The Florida Rock mixed-use project had a second-stage PUD hearing at the DC Zoning Commission on Monday night; I missed the first 90 minutes, so I can't really give you a solid feel for how it all went; I did detect a fair amount of concern about the easternmost building of the project, an office building (now redesigned to include three floors of retail) at the terminus of First Street, specifically how it impacts the views of the river from the "grand staircase" of the ballpark. There were also still apparently some issues to be resolved with DDOT, the Office of Planning, and the AWC's new plan for a 39,000-sq-ft plaza at the foot of First Street. The Florida Rock folks will be back in front of the Commission in November to address the concerns brought forward. One interesting tidbit did sneak in during Adrian Washington's testimony--he said that the plans for the Ballpark District portion of the WASA site (AWC and Forest City are still in negotiations to acquire the land) is for it to be all residential, perhaps as many as 800 units. If that Ballpark Development Strategy ever sees the light of day, we'll get more details, I'm sure.

With construction getting under way at 100 M Street, the "Main Street" of Near Southeast is seeing yet another transformation. Since 1999, six office buildings have gotten underway in the short stretch between South Capitol and 4th streets. So I've (of course) added a new map to my M Street Overview page, detailing what's where and what's coming. And I've added a bunch of new photos as well.

I've added some new photos of the now-cleared 70/100 I Street construction site. The buildings that were on the site were demolished back in April, but the site wasn't truly cleared of foundations, trees, etc., until last week.

Thanks to the reappearance of the sun, I was able to take a pile of photos this weekend. It'll take me a bit to get them onto the site, so for now here's pictures of the results of the demolition at the 100 M Street site, which took down the On Luck Cafeteria, the Zohery Bus Tours garage, and some long-abandoned brick townhomes. Demolition will continue this week on that site, to clear the 1100 First Street portion of the block.

Just one week before they were scheduled to permanently close, the gay nightclubs Wet and Edge at Half and L Streets got hit with a suspension of their liquor license. Capitol Hill Cabaret (the owners of Wet/Edge) were the subjects of a Show Cause Hearing on Wednesday Sept. 13 in front of the ABC Control Board, and I guess the assumption can be made that the proceeding didn't go well. The suspension sign says that it is in effect until Oct. 29, but I don't know whether this is something that can be rectified in time for the clubs to open for what would have been their final nights (Sept. 22 and 23), so the end for these bars might have already arrived.

From Saturday's Post: "District government officials believe a plan to build condominiums and parking garages adjacent to a new baseball stadium in Southeast Washington is in danger of collapsing and have offered to buy out the developer for nearly $1 million." The short of it--the city has delivered a contract to Herb Miller for the project, but the contract would need approval from Lerners, which it most likely would not get. So the contract also has in it a $990,000 payment to Miller if the deal falls through (Miller is quoted later in the story as saying he's incurred $5.5 million in design and other costs on this project, at the city's request). Why $990k? Because any payment more than $1 million requires city council approval. So, what would happen? "If Miller's towers are not built, commission officials have said they would consider paving over the area to provide surface-level parking spots with the potential for future development. Another possibility would be to ask the D.C. Council for more money to build garages underground or aboveground, commission officials said." Miller has until Wednesday to sign the contract, so we should know the resolution on this before too much longer. Or, have I said that before?

A bit off-topic, but just letting you know that I've moved JDLand.com to a new hosting company; if you're reading this, you've successfully made it to the new site. For a few days, going to "jdland.com" might still take you to the old site, where you'll see a pointer page sending you to the new site; no need to change your bookmarks, once the DNS change propagates out across the internet, "jdland.com" will point to the new site. If you want the scoop on the move, read this entry on my personal blog.

In June, The Lawrence Ruben Company added to the 24,000-sq-ft lot it has owned at the corner of South Capitol and L since 2004, paying (according to DC land records) $4.843 million to buy 9,000 sq ft of the St. Vincent de Paul church's parking lot. I'm told the Ruben Co. has hired the Shalom Baranes architecture firm (which is also working on the huge Southeast Federal Center project) to design a 330,000-sq-ft office building for this location (1100 South Capitol Street). Most likely, Ruben will not move forward on construction until they sign a tenant for the building. Check my North of M page (and it's spiffy new map!) to see what other projects are on the boards in this getting-ever-more-crowded section of Near Southeast.

Buried deep on page 75 of the September Hill Rag (but not as yet announced on the AWC web site, grrrr) is notice of a Washington Canal Park Community Stakeholders Meeting, scheduled for Sept. 21 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at 222 8th Street NE (St. James Church Rectory). The ad says "Everyone is invited. Come see the new schematic designs and share your thoughts and ideas." (hat tip to reader John for passing this along) UPDATE, 9/13: Here is the press release from the AWC announcing the meeting.

Another big project has now gotten underway--new fences have gone up, the green windscreens have come down, construction office trailers have been delivered, a "Construction Zone" sign has been posted, and there was even a bit of site clearing being done, so I think it's safe to decree that work has begun on JPI's 70/100 I project. These two buildings, when finished in mid-2008, will total nearly 700 residential units. (And I'm dispensing with the technicalities where 70 I construction is supposedly starting in September, and 100 I in October. They're gonna share a wall, they're by the same company, as far as I'm concerned, they're being constructed together!) A big batch of demolition took place in April 2006, but there's still a fair amount of leftover foundations and other stuff that will need to be dug up. UPDATE: Here's the GlobeSt.com piece on the 70/100 project; it says that they plan to break ground next year on their New Jersey Ave. project.

Hat tip to reader Erik, who reports in this morning that demolition has begun at the 100 M Street/1100 First Street site. These two projects are by different developers but being constructed concurrently (it's always so nice to see kids sharing on the playground!). 100 M, by Opus East, will be a 240,000-sq-ft office building with about 13,000 sq ft of ground-floor retail, and 1100 First, by Faison, will be a 266-unit residential building. Delivery is expected in late 2008. Another big big change to M Street and the North of M area begins.... UPDATE: As of Wednesday evening, the old Zohery Bus garage is now a pile of rubble. Will get pictures posted within a day or two (I may not be able to wait for a sunny day, as is my usual preference). UPDATE II: On Friday, the On Luck cafeteria met the wrecking ball. And I'm still hoping the sun may be seen once again.

At Monday's ANC 6D meeting, the request to close 7,500 sq ft of alleys on the east side of Square 701 (1st, M, N, and Half) came before the commission again. The developers' initial request for the ANC's support back in July, which included an offer of a $35,000 "community amenities package", was referred to the ANC's development subcommittee. At Monday's meeting, the request was re-presented, with the amenities amount increased to $95,000. This was not enough for some members of the ANC, however, so the request has been tabled until the October meeting. UPDATE: The DC Council hearing on this bill is scheduled for Oct. 16 at 10:45 am.

The Capitol Hill Restoration Society has announced its next Preservation Café, "Barracks Row Below the Freeway," which will highlight the renovations and new ventures that have ocurred since the blocks were incorporated into the historic district five years ago as well as discuss the history and historic resources of the area. It's scheduled for Sept. 20, at the Trattoria Alberto restaurant top floor, 506 8th St., SE, from 6:30 - 7:15 pm.

Public comment has now closed on the 11th Street Bridges Draft Environmental Impact Statement; the Sierra Club has posted it's comments submitted to DDOT about the project (hat tip to Richard Layman). And the September Hill Rag has an article about the Anacostia Community Boathouse Association's attempt to save the boathouse buildings nestled between the two bridge spans. (See also my August 10 entry on this issue.)

Congratulations to Tommy Wells, who has won the Democratic primary for the Ward 6 council seat being vacated by Sharon Ambrose. Ward 6 includes Near Southeast, so Tommy's actions will no doubt be a big part of this blog in the future.

With the latest news about Florida Rock's design modifications, Monument Realty's bid for the WMATA land at Half and M, the still-in-limbo Stadium Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness, and the apparent moving forward by the Cohen, Camalier/Davis, and Welch families to develop their land along First Street, it appears that the Ballpark District is moving forward, despite the AWC's still never having released it's "Development Strategy" for the area. So, fresh off my success with my North of M map, I've created a Ballpark District map to better help keep track of what's happening. Be aware that the boundaries I drew for the new public plaza at the foot of 1st Street are not really based on anything other than trying to remember how it looked in Florida Rock's exhibits to the ANC. And no final design for the traffic roundabout at South Capitol and Potomac has been released yet, either. UPDATE: And, for the heck of it, I just added a page with both maps fused together, creating a pretty nice Stadium Corridor Development Guide. But be prepared to scroll :-).

In advance of the Sept. 18 Zoning Hearing, representatives on behalf of the development project at Florida Rock made a presentation to last night's ANC 6D meeting on some changes that they've made to their design after consulting with the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation as the AWC works to create a Ballpark District around the stadium. One big change is a 52,000-sq-ft increase in the amount of retail planned for the site, now pegged at 92,000 sq ft. Much of it will be along Potomac Avenue, facing the stadium, but also in the first three stories of the office building planned for the eastern part of the site, at First Street--it's in this location where the AWC is now envisioning a 39,000 sq ft public plaza, with some of the WASA waterfront land being used for this park (Florida Rock has offered to contribute $3.5 million to the design, development, and initial maintenance of the plaza). It would serve to far better connect the stadium to the Anacostia River, and with the retail there as well, it's hoped it could be a destination that would draw many people down to the southern side of the stadium. Florida Rock has also been able to tweak the design of the western side of their land (which for now is under the old Frederick Douglass Bridge), and will now be able to build a large pedestrian pier sticking out into the Anacostia in that area. They've also been able to "twist" the upper floors of a the buildings to allow for much more open views. Building heights, density, and the 75-ft-deep esplanade along the riverfront all remain the same. In a stunning display of unanimity (for them), the ANC passed a resolution in support of the changes 6-0. I hope to have updated renderings and site maps of the new design within the next few weeks.

If you live in DC or Maryland (or anywhere else that's having primaries today), don't forget to vote. You don't get to complain about "them politicians" if you do nothing to be part of the election process!

Appearing on the north side of the Nation building at Half and K within the past few days, a sign saying "Coming Soon", 440,000 sq ft of office space, with a phone number for Cushman & Wakefield. So it appears that Potomac Investment Properties (owner of the site) is continuing to move forward on the long-planned 1015 Half Street office building in this spot. But will they wait for a tenant before beginning construction?

As projects begin to move with a dizzying pace in the blocks bounded by South Capitol, New Jersey, M, and the SE Freeway, it's tough to keep track of what's going where. So I updated my North of M overview map to make it easier to read.