deputy mayor for planning and economic development, was recently named interim CEO of the agency and says many of its projects already require the city's cooperation. [...] [S]everal council members say they haven't heard a compelling argument in favor of leaving the agencies alone. Jack Evans, D-Ward 2, says the city today is better equipped to handle the agencies' operations and development portfolios." As for those supporting the AWC and NCRC, you can read in the April Southwester (page 5) the testimony of ANC 6D vice chair Andy Litsky. When will a decision be made? Dunno.
 

From the Metropolitan Police Department: "This is to advise the public that the National Marathon will be held on Saturday, March 24, 2007. To facilitate this event, parking and vehicular traffic restrictions will be in effect on certain roadways. The race is scheduled to begin at approximately 7 am. All streets affected by the National Marathon are expected to be reopened at approximately 2 pm, depending on prevailing conditions." A peek at the Course Map (PDF) shows that M Street SE, 8th Street SE, and South Capitol Street are on the course, so be prepared for road closures and other difficulties if you're coming into Near Southeast or anywhere within the course route.
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Monday's Examiner ran a piece called "S.W. Real Estate Market Dead, Agent Says", trying to tie what one realtor says is a soft market in Southwest to a supposed larger idea of difficulty selling near the new Nats ballpark. Putting aside that a photo caption says (incorrectly) that the stadium is in Southwest (I'd like a dollar every time that mistake gets made--geez people, look at a frickin' map), I think people should be aware that the Southwest and Near Southeast markets are vastly different, even if they're only separated by a single (albeit wide) street. Near Southeast is now an emptied-out neighborhood basically being rebuilt from scratch, while Southwest is an established residential community with a lot of (somewhat dated) housing stock and not many amenities, at least not until Waterside Mall and the Southwest Waterfront get redeveloped. So it might be hard to entice people to buy in the area of Southwest close to the stadium where the homes are older and the neighborhood slightly sketchier when on the horizon they can see brand new townhomes or condos surrounded by retail spaces coming down the pike in 18 months or so. Southwest has gotten many raw deals in this city's history, and right now they may continue to see the ballpark-related redevelopment rush pass them by somewhat--but if the developers of the new Southwest Waterfront and Waterside Mall can navigate the sometimes treacherous road of getting buy-in from Southwest residents, the possibilities are certainly there for Southwest to have its own renaissance, completely separate from a ballpark that many of its residents didn't want as a neighbor anyway.
UPDATE: A correspondent rightly notes that a distinction should be made between the residential area of Southwest and Buzzards Point, the gritty industrial area south of R Street SW; Buzzards Point actually has more in common with Near Southeast (old industrial, no residential, scramble by developers looking to redevelop and bring in condos, mixed-use, etc.) than it does with its brethren directly to the north.
More posts: Nationals Park
 

There hasn't been any announced movement on either office building planned for Square 697 (the block bounded by South Capitol, K, L, and Half), but I decided it was time to build (or, more accurately, I got guilted into building) a new page detailing 1015 Half Street and 1000 South Capitol. 1015 Half is the 440,000-sq-ft building planned for the site of the old "Nation" nightclub, and since they do at least have a "Coming Soon" banner hung on the north facade and have applied for raze permits, they get the additional honor of being added to the main projects map on my home page (where space is so very limited). 1000 South Capitol is Lerner Enterprises' proposed 300,000-sq-ft office building, but other than a rendering and some contact info on the Lerner web site, there's precious little additional information about this project. Of course, these new pages have photos on them as well.
 

Word has coming pouring in this afternoon from various boots on the ground (we'll give co-credit to readers Frank and Dave) that a sign announcing "Coming Soon - FedEx/Kinkos" has appeared in the window just to the left of the 20 M Street entrance (as they once again wait until I am just out of sight to hang the advertisement). Those who are hoping for a restaurant will have to continue to keep their fingers crossed.

More posts: 20 M, Retail
 

I gave you new stadium, Monument Half Street, and 20 M photos yesterday; today I've posted new Community Center and DOT HQ shots, including some pretty neat ones of the new New Jersey Ave. and Tingey Street intersection (amazing what bright sunlight can do for a bunch of buildings and fresh asphalt!). I also added to the 20 M page new shots of the festive scrolling information sign they've installed over the main entrance, as well as the "Coming Soon - Wachovia" sign that I missed by minutes when taking my pictures on Sunday. You can also see on one page all the photos from yesterday and today that I've posted.
 

Monday's Post mines the changes in Near Southeast with another A1 story, "The Far Side of Rebirth." No new pieces of news, just interviews with people who've been in the neighborhood a long time, plus some new arrivals (hi Scott!). For those of you arriving here at JDLand.com after reading the article, you might want to visit my Capper/Carrollsburg, Nats Ballpark and Capitol Hill Tower pages for more information on the projects mentioned in the story, and you can also see photos of the St. Paul's AUMP Church, the Market Deli, Bennie Meeks' firewood lot, and even the horse stables under the freeway, and the changes occurring around them that I've been documenting since 2003.
 

Still working my way through the pile of pictures I took today.... New shots posted of the ongoing work at the Monument Half Street site, and also some "substantially complete" shots of 20 M Street--in a couple photos you can see men working on the far left window on M Street, and a reader gave me a heads up that not more than a few minutes after I came through, they posted a sign saying "Wachovia Coming Soon." So, if that's indeed the case, that would be the first 20 M tenant we've heard of.
 
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