WTOP is reporting: "[T]he lease for a new baseball stadium has been completed and agreed to by baseball commissioner Bud Selig. Included in the lease is a commitment from Major League Baseball to keep the Nationals in D.C. for 30 years. Also included in the lease - $20 million from baseball toward construction costs. Hall, who is a lead negotiator for the city, says the lease will also provide D.C. a 2/3 share of parking revenues at the stadium on non-game days. The other 1/3 will go to MLB. The Sports and Entertainment Commission will present the lease to the D.C. City Council Friday. A public hearing is scheduled for Dec. 16 and the council will vote on the lease Dec. 20. Seven of the the 13 members of the council must vote to approve the lease. D.C. Mayor Tony Williams has acknowledged that council approval of the lease is uncertain at this point." UPDATE: The AP has confirmed this, saying that a copy of the lease was delivered to the council around noon. UPDATE II: Here is Mayor Williams's statement on the agreement, which also includes more details on the lease. Let's remember, though, this still has to be passed by the council.... UPDATE III: The Post has a story up about the agreement--the version for Saturday's print edition fleshes out the various pieces of news of the day, without a few small additional tidbits: MLB is expected to name a new owner shortly after the lease is approved (if it is approved!); CFO Gandhi will give a cost estimate update to the council on Monday; and Mayor Williams has signed off on the final design for the stadium, and it should be unveiled also shortly after the lease is approved. Then the next rush will be on, to get zoning approval and fight any other opposition to the stadium so that shovels can go in the ground in the spring, to get construction completed by March 2008. The WashTimes's story is similar.

Friday's Washington Times gives a status report on the stadium lease agreement, explaining how the lease needs to be submitted to the council ASAP so that they can meet the noon deadline of submitting notice of a Dec. 20 vote in the DC Register--otherwise, the city won't meet the Dec. 31 deadline. There's also tentative plans for a council roundtable on Tuesday Dec. 14 to discuss the lease. And CFO Gandhi is supposed to be submitting a new estimate for construction and economic development potential at the RFK site.

We may not have a ballpark lease agreement just yet (DCSEC has been saying they'd be getting the agreement to the city council by Friday, which is, um, now), but stadium contractor Clark/Hunt/Smoot A Joint Venture has posted two items that might be of interest to at least three of you out there (because nothing about Near Southeast is too esoteric here at JDLand!): the Bid Set Release Date Calendar--I'm on pins and needles to see who gets the Vertical Transportation Procurement subcontract--and the draft of the Project Labor Agreement, 22 pages for your perusing pleasure.

ANC 6D has released the agenda for its December 12 meeting. Items of Near Southeast interest include: an update from DDOT on traffic and parking and the new baseball stadium; an Office of Planning presentation on the proposed text amendment to the Capitol Gateway Overlay; a Public Space Permit Application for an emergency generator at Capper/Carrollsburg; and a ABC License Renewal for the 3rd and K Market. The meeting is at 65 I Street SW, at 7 pm. UPDATE: Agenda now posted. UPDATE II: You can read a report on ANC 6D's November meeting (with discussions of Capper/Carrollsburg, the stadium, and Florida Rock) in December's Hill Rag (page 5 of this PDF).

Twenty-four whole hours without any news on the stadium? What a breath of fresh air! (Or a sign of deep foreboding, take your pick.)

The Post has already posted a version of tomorrow's stadium story, "Mayor Insists Stadium Costs Will Not Rise" (changed to "Williams Dismisses Stadium Estimate" in Wednesday's print version), which quotes Mayor Bowtie as saying, "Under no circumstances will this stadium cost $700 million," and that the reports of that pricetag were misleading, the result of misinformation perpetuated by stadium opponents "who have been against this deal from day one." (Gee, I wonder who that could be?) More: "Williams acknowledged that the stadium project budget does not contain money for ancillary costs such as improvements to a nearby Metro station and roads, an underground parking structure, bond financing fees and other potential costs.  [...] 'I never believed these costs should be borne completely by the baseball stadium budget,' Williams said. 'They never have been borne completely by other cities with stadiums.' But several council members said they approved the $535 million budget with the expectation that the figure included money for roads, Metro and bond financing."

Did we say $435 million? We meant $535 million. Or $589 million. Or $714 million, if you watch NBC4 ("New Cost Estimate Jeopardizes Baseball Stadium Plan") or read this morning's Post ("D.C. Baseball Stadium Cost Could Exceed $700 Million") or Washington Times ("D.C. re-evaluates ballpark figure for higher costs"). Or is it really that high? "Officials stressed that the new estimates are preliminary and take into account all potential costs, including $41 million for underground parking, $20 million to upgrade the Navy Yard Metro station and $12 million to rebuild nearby roads. They added that some of the work might not have to be paid for by the city or done at all." Mayoral spokesman Vince Morris disputes the figure: "The $700 million doomsday budget is not ours and does not reflect reality." And as for the city's concession in the lease agreement, the city has agreed to give baseball one-third of parking revenue generated by a new stadium on non-game days. In the meantime, David Catania continues to fight the stadium, by introducing two emergency measures at today's council session: One would slap a $535 million limit on spending to build the stadium, and the second would state that the stadium and related infrastructure improvements can only be paid for by city bonds. UPDATE: AP is reporting that both of Catania's measures failed (votes were 8-5 in favor, but 9 votes are needed for emergency legislation).

Another day of "Almost There...." The Post's "Ballpark 'Hurdles' Are Cleared, Cropp Says" says that the MLB concessions should end the push to switch to RFK, but there's still not a guarantee that the council will approve the lease, especially since they haven't seen it yet (because it doesn't exist yet), and don't know whether there are any surprises in store.

It's not official, but those always available "sources" tell the Post ("Tentative Deal Reached On Lease For Stadium") that "agreement has been reached on the District's two key demands, the $20 million payment and a letter of credit from baseball." There are still discussions to be had, but DCSEC chair Mark Tuohey says a deal could be wrapped up early next week, in time for the city council to schedule a Dec. 20 hearing. One thing we don't know: "In return for the payment, baseball will receive a concession from the city, government sources familiar with the negotiations said. The nature of that concession was not disclosed." What could this be, a statue of Bud Selig on the Mall? It's also nice to see that this article spells out the problems with a sudden move to the RFK site, which have been glossed over during this week's turmoil. We shall see what next week brings.... UPDATE: The WashTimes's story for Saturday ("Ballpark Lease in Ninth Inning") concentrates on how it might be difficult for the city to sell the $286 million in public bonds during the last days of December. UPDATE II: A story on MLB.com says that lawyers for both sides continue to meet today to put the final touches on the agreement.

Do I need to put a question mark over the stadium site my map of Near Southeast again? The Post has a story on its web site this afternoon, "MLB Does Not Rule Out RFK Site for New Stadium". Lots of back-and-forth about what was said, what wasn't said, is RFK doable, is it not doable, yadda yadda yadda. I think I may cease posting on the (supposed) stadium just like I did last year, until something concrete is decided. (Then again, we thought something concrete was decided a year ago.)