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Nat'l Community Church
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SC1100
Completed
Thompson Hotel ('20)
West Half ('19)
Novel South Capitol ('19)
Yards/Guild Apts. ('19)
Capper/The Harlow ('19)
New DC Water HQ ('19)
Yards/Bower Condos ('19)
Virginia Ave. Tunnel ('19)
99 M ('18)
Agora ('18)
1221 Van ('18)
District Winery ('17)
Insignia on M ('17)
F1rst/Residence Inn ('17)
One Hill South ('17)
Homewood Suites ('16)
ORE 82 ('16)
The Bixby ('16)
Dock 79 ('16)
Community Center ('16)
The Brig ('16)
Park Chelsea ('16)
Yards/Arris ('16)
Hampton Inn ('15)
Southeast Blvd. ('15)
11th St. Bridges ('15)
Parc Riverside ('14)
Twelve12/Yards ('14)
Lumber Shed ('13)
Boilermaker Shops ('13)
Camden South Cap. ('13)
Canal Park ('12)
Capitol Quarter ('12)
225 Virginia/200 I ('12)
Foundry Lofts ('12)
1015 Half Street ('10)
Yards Park ('10)
Velocity Condos ('09)
Teague Park ('09)
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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Yesterday was the day that WMATA was supposed to open the bids received from developers who want to purchase the Southeastern Bus Garage and its parking lot at 17 M Street (I've archived the Invitation for Bids, which is no longer linked to on their web site). I keep checking around, but have found so far no indication of who the winning bidder is. I suppose it's possible that this might not be announced until the Real Estate, Planning and Development Committee meets on Sept. 13, or even not until the full board meets Sept. 27. If anyone wants to whisper the winner in my ear, I'll listen. And of course I'll keep digging.
 

The Post's Thomas Boswell takes up the stadium parking and transportation issue in this morning's column, "Fans Can't Fill Seats If They Can't Find Spots." He is concerned that the city and the Nationals aren't moving fast enough to get parking lots lined up and ready by Opening Day 2008. He also takes a swipe at the US Department of Transportation for not allowing some of its 800 spaces to be used by the public, an issue that you might recall was brought up at the July 12 National Capital Planning Commission hearing on temporary parking lots at The Yards--the answer basically was "Sept. 11."
If you want to know more about the current plans, my Stadium Parking and Transportation page is a good place to start, with a map showing possible lots, a link to the draft Transportation Operations and Parking Plan, and all the news items I've written both here on the blog and in my Ballpark and Beyond columns in the Post on various parking-related issues.
This would also be a good time to note that a public space permit application was filed last week by Lerner Enterprises, to put a parking lot on the land it owns at 1000 South Capitol Street.
More posts: parking, Nationals Park
 

Word is out that the Douglass Bridge will be reopened early Thursday morning. More soon.
UPDATE: Here is the media advisory from DDOT; there will be a ceremony with invited speakers on Wednesday afternoon, and then sometime during the overnight hours, before Thursday morning rush, the bridge will be opened to vehicles and pedestrians. It was originally scheduled to reopen Sept. 6, so for those of you counting at home, that means the work will have been completed a week ahead of schedule.
UPDATE II: And here come the torrent of news stories: WashPost, WTOP, Channel 7, Channel 9, Channel 4, Examiner. With more to come, I'm sure.
If you're wandering through here from a web search about the bridge, be sure to check out my Douglass Bridge Extreme Makeover page to see photos from before and during the bridge's rehabilitation.
 

After a week of days that were either overcast and drizzly or ridiculously hot and humid, today's sunny-and-warm profile gave me no choice but to venture out for a reconaissance mission. My report:
The masses of workers and the well-positioned fences make it nearly impossible to take photos of the current state of South Capitol Street, but I have added a decent photo to my Douglass Bridge makeover page showing the new South Capitol and Potomac intersection, which appears very close to being ready for traffic. Streetlights are in place, curbs have been built, paving has begun, and the historic globe streetlamps are installed all along the length of the bridge.
I also snuck a peek into the huge hole where Monument Realty's Half Street project is underway, and from N Street you can see what appears to be vertical construction is already underway at the bottom of the hole. It's along the M Street portion of the site, which will be home to the 55 M Street office building, which itself will contain the expanded entrance to the Navy Yard Metro station. Because that Metro work must be completed by Opening Day 2008, I guess it shouldn't be surprising that they're already pouring concrete and working upward, eight months into construction. The office building itself and the rest of the Half Street Phase I won't be completed until 2009.
And I unexpectedly found Demolished Building entry #138, as the beige garage that has long sat on the northeast side of the Half and I Street intersection bit the dust today, which I'm sure JPI is happy to see, given that 70/100 I Street is growing like a weed right next door.
Speaking of 70/100 I, it got updated photos today, along with Onyx on First and 100 M Street. You can look at those project pages (and their accompanying expanded archives), or you can browse this page showing all photos I've posted from today, which includes a few new shots of Capper Building #2, which I believe is just minutes from opening. And I even finally added a photo of the "Starbucks Coming Soon" sign out in front of the DOT HQ, for the caffeine-deprived.
 

The MPD First District weekend report by First District Commander Diane Groomes includes a robbery on Friday in Near Southeast. Quoting: "2nd and I St SE at 1615 hrs - as a female citizen was walking down the street -two b/f (teens) jumped out of white car and approached the citizen - they stated hello and then jumped her and grabbed her purse - the females jumped into white car (unk type) and fled with a male driver."
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There are three items related to the new Nationals ballpark in today's Post. In "Hot Dogs, Beer and Business at the Ballpark," the Business section looks at the ritual of using "the forum of sports" to get business deals done, noting that "Entertaining at sporting events has become as much a rite of the business world as the annual review or the PowerPoint presentation" and that baseball "offers a relaxed atmosphere conducive to long, easy conversation." The article says that more than half of the 66 luxury suites at the new stadium have been leased, with their price starting at $150,000 per season.
The Nationals Notebook describes how a contingent of team officials are visiting Houston, Denver, and Los Angeles during the Nats' road trip "in an effort to see more ballparks, from which the team might glean ideas for how to run game operations -- promotions and in-game entertainment -- at the Nationals' new stadium, which will open next spring." Quoting owner Mark Lerner: " 'Just walking around down here, there are reminders of things you don't want to forget,' Lerner said. 'There's in-game stuff, music and all that kind of stuff. But everything from the window where they give out uniforms to [game-day] personnel, to looking at their time-clock system. You learn something every place you go.' " It also confirms the WBJ story from Friday that concessionaire Centerplate has been hired to manage the food service at the new ballpark.
As for this week's ballpark construction update, "The last of the major cranes have left the center of the site, so workers can now concentrate on building the actual playing field. On the main concourse level, there is now a glass storefront at one of the main, high-end restaurants in the park. Drywall framing for the visitors' clubhouse has started. And the new intersection of South Capitol Street and Potomac Avenue, approaching the South Capitol Street bridge, is also developing, with new curbs, gutters, asphalt, street lights and traffic lines in place."
More posts: Nationals Park
 

Today's print edition of the Washington Business Journal reports that HOK has been hired to design the new four-building 825,000-sq-ft office and retail project by DRI Development on Square 696, the block bounded by First, Half, I, and K. (Well, actually WBJ says it's Nationals ballpark architect HOK Sport that's been hired, but I might think that it's not the sports division of HOK that will be designing this office/retail development, unless there's going to be a soccer stadium on the roof.) DRI now has an information page on Square 696 (also known as "99 I Street"), which says that the project will be developed in four phases, with expected start of the first phase in 2008 and delivery in late 2009; the entire project would be completed in 2012. My Square 696 has some photos if you want to see the block's current state; and it should be noted that this is the block from which AnA Towing decamped last week.
 

Also in today's print Washington Business Journal, a report that the Nationals have selected Centerplate to run the new ballpark's concessions and "premium food service," although no one with the Nationals or Centerplate would confirm. The supervisor of the Nationals operation is rumored to be the current general manager of Centerplate's operations at Denver's Invesco Field.
More posts: Nationals Park
 

As I've been trying to take some tiny bit of a breather during this late-August lull, I haven't checked the Stadium Web Cam for a few days (horror!), which means I'm late in reporting that there's now a fabulous Time Lapse button you can click to watch the stadium rise from either of the two camera angles available (now labeled "Press Box" and "Centerfield"). And the webcam display software itself has gotten a nice upgrade, too. If you haven't peeked in lately, you'll see that the west parking garage is pretty far along, and work is getting more visible on the east garage.
More posts: Nationals Park
 

Post columnist Marc Fisher writes today about "Ensuring the Promise of DC's New Stadium", noting that "there is nothing automatic about sparking the economic development that stadium proponents cite as the justification for public investment in a ballpark." Fisher traveled to Cleveland, Detroit, and Cincinnati and sees little going on around the new stadiums in those cities, but also cites San Francisco, Denver, and Abe Pollin's Verizon Center at Gallery Place as locations where sports facilities have "added neighborhoods to cities." As for the new Nationals ballpark? "For Washington to do better, it must make certain that developers provide amenities to make the new neighborhood worth visiting and that team owners do their part to make going to a game an experience worth repeating." He also expands on his column in an entry at his Raw Fisher blog.
More posts: Nationals Park
 

From a Washington Humane Society press release, word arrives that the National Capital Area Spay and Neuter Center currently under construction at 1001 L Street, SE, will be opening in September, and that a ribbon-cutting ceremony has been scheduled for Oct. 4 at 11 am. Quoting: "The new facility will address the desperate need for low-cost spay/neuter of domestic animals in our region with a goal of providing sterilization surgery on up to 75 animals every day, five days a week." The center will also be part of "CatNiPP, the Cat Neighborhood Partnership Program, by sterilizing stray and feral cats to humanely reduce the area's outdoor cat population through Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)," a program which aims to "safely trap feral cats, spay or neuter, vaccinate and 'eartip' them, and return the healthy cats to their outdoor homes." Shelters from around the region will transport animals to the facility.
 

I see this morning that the green and white trailer that marked the home of AnA Towing near the corner of Half and K is now gone. You may remember my post from Saturday that the lot has closed down and is moving to 2nd Street, SW; I didn't check to see if the trailer has been relocated to their new home. I'm not sure it technically qualifies as a "raze", but I've still added it as #137 on my Demolished Buildings page, making it the 27th building to disappear from Near Southeast in 2007. And I'm guessing that a few more will probably be gone before the end of the year--one definite candidate is the DC Foreign Car garage on K between Half and South Capitol, which was purchased in July for $7.6 million as part of Opus East's $41.5 million acquisition of the 1015 Half Street project, construction of which is expected to begin in October. And, as I recently posted, raze permits are in the pipeline for the old Capper Seniors building at 601 L Street and the low-rise structures on First between M and N.

 

The DC Property Sales database has finished its August recess, and now reports that 1003 8th Street, SE, home to Al's Famous Delicatessen, was bought on July 19 for $620,000 by "1003 8th Street LLC." As of a few days ago, Al's was still open, and I haven't heard about any plans for the site. No sign yet, though, as to whether the old Miles Glass building next door is changing hands, which I thought might be the case after Mac's Tire Service closed at the end of June -- as of now, there's no records in the database indicating that building has been sold, but the database is about a month behind. Here's a photo of the buildings--the building that sold is the four-story one in the middle, and the Miles Glass building is the funky two-story one on the right.
UPDATE, 10/17: Two months later, I finally figure out that the Miles Glass building is actually part of the lot that makes up 1003 8th Street, so it was part of this sale.
More posts: 8th Street, square 906
 

UPDATE: There's been a pretty good response, and the group is looking sizeable, so I'm not accepting any more people for this tour. Sorry!
Thanks to everyone who's expressed an interest in a walking tour of Near Southeast--I'm now confirming that I will indeed lead this tour, on Sunday, Sept. 9, starting at 10:30 am. My plan is for it to take about two hours to cover a route that's just under two miles, so who knows, it may go quicker depending on how fast our feet and chatter take us. If you've already e-mailed me to let me know you're interested, no need to write again; if I haven't heard from you and you still want to come along, drop me a line, although it's filling up fast. This is all weather permitting, of course.
More posts:
 

On Friday there were two robberies in Near Southeast, according to the Weekend Report posted today by First District Commander Diane Groomes on the 1D mailing list. Quoting:
"100 blk of L ST SE at 1600 hours - Anns Beauty supply - owner reports two black males in their early twenties entered - one grabbed the owner and demanded that she give up all the money in the register - she complied and they fled out the door - money taken.
"600 L ST SE at 2220 hours - a family of four was walking down the street - when a black male in his twenties came up from behind with a weapon and stated" Im not joking - I will shoot give up your stuff" - they allcomplied and the male fled South on 7th ST towards M ST."
More posts:
 

From now through Nov. 25, the National Building Museum is running the exhibition "Investigating Where We Live: The River Has Two Sides." Designed by students in the museum's summer outreach program, it displays photos, drawings, collages, poems, stories, and more about Anacostia, Congress Heights, and the Navy Yard neighborhoods. (Museum location and hours here.) There's also an entry about the exhibition on Tommy Wells's blog.
More posts:
 

Monday's Post has a huge overview of all of the coming development plans along the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers, entitled "Envisioning City Life Along the Rivers." There's also a big interactive map showing the locations of planned projects and their approximate completion dates, along with animated 360-degree panoramic photos showing what the area looks like currently.
More posts:
 

With Saturday being one of those glorious clear days, I of course raced out with camera to make the rounds. 70/100 I, Onyx on First, and 100 M continue to rise, so the usual photos of those are now posted. The Stadium Construction Gallery is updated with views of the ballpark's northern and western vistas, which are changing markedly thanks to the work being done on the parking garages and on South Capitol Street in conjunction with the Douglass Bridge work.
And while you might think it's pretty much become rote for me to watch these changes, I must admit that when I scurried very briefly out into the middle of South Capitol Street at P Street to grab a shot or two, I was just about overcome by what it's all starting to look like. The holes are cut for the new South Capitol median, the curbs are being put in place for the new wider sidewalks, and the stadium's fake-limestone (I'm sorry, "precast concrete") exterior just pops in the late afternoon sun. Check my Douglass Bridge Extreme Makeover page photos that try to capture the new vista, along with a new Expanded Project Archive that I built if you can't get enough of looking at the before-and-afters of this stretch of road.
UPDATE: Oops, forgot to add the obligatory link to all the new photos on one page. There are also some additional here-and-there shots of spots that needed fresh photos.
 

The departure of "light industrial uses" from Near Southeast continues, as within the past week or so AnA Towing has closed its lot on Half Street between I and K. A sign is posted indicating that they've moved to 1620 2nd Street, SW, down in Buzzards Point--which did not please the two young folk I ran into who were there trying to claim their car at the old lot. AnA's block was purchased back in April for $64 milliion by Transwestern subsidiary DRI Development, who have posted signs announcing an office/retail project. With the clearing out first of the firewood company at 1st and I and now AnA, this leaves just Four Star Cab and Merritt Cab at First and K occupying the block. No word yet on when the DRI project (99 I Street) might get underway. You can see my Square 696/99 I Street page for photos and more information. (UPDATED to correct the appellation of "AnA.")
 

Along with the Square 701 buildings mentioned yesterday, there are still a few buildings to be razed in Near Southeast (though not many, with 136 of them having already been demolished in the past four-plus years). None of them, however, are as big as the old Capper Seniors building at 601 L Street. All of its former residents have been moved out, and preparations are being made to bring down this building late this year, which will certainly be the most striking of all the demolitions I've watched. In the meantime, as you can see from the latest Approved Building Permit, interior demolition will be starting soon so that asbestos abatement can be taken care of before the building itself can be demolished. In its place there will eventually be a 500,000-sq-ft office building by Forest City, though no timeline has been announced; you can see a rendering of it on my old Capper Seniors page. In the interim, look for a surface parking lot to help ease the Nationals ballpark parking crunch. (Oh, and check out the new photo on that Stadium Transportation and Parking page. I just couldn't resist. I'm sorry.)
 
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