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The last building along O Street between South Capitol and Half streets (the "Heat" building at the corner) is now a pile of rubble, completing the demolition of the gay clubs. I took a boatload of photos today, from all angles around the stadium site, and have added them to the stadium construction gallery. Let the icon be your guide.
More posts: Nationals Park
 

I've been remiss in not posting this piece from May's Hill Rag: "Navy Yard or Capitol Quarter?" which talks about what to call the neighborhood I've devoted this web site to. The article says: "City planning maps say 'Near Southeast' but nobody uses that name." I'd argue with that (after all, this site has been called "Near Southeast DC Redevelopment" for 3 1/2 years now), and I would also note that, even as far back as the 1930s, the Washington Post was referring to the area as "Near Southeast." I know that some people want to call the neighborhood "Navy Yard," but I find that a little hard to work with, given that the Navy Yard itself is as large as some neighborhoods in the city--if a few years from now someone says, "Hey, this great restaurant opened in Navy Yard," isn't the response always going to be, "Do you mean the Navy Yard neighborhood, or within the Navy Yard itself?" I would imagine that eventually the neighborhood's image will be very much tied to the stadium, and also to the waterfront, and a name will assert itself from there, and not from attempts by developers and consultants to name the entire area based on their own projects...
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Two more buildings have come down in the ballpark footprint in the last 24 hours: the blue Follies building on O Street, and the AAMCO car repair shop on South Capitol between N and O. And the white garage at 1st and N continues to be demolished, the brick parts of the structure near N Place were torn down yesterday.
FRIDAY UPDATE: The trash garage at 1st and O is now completely gone; so is the third of the four buildings on the north side of O (leaving only the four-story building that was home to Heat). The buildings along Half between O and N remain, however--they're probably on next week's agenda. (No new pictures, I'm trying to pace myself a bit.) Even better news--during the 30 minutes I spent walking around the ballpark site, the prices at the Half and M Sunoco dropped from $3.19 to $3.11. (No, I'm not taking credit.)
 

Note that there is a Anacostia Waterfront Corporation Public Board Meeting tonight at 6 pm, at 1901 Mississippi Ave., SE. Remember to check my Neighborhood Events Calendar (down the home page a bit on the right side) to keep up with public meetings, hearings, and events.
 

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?)
More posts: Nationals Park
 

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)....
More posts: Capper, Capitol Quarter
 

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.
UPDATE: From another very on-the-ball correspondent, a link to a DOJ press release from January detailing that the Exxon's owner pleaded guilty "to fraudulently double-billing government contractors more than $120,000. [Mahmud] Rashid, 46, of Raleigh Lane, Stafford, Virginia, entered a plea of guilty yesterday in United States District Court to one count of wire fraud. According to the terms of the plea agreement, Rashid could be sentenced to between 12 to 18 months of incarceration when he is sentenced before the Honorable Richard J. Leon on June 2, 2006." As my correspondent noted, "this might help shut down your gas station."
 

From the Post: "D.C. Councilmember Marion S. Barry (D-Ward 8) pulled his car out of a parking space into the path of an oncoming vehicle shortly after midnight this morning, police said, in a stretch of Southeast Washington dominated by fast-food restaurants and nightclubs. [..] A camera crew from WRC-TV (Channel 4) arrived at the accident scene, in the 1000 block of 1st Street SE, in time to interview Barry, 70, who said he was coming from meeting a friend. His car was parked about 50 feet south of where 1st Street intersects with K Street, police said. The area is just north of the industrial zone where construction has begun on a new baseball stadium for the Washington Nationals." I would also add that the 1000 block of 1st Street is a block south of the Nexus Gold Club, just as a point of reference....
 

UPDATE: Whole Foods is *not* coming to the Blue Castle--I've confirmed this with Preferred Real Estate Investments, Inc., the owner of the Blue Castle.
Original entry: In this week's The Hill, Duncan Spencer reports (scroll down a bit) that it's "confirmed" that a Whole Foods grocery store is coming to the Blue Castle at 8th and M. There's no mention of it on the web site of the castle's owners (Preferred Real Estate Investments, Inc.), but we all know that SOME web sites are better at updating with new information than OTHERS! Back when the sale was announced, the owners said they'd be trying to get Whole Foods and a national bookstore chain. Am trying to track down some confirmation. Meanwhile, Spencer's column also mentions two other Near Southeast items, one being the Anacostia Riverwalk and the issues with it running along the Navy Yard's waterfront (i.e., right now no one can get to it without going through the Navy Yard gates and showing ID). The article also says that the Southeast Federal Center financing has not been settled between GSA and Forest City Washington, although I thought it indeed had been back in June of 2005 when the development agreement was signed. Spencer also says that no SFC construction is expected for at least a year and a half--but the recent article from Shopping Center Business magazine quotes a Forest City representative as saying that "bulldozers will be moving by the end of the year at Southeast Federal Center." So make of all of that what you will.
 

Monday's Post article "Next Up: The Baseball Stadium" gives a quick overview to the impact that there might be in having a longtime developer having a stake as team owner in the ballpark neighborhood. No news in the article--was hoping it would tell us when the master plan for the Ballpark District will be unveiled, but alas....
 

The transformation of the stadium site from gritty industrial tableau to demolished construction site is proceeding at a blistering pace. (Especially when compared to how it's taken 5 weeks to clear not-even-one-full-block of abandoned buildings at Capper/Carrollsburg.) I've posted a bunch of new photos with "before" photos for comparison, on a new tab on the stadium page called "Construction Photos." And I imagine I'll have a whole new batch next week, as I'm guessing that many of the remaining buildings north of O Street will bite the dust over the next few days. No Time to Lose!
More posts: Nationals Park
 

I've now posted renderings of the 70/100 I Street residential project by JPI, grabbed from the public documents filed with the BZA adjustment application for the site. The renderings show two very tall buildings, attached to each other. Certainly will change the look and feel of I Street just a bit! The site continues to be cleared in preparation for construction, which will likely start late in 2006.

More posts: 70/100 I, jpi
 

Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Ltd., the landscape architecture firm picked to design the planned Washington Canal Park along 2nd Street, has finally added it to their project list on their web site. The only new tidbit is that their info page says "Completion Date: December 2006." Now, whether that's a real date or a fingers-crossed date, I don't know, but at least it's something....
UPDATE, 5/5: Apparently the "Completion Date: December 2006" on the GGN Canal Park project page was a typo, and has been removed. But hopefully there's going to be some movement before too long.

More posts: Canal Park
 

The new office building planned for 250 M Street ("Federal Gateway II") is, from a zoning standpoint, actually part of the Capper / Carrollsburg planned unit development (PUD), and last week an application was filed with the Zoning Commission for approval of the 250 M second-stage PUD. The application describes the project as a 110-ft-high, 9-story building with ground-floor retail and 194 spaces of underground parking. A hearing date has not yet been added to the DCOZ calendar. William C. Smith, the project's developer, is touting delivery of the building in late 2008.

 

This only would have made news if the legislation had failed, but as part of my goal to bring you every stinking piece of information about Near Southeast, no matter how trivial, I will report that at Tuesday's city council meeting there was a final reading and final vote on B16-0628, "Closing of Public Alleys in Square 702, 703, 704, 705 and 706 Act of 2006", to officially close parts of Half, O, and P streets within the stadium footprint, and it passed by voice vote. So for most of us peons, there will be no more access to the interior of the stadium footprint (the fences have now ringed the entire site). I rejiggered the "Inside the Footprint" section of my stadium page, to make sure that I included photos of all of the buildings and landscapes that will soon be gone.
More posts: Nationals Park
 

The Post's Friday story, "Stadium Dig Begins, But Design Still Up in the Air," pulls the curtain back on the stadium planning, showing that despite a groundbreaking and the beginnings of demolition and digging, the stadium design as unveiled a few weeks back is still not 100% written in stone (or concrete, or limestone).
In March, managers of the project unveiled designs for a modern-looking complex featuring massive glass panels, steel and concrete. But they are still debating virtually all the finishing details, including the layout of the concourses and clubhouses and what carpeting and upholstery to use in luxury suites, according to baseball and city officials. Even the exterior might be refined. In drawings, a distinctive knife-edge building, made mostly of concrete, juts out from the rear of the stadium bowl. But architects have developed new renderings that would recast the tip of the building in glass, allowing it to light up in different colors. [...] Significant questions remain unanswered, however. Designs call for two boxy parking structures to be built above ground just north of the ballpark, but city and baseball officials would like to move them underground to clear more room for retail and office space. That would cost an additional $20 million, money the city is seeking.
It sounds like Stan Kasten, the new team president, had a lot of input into the design of the Braves' stadium in Atlanta, and would probably want to do the same here. So, we shall see!
More posts: Nationals Park
 
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