As I took two ventures out over the weekend to take pictures (and cursed the skies for only seeming to be cloudy when I was hitting the shutter, so be prepared for rotten lighting), I came to realize that my desire to capture the changing skyline means that I pretty much have to take photos at every intersection between New Jersey, I, South Capitol, and N, because there's hardly any spot covered by those 10 blocks or so that isn't seeing a big change to its view.

I received word earlier today that immediately on the heels of the nine home sites that EYA released at Capitol Quarter as scheduled at 11 this morning, they decided on the spot to release an addtional nine units, which have probably been snapped up by now and which complete the market-rate homes that make up Phase I of the project. (Phase 2, with no announced timetable, will be the townhomes on the blocks south of I Street between Second and Third.) There will still be additional workforce-level income houses to be offered, but those will be filled through a different process (last time it was a lottery) and no dates have been announced. (And low-income rental units are sprinkled throughout the development as well.) Bet it was a wild scene at the sales center when word of the additional units hit the people standing in line....

The deadline for submittals for the redevelopment of Poplar Point passed on Friday, with seven proposals coming into the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development. (I'm using the hook that one of the proposals is from Forest City, developers of The Yards and the Capper/Carrollsburg revitalization, as an excuse to go outside my boundaries.) The Washington Business Journal has the story, including that only two of the seven proposals include a soccer stadium.

At Thursday's meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission, the Commission on its consent agenda "commented favorably" on concept designs presented to it by the city or Diamond Teague Park, the new public plaza planned for the foot of First Street along the Anacostia River (across from the ballpark).

If you're tired of watching the grass grow from just one angle, you'll be happy to know that the second stadium web cam is now back up, looking into the ballpark from a perch on the western garage in left-center field. Choose "Centerfield" in the pulldown at the top of the webcam page.

Word has just gone out that tomorrow morning (Nov. 3) at 11 am reservations will be accepted for the next nine market-rate houses at Capitol Quarter. Prices range from $610k to $745k, and the offered sites now include lots on the block bounded by Virginia, I, Third, and Fourth. (Contact the sales office if you need more details.) Let the stampede begin!

This week's Washington Blade has a long story describing the continuing difficulties seen by the old Near Southeast nightclubs in their attempts to reopen elsewhere in the city. Nexus (now becoming 909 New Jersey Avenue), Edge/Wet and Club 55 (on the block being redeveloped with the Velocity project), Ziegfield's-Secrets, and Heat (taken by eminent domain to make way for the ballpark) are all still trying to either find new locations or get approvals for locations they've chosen. Follies and Club Washington will not be reopening elsewhere. Velvet Nation, a gay dance night that was held at Nation, is looking like it will be reconstituted at a new gay dance club called Town, in Shaw.

While it might not be quite as exciting as watching grass grow, I can report that one of the real milestones of getting Nationals Park up and running has arrived--the application for a liquor license! There's a hearing on January 2.

As I posted a few days back, the old Capper Seniors building across from the Navy Yard is in its last days, and with hazmat abatement having been completed, the Housing Authority is on schedule to start demolition on Monday. And while I'm sure they had far better things to do, the powers that be were nice enough to escort me up to the roof for a few minutes of camera time to document the skyline from that vantage point. I also took a walk around the block for some last shots of the building, which has stood in this location since the 1950s.

This week's Ballpark and Beyond column in the District Extra tackles Phil Mendelson's hearing last week on the First Distrct police station and the fate of 225 Virginia Avenue, last week's kickoff party for the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District, the offering of the Market Deli and two of its neighbors along L Street for $11 million; the pending demolition at 1345 South Capitol (which I had been told would start on Oct. 29 but which isn't underway yet); and the return of a camper at Capitol Quarter. But I understand today that the camper is now either gone or in hiding. Will they be back? Stay tuned.

For those folks who get up earlier than I do (which describes a large portion of the population), here's the link to the ballpark web cam, since it does indeed appear that the turf will arrive on Thursday (confirmation via Barry Svrluga, who knows everything). So spend your day watching the grass grow.

With let's-not-even-admit-how-many pictures now posted on this site, and with so many locations and so many angles to look at, it's sometimes hard to know where the most striking reflections of the changes in Near Southeast might be found. So of course I had to go and build a new page: JD's Favorite Before-and-Afters (or, in a lot of cases, Before-and-Durings). There's no rhyme or reason to the order (except maybe my mostest favorite faves at the top), and quite a lot of them are from locations still undergoing changes, but these are the shots that make even my jaded brain stop and say, "whoa." These photos will be updated as new pictures are uploaded, and I'll probably tinker with the lineup, but you get the idea.

DDOT has cancelled plans to close two outbound lanes on the Douglass Bridge from 7 am to 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday (Nov. 3 and 4). So now you can take a weekend jaunt and buzz the new South Capitol Street and its renovated bridge without backups!

It's now officially scheduled: the turf for Nationals Park will be cut at a farm in New Jersey on Halloween night, and trucked down here for installation starting Thursday morning. (I just hope the guys cutting it don't get distracted scanning the skies for the Great Pumpkin.) Unless the construction folks taunt everyone by pulling the plug, the press box web cam should give a great view of the field's change from brown to green. (If you haven't looked for a few days, don't wait until Thursday to check it out--the infield is now pretty well laid out.)