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Thompson Hotel ('20)
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Novel South Capitol ('19)
Yards/Guild Apts. ('19)
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New DC Water HQ ('19)
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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)
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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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It's almost hard to believe that in 2001 there were only two buildings taller than five stories in Near Southeast; gazing now across the neighborhood from the vantage point of the Southeast Freeway gives off a decidely different vibe, with 14 taller-than-five-stories buildings completed or under construction. (And there's a baseball stadium, too.)
You can see the changes via the Photo Archive, where I've just added updated photos from the freeway at South Capitol Street that you can browse by looking at just the oldest and newest shoots or by including all the photos in between. And, in honor of 909 New Jersey now being visible from the freeway, I've added photos starting in late 2005 of the view down New Jersey Avenue while zooming east on the freeway at [redacted] mph.
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More posts: 909 New Jersey, jpi
 

As I was walking on Third Street toward the ballpark last night, I squinted east down L Street and thought I spied construction equipment on the south side of the street east of Fourth, which is where work is supposed to be getting underway on Capitol Quarter's first townhouses. This spurred me to finally give some long-needed TLC to my Capitol Quarter page: I've now split out onto separate pages the before-and-during photos of the Phase I blocks (between Fourth and Fifth and L and Virginia), the Phase 2 blocks, and some additional photos of the sales center and its street-layout model.
If you're somewhat of a newcomer to Near Southeast, or if you've forgotten what Capper/Carrollsburg used to look like, these pages have a lot of images from 2003 and 2004 that you might find of interest, showing the months when the eastern end of the Cappers was slowly boarded up and then demolished.
If the Phase I page isn't enough for you, I've also created a Capitol Quarter Phase I Expanded Photo Archive, showing every view in the archive of the blocks that make up Phase I. I took a lot of photos last week of the Phase I blocks, so look for the icon, and also remember to click the Click to see all available photos of this location. icon to see all photos between the oldest and the newest ones (especially if you like demolition photos). I'll now be taking photos every few weeks of the Phase I blocks where construction is underway. (This area is substantially larger than the 21-acre tract where I almost killed myself trying to keep track of the ballpark's construction, but hopefully it will be a bit easier to handle.)
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More posts: Capper, Capitol Quarter
 

From Tommy Wells: "All Are Invited to the 2nd Annual Ward 6 Family Picnic & Softball Tournament hosted by Councilmember Tommy Wells, Saturday, June 21, 2008, 11 am - 5 pm at the Rosedale Recreation Center, 1700 Gales Street, NE. Free Food and Fun for All Ages!!!" It starts at 11 am with a cleanup of the Rosedale Rec Center, followed at noon by the "Celebrity Softball Tournament," with swimming, soccer, basketball, tennis, music, and more between noon and five. Read Tommy's site for more, including how to sign up for the softball tournament. I've also added it to my spiffy new Google Calendar, so if you use Google Calendar you can easily view all Near Southeast calendar items along with your own appointments.
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With interest high in Monument Realty's Half Street developments (and with recent speculation in WBJ as to Monument's financing situation), I'll pass along this portion of a press release I just received:
"GVA Advantis, a full-service real estate services company specializing in development, construction, property management and brokerage needs, announced today that it has completed a recapitalization with a private equity group based in Washington, DC, and controlled by Jeffrey T. Neal. Neal's firm will have controlling interest in GVA Advantis; providing equity, leadership, and strategic vision for the company. [...] Neal's private equity group is comprised of individual investors with specific real estate and other industry experience and expertise that will be instrumental to Advantis's future. The group was assembled to assist senior management with setting the strategic direction and leadership of the company. The most significant change will occur in the culture of delivering a full line of services. GVA Advantis will be able to take advantage of the intellectual capital within the company, as well as Neal's and his investors' diverse expertise, and strengthen its service and leadership to their clients. Immediate steps will be taken to size the company for growth within the markets already served by the company, as well as other markets in the United States. In addition, the headquarters of GVA Advantis will move from Atlanta to Washington, DC."
Neal is now GVA Advantis's newly appointed Chairman; I'm told that he remains a principal at Monument Realty and "intends to remain active" in Monument's business. Will update if there are news stories with additional information.
UPDATE, Minutes Later: WBJ says: "Neal declined to comment on the deal or on his future with Monument. He did say it's unlikely that GVA Advantis will merge into Monument."
 

Within the past few days there has been some news from the eastern end of the neighborhood (and thanks go out to the folks who live up that way for passing along the information). Here's what I've heard:
* The Exxon on the northwest corner of 11th and M will apparently be closing this week, having been sold. There's rumors of development of some sort planned for the site, so I'm trying to find out if there's any details available yet, and will post if and when I find something out. This is the last gas station in Near Southeast, joining the departed Exxons on South Capitol at I and K, the Sunoco at Half and M, and the BP Amoco at South Capitol and N. Nowhere left for me to track gas prices anymore!
* The low-slung building at 900 M Street, which apparently was once a Hudson automobile garage and most recently was home to a dialysis unit, is going to get a facelift to become a retail space, with most likely "three national tenants" who presumably would be seeing the many Navy Yard employees across the street as an enticing opportunity. I'm told the plan is to reintroduce the historic storefronts that this building apparently used to have, and designs have been presented to the Capitol Hill Restoration Society, ANC 6B's Planning and Zoning Committee, and the DC Preservation Office; I'm hoping to get some renderings soon. The current expectation is building permits for the exterior renovations will be applied for this summer.
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More posts: 900m, M Street, Retail
 

My retrieval this morning of the DC Building Permits Feed (which has been on vacation for a few weeks) lets the cat out of the bag that Wachovia Bank is preparing to come to the first floor of 20 M Street. For most of 2007 there had been "Coming Soon" signs in the ground floor window of 20 M for both Wachovia and FedEx/Kinkos--when those disappeared earlier this year, there were concerns among observers (read: me) that the two retailers had bailed, but now it does appear that Near Southeast's Bank #2 will be opening before too long. (Bank #3--SunTrust--is expected early next year at 100 M.)
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More posts: 20 M, Retail
 

Two articles from today's Washington Business Journal (online for subscribers only at this point):
* Arlington-based Harry's Tap Room has signed a partnership deal with concessionaire Centerplate that could include a plan to put a Harry's in at the ballpark where the Red Porch currently is. There could also eventually be Harry's outlets at FedEx Field and the DC Convention Center, both locations where Centerplate provides the concessions.
* After last week's piece that detailed what WBJ described as the "pinch" that Monument Realty is feeling in the current real estate climate, Monument principal Michael Darby has penned a WBJ Guest Comment, rebutting many of the points made in the original article. As for Monument's Half Street projects, where the southern part of the block has a deep hole where the hotel and residential offerings are planned, Darby writes: "We have not had trouble finding construction financing for the residential building in the first phase at our Half Street project. We could not start construction until we received construction pricing after the building design was completed. We received prices from three prominent Washington contractors last week. These prices will be incorporated into our financing package and sent to lenders. Once we agree to terms and complete the loan documentation, we can begin construction."
(This would be a good place for my mea culpa that I've not yet gotten around to writing a summary of last week's council hearing about the alley closing Monument is requesting for the BP Amoco site at South Capitol and N. I'm trying to pace myself.)
 

It's that time of the month again (wait, that didn't come out right). Monday night is ANC 6D's monthly meeting, and the agenda has now been posted. (Yay!) No specific Near Southeast items are included, but there will be a discussion of changes that are coming to the Performance Parking Plan, some of which were telegraphed at the community meeting last month and described in the latest Hill Rag.
These parking plan changes include an earlier end on weeknights and making Sundays free for the metered parking on the commercial strips north of the freeway. There have also been changes made already to the multiple-guest pass system (for all those dinner parties and book clubs that everyone on the Hill is apparently having every night)--residents don't need to gather visitors' car and license info anymore, they can just go to the 1D or 1D1 police stations and pick-up one-day passes that can be filled out at home.
I won't be able to be at the ANC meeting, but I'm sure it will as always be a scintillating and uplifting discussion of the issues.
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More posts: ANC News, parking
 

I guess I must still be missing my treks around the ballpark, because I decided to venture there tonight with camera in hand to take my first exterior shots of the stadium at sunset and into the evening. Here's the result, a Nationals Park at Night Gallery, which starts with shots from South Capitol Street and out on the Douglass Bridge and ends with a few interior photos from the Beer Pen, which was pretty darn crowded (thanks probably to the Ladies' Night promotion).
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More posts: Nationals Park
 

Thanks to yesterday's monsoons, the Nationals are giving hooky-loving fans another crack at sneaking out from work to the ballpark, with last night's game against St. Louis rescheduled to 1:10 pm this afternoon, still to be followed by the scheduled 7:10 pm game.
And the debut Riverfront Reel event at Tingey Plaza behind DOT, including the showing of Field of Dreams on a 32-foot screen, has been rescheduled to tonight, with the fun and games starting at 6:30 pm and the movie itself starting at 8:50 pm.
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More posts: Nationals Park
 

Instead of watching the heavens erupt this afternoon, I hunkered down and did what I should have done a long time ago, which was to move my Upcoming Events Calendar into a Google Calendar interface, which not only displays in a somewhat festive embedded version here on my home page but which allows Google Calendar users (and people who can handle iCal feeds) to add/view the items directly in their own calendars. (There's also an RSS feed.) I've added the various Capitol Riverfront events coming over the summer, and all Nats home games, and will add neighborhood meetings and whatnot as they come down the pike. As is the case with most of the stuff I do on this web site, I did it mainly for myself, but figure if there's anyone out there who wants to benefit from my labor, go right ahead.
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More posts: JDLand stuff
 

Jun 4, 2008 1:59 PM
* From the Nats: "Nationals catcher Wil Nieves and pitcher Saul Rivera will visit Tyler Elementary School on Thursday, June 5 for the Everybody Wins! DC year-end celebration. The players will speak to the students about the importance of reading and help distribute medals for the 5th and 6th grade graduating students. Anthony Bowen Elementary school will host an Appreciation Day on Friday, June 6 in advance of the school's permanent closure. Nationals catcher Paul Lo Duca and outfielder Rob Mackowiak will attend the appreciation day and visit with the students and teachers of the school."
* Neither of these have to deal with parking by the stadium per se, but I'll point to two articles in the new Hill Rag that discuss the impact of and negative response to Performance Parking on Capitol Hill and Barracks Row.
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More posts: Nationals Park
 

Jun 3, 2008 7:04 PM
It's only taken three months for me to finally get over to Seventh and M with camera in hand, but at last I've completed my mission, and have added the "afters" to my Old Capper Seniors page (and no, I'm not going to rename it my Nationals Parking Lot W page). Eventually, a 500,000-sq-ft office building by Forest City is planned for the site, but no timeline for getting that underway has been announced. (UPDATE: Link fixed. Oops.)
 

Jun 3, 2008 12:40 PM
From the Nationals (emphases mine): "The Washington Nationals have partnered with Planet Green, Discovery's new 24-hour eco lifestyle and entertainment channel, for a 'Get Your Green On' promotion on Wednesday, June 4 when the team takes on the St. Louis Cardinals. All fans attending that evening's game are encouraged to wear green and participate in the night's promotion.The first 5,000 fans who exit the Navy Yard Half Street MetroRail Station will receive a loaded farecard for their trip home. Fans who enter the ballpark via Half Street, SE will walk up a green carpet to the Center Field Gate. Nationals players and ushers will don green hats for the night and the Nat Pack & Racing Presidents will sport green t-shirts. Nationals fans will benefit from 'Random Acts of Greenness' throughout the game.
"Planet Green will flip the switch to their new programming from Nationals Park at 6:00pm. Discovery President & CEO David Zaslav will throw out the ceremonial first pitch from the green pitching rubber. Capital Blend, an a cappella group comprised mostly of Discovery employees, will perform the National Anthem. The line-up card delivery to the green ceremonial home plate will be handled by Eileen O'Neill, Planet Green President and General Manager. Emeril Lagasse, star of Planet Green show Emeril Green, will start the game by announcing 'Washington--Let's Play Ball'.
"Nationals Park is the only LEED-Certified sports venue in North America."
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More posts: Nationals Park
 

Jun 2, 2008 4:11 PM
The Capitol Riverfront BID launches another summer series to go with its Tuesday DOT farmers market and Wednesday noontime concerts; now it's "Riverfront Reel" on Wednesday nights, starting June 4. The shindigs start at 6:30 pm on the plaza behind DOT at New Jersey and Tingey with "inflatable baseball themed interactive games, snacks, beverages, music", followed at 7:30 pm by big-screen Wii baseball competitions, and then heading toward home with movies at 8:50 pm on the 32-foot screen. You can see the lineup of baseball-themed films on the promotional flyer, and I've added them to my Upcoming Events calendar.
They open up this week with Field of Dreams, followed on July 11 by what is truly the greatest baseball movie ever, Bull Durham. As for the July 2 showing of Bad News Bears, it darn well better be the untouchable original one with Tatum O'Neal and Walter Matthau, though I fear it'll be the totally weak remake. (Boo.) Five of these movie nights coincide with games at Nationals Park, so you can either stop by for food and the inflatable games (?!) before heading to the ballpark, or plop down for the movie after you leave the game. Or both.
 

Jun 2, 2008 10:11 AM
There was a big pile of news this past week from Near Southeast, so I'll boil it down to bullet points and links in case you couldn't keep up:
* Construction is really about to begin on the first townhouses at Capitol Quarter, now that financing has been closed for the public housing units;
* The first phase of the waterfront park at The Yards got the thumbs up from the Zoning Commission, and is expected to be completed by summer 2009;
* Onyx on First will be opening its first five floors of apartments in late July or early August, and initial rents have been announced;
* 100 M will be substantially completed in November, and tenants should start moving into the office building early in 2009. SunTrust Bank is the first retail tenant, and the developer is looking for restaurants for the other spaces;
* The planned office building at 250 M got Zoning Commission approval for a modification to its design; and
* Street vendors will start popping up for ballgames north of M Street on Tuesday (June 3). You can see the map of where they'll be.
 

Jun 1, 2008 9:43 AM
On Friday, the DC Housing Authority successfully closed the financing for the 39 public housing rental units scattered within the 121 market- and workforce-rate townhouses at Capitol Quarter. The $5.1 million in bonds and other high-finance actions outside of my limited ability to explain will fund the $10 million in construction costs needed for these Phase 1 rental units, which will be available to persons making between 30 and 60 percent of the area's median income (adjusted for family size).
Because the private financing is already in place for the for-sale townhouses, the closing of this deal and the acquisition of various other approvals, permits, and whatnot allows EYA to start construction forthwith, and they tell me that the construction phase will indeed start tomorrow (Monday) with "land moving." The first buildings should start coming out of the ground in July on L Street between 4th and 5th, behind the 400 M Street apartment building, and residents should start moving in by the end of the year or early 2009. The rest of phase one houses will be built on the blocks between Fourth and Fifth streets and the triangular block bounded by Virginia, I, Fourth, and Third.
EYA also tells me that the next workforce housing release should be coming later this summer.
For more information, you can see my Capitol Quarter project page, or EYA's web site for additional details and contact information.
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More posts: Capper, Capitol Quarter
 

May 31, 2008 7:19 AM
In what chair Anthony Hood remarked might have been the Zoning Commission's first-ever landscape architecture-only case, the Zoning Commission on Thursday night approved the design for the first phase of the waterfront park at The Yards, the nearly 6-acre green space along the Anacostia River on the site of the once walled-off Southeast Federal Center. My project page has a number of the renderings that were displayed during the presentation, and additional descriptions of what's planned for the site can be found in these two blog entries.
Representatives of Forest City said that they are committed to opening the first phase of the park in the summer of 2009. The second phase, which will include the renovation of the Lumber Storage Shed and the construction of other retail pavilions and buildings, is expected to come before the Zoning Commission this fall. Phase 3 will be the piers and marinas. Somewhat surprising was the news that the floating boardwalk connecting the Great Lawn on the western side of the park to Diamond Teague Park and the ballpark is now going to be built by the city as part of the construction of Teague rather than by Forest City as part of this park.
Much of the discussion by the zoning commissioners (that I saw--I watched from home in my fuzzy slippers and the webcast went wonky a few times in the middle) centered around the pedestrian bridge that runs across the bulkhead and the new freshwater canal. Its very "forward" design---described by Commissioner Etherly as an "aggressive architectural play" and by vice chair Jeffries as a "Slinky," a moniker that I'm sure the developers would probably prefer to not catch on--was not met with universal acclaim. The commissioners did seem recognize its intended role as a piece of art and one of the iconic elements of the park. Jeffries emphasized--and others agreed--that because the designs for the buildings and for the "art tower" are coming at a later date, the bridge is setting the stage for the rest of the architecture at the park, and that the future designs must play off what the bridge has started.
Peter May did not like the bridge (though I missed a lot of his comments because of the webcast problems). He expressed a worry that the bridge, along with the not-yet-designed art tower and whatever's planned for Poplar Point, could create a series of "Look at Me" moments along the Anacostia, all trying to compete for attention. "The 'Look at Me' moment for a waterfront park should be the river itself," he said.
There were also discussions of the lighting plans, and concerns as to whether or not the bridge has a railing (it does). Jeffries asked a lot about the vegetation planned for the different sections of the park, and expressed a wish for some landscaping that is a bit more "wild" in nature, to which Forest City seemed receptive.
There were letters of support from ANC 6D, which voted 7-0 on May 12 to approve the plans, as well as from the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and the National Capital Planning Commission, which approved the park's design back in February. So, in the end, the commission decided to go ahead and vote for approval of the plans immediately, although the issuance of the final order is subject to the commission receiving some new renderings showing more clearly the railing on the bridge. The vote was 4-0-1, with commissioner Turnbull not present.
 

May 30, 2008 3:44 PM
DCRA has selected via lottery the street vendors who will get the 28 available locations in Near Southeast. Here's a map of where they'll be hanging out their shingles, starting June 3. Note that there are none south of M Street; on the other hand, the spots at New Jersey and I might be a nice greeting for Capitol South-arriving fans. As mentioned a few days ago, there will be new lotteries for the spots on the last Tuesday of each month.
(Boy, today is like the old days, with so much news. [So be sure to keep scrolling.] And I'm even sitting on two more items, waiting for the rush to die down!)
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More posts: Nationals Park
 

May 30, 2008 2:24 PM
Getting the scoop on Onyx today spurred me to check in on the doings next door at 100 M Street, the 240,000-sq-ft office building that's been built in tandem with Onyx (though they are being developed by different organizations). Opus East tells me that they expect 100 M to be "substantially complete" in November, with tenants beginning to arrive in January 2009. Reports last year indicated that Parsons Technology has leased about 30 percent of the building. You can check my project page for before-and-after photos, especially if you want to gaze longingly at the On Luck Cafeteria....
And, since retail is what folks really want to know about, I can pass along that 100 M has SunTrust Bank signed up as their first retail tenant, and is looking for restaurants for their other spaces.
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More posts: 100 M, Retail, Square 743N
 
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