My Christmas present to you -- updated stadium construction photos, taken just this morning. Let the icon be your guide. Be sure to especially look at the photos I've included that show the progress in just the last three weeks, it's quite astounding how fast the steel is going in.

In Saturday's Post, two very positive articles written by Tom Boswell about the new baseball stadium. The first, "Nationals Owners to Dig Even Deeper" on A1: "The owners of the Washington Nationals plan to spend at least $30 million to improve the city-financed ballpark under construction on the Southeast waterfront, according to Mark Lerner, son of principal owner Ted Lerner. In addition, after the park opens, the Lerner family plans to spend 'millions more each season to develop the park's personality,' Mark Lerner said. Lerner said the family will improve the main scoreboard and 'get it to HDTV-quality,' double the size of the outfield restaurant and place "an LED display on top of it," and increase the size of the board that shows scores of other baseball games. Club level suites will get sliding-glass windows and bathrooms, Lerner said." The article also emphasizes that the construction continues to be on-time and on-budget, and proceeding at a lightning pace. The second piece, a column called "On the Waterfront, Hope Beginning to Spring Eternal," Boswell fairly gushes about the stadium's progress, its location, and its potential to be one of the best stadiums in baseball. He also takes some swipes at the naysayers who predicted that there was no way the stadium could be finished on time and on budget. (Alas, he may be a bit overly optimistic about grand sweeping views of the Capitol still being possible once surrounding buildings get built.) Check my Stadium Construction Gallery (which I promise to update once the holidays are past and/or it stops raining, whichever comes first) to see the progress as of early December and how the neighborhood has changed. And of course there's the official Stadium Webcam if you want to see up-to-the-minute images.

Today the DCRA Building Plan Review Status database shows a new building permit application for 1015 Half Street, the site of the old Nation nightclub, where Potomac Investment Properties is planning to building a 440,000-sq-ft office building. This is just the application, it hasn't been approved yet, and to illustrate that permit apps don't always morph immediately into new construction, I point out that a building permit application for 1015 Half was originally filed on August 24, 2004; here's a Washington Business Journal story describing the project. That being said, today's new application is most likely a resubmittal of the original one with whatever structural corrections needed to be addressed from the first application, and clearly they're moving forward with the project; you may remember that I posted last week that a raze permit is also currently in the works for 1015 Half.

Tomorrow (Thursday Dec. 21) the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation is having a public board meeting at 5 pm. which you can either attend in person or listen into telephonically. See the announcement for details. And, because there's hardly a Near Southeast detail too small for me to pass along, I'll note that should it tickle your fancy, DC cable channel 16 is replaying tomorrow morning at 7 am the ceremony from a few weeks back when the Southeast Federal Center officially became The Yards. (Hey, at least I didn't give it its own entry!)

Even though workers won't be moving into the new US Department of Transportation headquarters until spring (at least, that's the last I've heard), the work on the surrounding streetscapes continues. Over the past couple weeks both 4th Street and the "new" extended New Jersey Avenue south of M Street have been paved and striped--and now there are stoplights installed (but not yet operational) at 4th and M and New Jersey and M. So be on the lookout for those going live (and when they do, let me know). I don't know when 4th and New Jersey will actually open to traffic, I imagine it won't be until DOT opens. As for 3rd Street, which runs between the two DOT buildings, they've done a nice job with making it a pedestrian plaza--and in case you're a long-term visionary, you can note that 3rd Street is still up to the proper standards should it ever be decided to open it to vehicular traffic, in the hazy far-off future when the entire city isn't locked down to the point of ridiculousness.

With thanks to the many eagle-eyed correspondents who passed this along, we can report that demolition has begun at 55 M Street, the southeastern corner of Half and M, currently home to the western Navy Yard Metro Station entrance and soon to be home to Monument Realty's first offerings in Near Southeast--a 275,000 sq ft office building at Half and M, a 200-key W Aloft hotel mid-block, and 350-unit residential tower at Half and N, with 50,000 sq ft of ground-floor retail throughout the project. I talked to the workers on the site, and they said that they will be demolishing the entire length of the block between Half, M, N, and Cushing; I asked about the WMATA employee lot just south of the station entrance, how much longer that lot would be there, and the workers said "not long." This lot is to be moved to Monument's land at 1236 South Capitol (south of the Public Storage Building), but as of a few days ago that land still required its own demolition. Monument's Zoning Commission/Capitol Gateway Overlay Review hearing on 55 M Street is scheduled for January 11, but considering the very tight timeline they're working under (needing to get the upgrades to the Navy Yard station completed before Opening Day 2008, plus their plan to get the three levels of underground parking completed by that date), it's not really a surprise that demolition is moving forward. A lot of moving parts that need to work together just right for success.... (And just FYI, I'm not considering this project "underway" until after they get zoning approval.) UPDATE: I think I see their interim solution for the WMATA parking lot, there's now "WMATA Lot Only" signs on the fenced-in lot a few feet further south on Half Street, they must be planning to move the employee parking there as the demolition works north to south, until the 1236 South Capitol lot is ready....

With no debate, the four Near Southeast alley closing bills that have been snaking their way through the DC legislative process in 2006 were passed at today's city council session, with both emergency and permanent bills being passed (emergency bills allow the statutes to take effect immediately, allowing the closings to be considered law as the permanent bills await mayoral and congressional approval). To recap, this batch included the closing of alleys on the west side of Square 701 between M, N, Cushing, and Half (at Monument Realty's 55 M Street site); the closing of alleys and the creation of streets named 2nd Place, 3rd Place, and an official designation of a portion of L Street, all part of the Capitol Quarter footprint; the closing of alleys and the eventual reopening of H and I streets between 2nd and New Jersey to make way for W.C. Smith's 1-million-sq-ft mixed-use project at 800 New Jersey; and finally the closing of alleys on the east side of Square 700 (between Half, Van, M, and N), where Monument will eventually add to their Half Street domination. That makes seven Near Southeast alley closings and street changes put on the books in 2006, when you include the stadium street closings, the Willco land on the east side of Square 701 (M, N, Cushing, and 1st) and the Square 743N west-side alley closings that allowed the start of construction on the 100 M Street office building and the Onyx on First residential tower. There's one more potential alley closing wandering around out there somewhere, and that's for Lerner's 1000 South Capitol Street office building; representatives came before ANC 6D way back in April, but (believe it or not!) a squabble broke out about an acceptable community benefits package in return for the ANC's report, and nothing's been heard on this since.

A quick tidbit: on Friday Dec. 15, Clark/Hunt/Smoot (and Clark Concrete Construction) placed the first concrete deck on the club level at the new Nationals ballpark--ahead of schedule. And the steel for the upper deck continues to go in at a steady clip. I'm sure the mild and dry December has helped the construction timetable quite nicely. You can look at my latest photos of the site, although they're now two weeks old, which is ancient given the speed of work down there. And there's the official Stadium Construction Webcam if you want up-to-the-minute views.

I've finally uncovered a roundabout way to find out about pending raze permits (right now, raze permit applications are not tracked or listed in any way on DC.gov--waaah!). The city's Historic Preservation Office sends out via e-mail weekly permit reports for the entire city (the HPO is contacted by the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs to confirm that building/raze permits aren't for buildings with some landmark status or other hold). Recently mailings have indicated that raze permits are in process for 1015 Half Street (Nation) as well as most of the buildings on Monument Realty's properties along Half, N, and South Capitol Streets (26, 30, 32, and 68 N Street, 1241 and 1243 Cushing Place, and 1236 South Capitol). This reports from HPO don't mean that razing is imminent (for instance, the Monument Realty raze permit requests came through HPO in mid-October), but do show that plans for demolition are more than just theoretical. UPDATE: I knew I forgot something when I posted this; I meant to include that, while I haven't seen a raze permit, a correspondent has reported that tenants told him that the beige brick building at South Capitol and O SW is scheduled to be demolished just after the New Year, to make way for the 1325 South Capitol 244-unit residential building.

A correspondent tipped me off to a bunch of newly posted renderings of the Nationals Ballpark, one of which is a gorgeous fully detailed rendering of the stadium at night, as seen from the southeastern edge of the site (at 1st and Potomac). I've added this rendering and a couple of the new interior views to my stadium page; to see the additional interior views, visit the Nationals New Ballpark page on MLB.com. Note in the new external image that the new garages (not wrapped with development goodness) are depicted for the first time (albeit on the opposite side of the stadium!). And the retail offerings along 1st Street are also shown with a bit more detail.

I've heard through channels that the Capper Seniors #1 low-income housing building is possibly within a couple days of receiving its Certificate of Occupancy. 135 of its 162 units are already pre-leased through the DC Housing Authority, but apparently some units at the building are going to be made available to the general public for rental at market rates. There will be a leasing office on site, with the property to be managed by Edgewood Management; when it opens, I'll pass that along, as well as any additional information I get. And there will be an official ceremony marking the opening sometime in early 2007. It's a happy moment for me to see this project completed, because it was its precedessor--the long boarded-up Capper apartment building at the foot of the SE Freeway's 6th Street exit ramp--that helped spur me to start paying attention to news of the plans for south of the freeway....

Today's batch of Public Space Permits shows a pending request for a staging permit for 909 New Jersey Avenue, JPI's 230-unit planned residential project, on the block that currently includes the Nexus Gold Club. The rumor has been that Nexus would be closing at the end of the year, and by this permit (which admittedly can take some time to wind its way through the byzantine DC permitting system) would appear to show that JPI is indeed moving forward with this project, as its sister project 70/100 I speeds along a block away.

It's probably worth a quick entry to remind interested folks that tomorrow (Wednesday Dec. 13) is Mayor-Elect Fenty's Ward 6 Transition Townhall Workshop, at the King Greenleaf Recreation Center, 201 N St. NW, from 6:30 pm - 9 pm. (Of course, obsessively checking my Upcoming Events calendar is another way to keep up with what's on the schedule.)

The agenda for last night's ANC 6D meeting wasn't made available before meeting time, so I decided to take a chance and skip the session (even though I normally adore subjecting myself to the psychological equivalent of having 2-inch nails driven into my eyeballs for a couple of hours). And it sounds like I picked a good one to miss, because my sources tell me that once again a fight over an alley closing dominated the proceedings, this time being another go-round on Monument Realty's 55 M Street project on the west side of Square 701. Monument was looking for the ANC's support in advance of their Jan. 11 Zoning Commission hearing; last night the ANC's commissioners voiced concerns (which were also voiced in the past when Monument asked for support for its alley closing bill) that Monument's proffered community benefits package is insufficient--as currently constructed, it includes a $10,000 contribution to the Southwest Neighborhood Association's Scholarship Fund, a $50,000 contribution to the local schools, and a commitment to set aside a certain percentage of the residential project for affordable housing. Monument's standpoint is that this project is a "Matter of Right" development, meaning that there is no requirement that they do anything for the community, but they are doing so, anyway. The discussion has been tabled until the ANC's January 8 meeting, and the commmissioners also passed a resolution asking the City Council to table the alley closing bill (which already passed unanimously last week on its first reading and is scheduled for its final reading and vote on Dec. 19) to allow negotiations to continue. In less fractious news, there was apparently a presentation by WMATA about its Joint Development Opportunities around the Navy Yard station, including their work with Monument at 55 M Street (on top of the Half Street station entrance) as well as the Chiller Plant at Half and L and a small bit of land near the New Jersey Avenue station entrance. Am hoping to get more information about this....

Correspondent Erik reports that the Sunoco at Half and M, which closed over the summer and saw its underground storage tanks removed soon after, has now been completely demolished. Still no official word on what might be coming to that corner, the rumor of a hotel is all I've heard.... UPDATE: For passers-by wondering about the retro industrial brick building behind the Sunoco--now much more clearly visible from M Street--it's a US Government storage facility.

Don't panic on Tuesday (Dec. 12) if you hear alarms and recorded messages coming from the Navy Yard: it's a test of "a high-powered alert system to determine decibel levels and whether the system is integrated," reports NBC 4. UPDATE: Alert DC says that there will be a test at the Navy Yard on Dec. 14 (Thursday) from 1 to 3:30 pm; another message said there will be tests over the next three days. So, while the specifics are a bit hazy, the main thing is that there will be some noise coming from the Navy Yard in the near future....

On Thursday night there was a zoning hearing for William C. Smith's planned 250 M Street office building (approval requests for both a second-stage PUD and a Capitol Gateway Overlay Review). There was a bit of concern from the commissioners about the ground-floor corner of the building that faces Canal Park and they've asked to see more renderings. Despite that, it's anticipated that the proposed requests will go up for approval at the ZC's January 8 meeting (the same day that the Florida Rock project may get a vote on its request for a second-stage PUD approval). In the meantime, the Public Hearing notice was published for a Jan. 11 CG Overlay Review for what we'll now call 55 M Street, Monument Realty's planned 750,000-sq-ft office, residential, hotel, and retail project that lines all of Half Street between M and N. They're looking for some relief in regards to setbacks, lot occupancy, private residential recreation space, and loading. See the hearing notice for information on how to participate in the process.

The latest building permits issued by the DC government (shown in my DC Government Feeds section) have a couple tantalizing Near Southeast tidbits: one is for the long-planned dry cleaners on the first-floor of Capitol Hill Tower at 1000 New Jersey, and the other is a series of building permit entries (strangely devoid of detail or even permit numbers) for five addresses on block Square 669N, the land bounded by 1st, Half, K, and L that's owned by Bethesda developer Ron Cohen. I don't really know anything more than this on either project (except that the dry cleaners won't have actual dry-cleaning operations right on the premises), but news is news. Hopefully Mr. Cohen will be showing his hand before too much longer. UPDATE, 12/10: Another four building permits for the Cohen block arrived in the latest building permit feed, and the only additional hint is that the permit type on these is listed as "repair."

From the Post: "It sounded like a nice idea: Use the District's new baseball stadium to showcase art, livening up the place with bronze statues, ornate entrance gates, even brightly colored tile mosaic staircases. The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities yesterday gave city officials a preview of its plans to beautify the future ballpark, until now a cold slab of concrete and glass being built in a former industrial area near the Anacostia River in Southeast. [...] In this case, though, the arts commission wasn't even appealing for funds. Director Tony Gittens told the Sports and Entertainment Commission that he set aside $2 million for the project from the arts commission's budget. No matter, responded John Ross, a senior analyst for the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and member of the sports commission board. The D.C. Council's $611 million cost cap bans additional public spending -- and the arts commission is funded with public dollars, Ross explained. 'You'll have to go back to the council,' Ross said." But maybe it could at least be more fun fighting over art than parking garages....