Longtime readers know that I'm pretty militant about remaining within my Near Southeast boundaries--otherwise, folks would have me covering the entire city, and I don't get enough sleep as it is :-). But I do relent once in a while, especially when it comes to something that's all of about 30 feet outside my purview, and so I'll mention this Post item, "Development Buzz Crosses South Capitol Street," which says: "A Texas real estate investment trust, Camden Living, bought two lots totaling about 41,000 square feet in the 1300 block of South Capitol St. SW at the corner of O Street, just across from the baseball stadium site. [...] Camden Living, which specializes in residential rental properties, is expected to build apartments on the lots, which now house a taxicab company, a storage lot and a small office building." I won't continue to follow this project, but at least those of you who are interested can now do your own sleuthing....

In what shouldn't be a shock at this point, the superintendent of the DC public schools has recommended that Van Ness Elementary be one of six schools to be closed by August, according to the Post ("D.C. Will Close Six Public Schools"). The 90 students that are currently at Van Ness (in Head Start and special-ed courses) would be moved to Prospect Elementary. The school board will hold public hearings on the plan and take a final vote June 28--you can see the Superintendent's Recommendation Report for more information. But keep in mind, as I mentioned in a previous entry: "However, as school board member Tommy Wells explained, the city won't be selling school properties, and the feeling is very strong that an elementary school must remain in Near Southeast. Given that Van Ness's M Street location could be enticing to developers, it's possible that the city would agree to a swap, to have a new Van Ness built somewhere else in the neighborhood in exchange for a developer getting rights to the 5th and M lot."

The four red-brick rowhouses on N Street between Van and South Capitol bit the dust today; my stadium construction gallery has before-and-after photos, as well as some updated shots of the demolition of the trash transfer garage at 1st and N. (Note that Ken Wyban's restored Victorian townhouse is still standing, at least as of today. Maybe they'll hang onto it for a while, and think about including it in any of the non-stadium entertainment development they might be planning for that spot?)

Thanks to a tip from an eagle-eyed correspondent, I can pass along that a sign has materialized on New Jersey Avenue just north of the Navy Yard Metro entrance at M Street that says: "Donohoe Real Estate Servies / CORFAC International / Office Space for Lease / 150,000 to 250,000 SF." A bit of poking around the Donohoe web site finds this "What Have We Been Doing Lately?" page, which includes this lot, and gives "late 2008" as a delivery date (and also says that the project will include retail). Donohoe paid $6.2 million in early 2005 for 10 lots (totalling about 16,000 sq ft) along New Jersey north of the Metro entrance, up to but not including the St. Matthew's Baptist Church. I know that the church has had developers knocking on their door, but I don't know whether Donohoe has bought the property (no such transaction appears in the DC land records through early April). With this project now appearing to move forward, that makes at least eight high-rise projects (maybe 10, maybe more) that are looking to start construction in the next 12 months. Between all that and the stadium, you might want to start wearing a mask to protect yourself from all the dust that will be flying in Near Southeast.

Speaking of demolition, work at Capper/Carrollsburg has moved to the block bounded by 3rd, 4th, Virginia, and I. (They've been doing what appears to be a lot of interior demolition for some time now in the next block [south of I Street], where there are four-story buildings to contend with, but haven't started bringing those buildings down yet.) If you're keeping track at home, there are still five Capper blocks not yet completely cleared (the two I just mentioned, the two blocks between 2nd and 3rd and L and I, and the batch of Capper buildings just behind 300 M Street)....

The latest stadium demolition news: The big white trash transfer garage at 1st and N is being demolished today, and Ziegfield's at Half and O is now pretty much gone. I added some new shots to the stadium construction gallery, nothing terribly exciting (although I guess the pics of the gaping hole in the middle of the trash transfer building are kind of impressive). I also shot new versions of the overview shots as well, although the differences from last week to this week aren't that astounding.

The Exxon at South Capitol and I streets has apparently shut down--a correspondent reports that the building is boarded up, and their phone number has been disconnected. Their page on exxonstations.com says "Temp. Closed", but it would seem odd that a temporary closing would result in a disconnected phone number. I've heard nothing about a sale of that property, but certainly it could be considered a somewhat prime location (although that's a ghastly intersection). Will pass along more as I find out.

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