Today I've added some expanded information on
The Yards, the 44-acre redevelopment project by
Forest City Washington on the Southeast Federal Center site (behind
DOT on M Street, stretching from 1st Street to the
Navy Yard at Hull Street, and down to the Anacostia River). They are beginning to move forward with their first phase of projects, which will start this spring with the building of roads and infrastructure within the site (we should see new signs for The Yards at 1st and N and other locations relatively soon). In early 2008, work should begin on the first two big projects, which are the redevelopment of Building 167 (the old Boiler Maker's shop on Tingey between 3rd and 4th) into a retail building, and the rehabilitation and expansion of Building 160 across the street (the Pattern/Joiner shop) into a residential building; these are expected to be completed in 2009. This first phase will also include the renovation of Building 202 (the Gun Assembly Shop) at 5th and M into another residential building; this site (which I long ago dubbed the "JD Lofts") will be a joint project between Forest City and
PN Hoffman. Also, expect to see demolition within the next few months of the beige brick building at
1st and N across from the
Nationals ballpark, so that this parcel can be turned into stadium parking, at least for a few years until office buildings are built there. Rounding out Phase 1 will be the construction of the Waterfront Park at the Yards, a 5.5-acre public space along the banks of the Anacostia, which is just now starting to be designed. This will be connected to
Diamond Teague Park south of 1st Street by a floating pedestrian bridge, which sounds kind of cool.
You can get a better feel for all of this by looking at the map and photos I've added to a new
Yards Overview tab, and then also look through the
photos I have of the site, or use the Photo Archive to check out the perspectives at
1st and N and along Tingey at
New Jersey,
3rd,
4th,
5th, and
Hull.