* Traffic lanes on 4th Street SE between the westbound lanes of Virginia Avenue and I Street will "temporarily shift to accommodate utility relocation work." The work will happen between 7 am and 7 pm on weekdays only and is expected to last about two months. "Some parking spaces will be temporarily occupied during the work period to accommodate lane shifts."

* There will also be utility relocation work under the Southeast Freeway in the "ad hoc recreation area," that little pass-through popular with the skateboard kidz where you can walk from 2nd Street under the overpass and into Garfield Park. "Access to the area will be limited during construction hours and visitors are encouraged to be cautious when traveling near the area." There's also the note that in the coming weeks "this work will extend into the intersection of 2nd Street S.E. and Virginia Avenue."

If you wish to discuss any of this with CSX, there will be an open house on April 23 from 4:30 to 7:30 pm at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel at 140 L St. SE. There's also expanded hours at the CSX community office on New Jersey Avenue: it's now open from 7 am to noon Mondays and Wednesdays and noon to 8 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can also contact them by e-mail, phone, or web.

I wrote a few months ago about the initial construction plans, under which "utility relocation" qualifies.

The eastern side of the building, along 4th, is 11 stories high, while the three western wings reached eight stories a few weeks ago. When finished, Arris will have 19,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, and "some of the best waterfront views in the city."

It's now being said that the project will be "substantially complete" in early 2016.

An initial web site where you can sign up for information on leasing is at LiveArris.com.

Forest City tells me that work on the facade will continue through the next few months, with the expectation that the building will be completely enclosed by the end of the summer.

Also nestled into the press release about Arris is the statement that sometime this summer "development will begin on a 50-slip public marina as the newest addition to Yards Park," with completion expected by the end of the year.

(I was planning to get updated photos this weekend, so dang it, no up-to-the-second shots available. But you can see what it was looking like in late March.)

Back in February, Akridge sold the southern two-thirds of the block-long lot to JBG, and at the time it was said that the company was also "under contract to recapitalize the northern third of Half Street." It turns out that that "recapitalization" was a sale to an affiliate of Brandywine Realty Trust for $20 million, according to WBJ.

Akridge's arrival on this lot began back in 2007 when the company won a WMATA bidding process for what was then the Southeastern Bus Garage site. But Monument Realty, expecting to have the rights to develop the site, was quite unhappy, and sued, which resulted in the settlement that awarded the bus garage site to Akridge for $46.5 million and the adjacent Metro parking lot across Van to Monument for $22.6 million. Monument then sold its holdings on the south end of the bus garage block to Akridge for $9.66 million.

The company got zoning approvals in early 2009 for its Half Street plans, as a 700,000-square-foot mix of two office buildings, one residential building, and 56,000 square feet of retail. But, of course, none of that ever happened, and in the meantime Akridge provided the space for first The Bullpen, then Das Bullpen, then the block-long Fairgrounds site.

Now we wait to see what the plans for the north end will be, now that JBG has said it will be building two residential offerings on its portion near the ballpark.

(And I know the web site response is atrocious this morning. Guess I'm going to have to stop just wishing it will get better, though the support people tell me that a lot of this is supposedly now the fault of another site on the same server, which has two more days to clean up its act or else it'll be shut down. We Shall See.)

For those lucky readers who have not been traveling on this path since it began in 2010 (!), the Marines are desperately wishing to move out of the antiquated and not-removed-enough-from-the-streets Building 20 at 8th and I streets, SE. (No, not the historic buildings that run along 8th Street where the Friday night parades are held--this is that lovely midcentury modern monolith on the south side of I Street.)

After the initial round of public workshops failed to magically come up with a solution that met the requirement that any new barracks be within 2,000 feet of the main post, an Environmental Impact Study was announced in 2012 and launched in the fall of 2013 (during my hiatus, so apologies for the hole in my reporting).

This draft EIS identifies five alternatives that meet the requirements that include constructing a 191,405 sf Bachelor Enlisted Quarters (BEQ) complex that complies with anti-terrorism/force protection setbacks as well as finding spaces for various support facilities currently housed in Building 20. But, in an unusual situation for a draft EIS, no "preferred alternative" has been identified--the Marines apparently don't have a (publicly stated) preference, and "each of the action alternatives involve trade-offs among economig, technical, environmental, and Marine Corps statutory requirements."

As for the five alternatives, they include:

* (Left) Taking 3 acres of privately held land on the two blocks bounded by Virginia, 8th, 9th, and Potomac, which would include acquiring 24 privately held properties, demolishing 14 buildings, and closing a one-block stretch of L Street, to build a five-story building with underground parking;

* (Left center) Taking two acres of former Southeast Federal Center land within the footprint of The Yards immediately to the west of Hull Street and the Navy Yard to build an eight-story building with an attached above-ground garage, a move that would necessitate an agreement with both Forest City and the GSA to transfer the land to the Marines and which apparently has already engendered Forest City's "formal opposition" (page 2-21);

* (Right center) Taking 1.67 acres within the walls of the Navy Yard, just south of M Street between 9th/Parsons and 10th, to build a 5- or 6-story building, while demolishing a building currently used by the Marines (Building 169) as well as tennis and basketball courts and a parking lot; and

* (Right) Using .89 acres nestled between the existing BEQ site at 7th and K and its lovely above-ground parking garage on L Street to build a 6- or 7-story building that would wrap around the existing Building 25, while still keeping the footprint of the large soccer/marching band field untouched. Parking would be in the existing underground garage at the old Building 20 site for both this alternative and the Navy Yard one.

(Why am I only mentioning four of the five? Because the Alternative B site is now newly spoken for, though I guess if the Marines really really want it....)

I am of course just scratching the surface of the 300-page document. If you want to learn more, and/or want to provide comments on any of these plans, there is going to be an open house public meeting on Wednesday, April 22, from 5:30 to 8:30 pm at Tyler Elementary School (1001 G St., SE). Comments can also be submitted until May 26, either through the mail or the EIS web site.

This location will apparently replace the WHS facilities on both New York Avenue NE and Georgia Avenue NW.

But this won't be the agency's only presence on the block: it already operates its spay and neuter clinic in a building at 10th and L adjacent to this Exxon lot.

I had hoped to include more details on the plans for the site, but this post couldn't wait any longer, thanks to the newly released Draft EIS for the Marine Barracks hunt, in which this 36,500-acre lot was identified as one of five possible sites for the new barracks. {Cut to Barracks hunters despondently crossing yet another potential location off their list. Or not.}

This site, officially located at 1022 M St., SE, has been vacant since the Exxon closed and was demolished in 2008, except for a brief residence by a chair.

More to come on the Humane Society plans.

* RAMP CLOSURE SATURDAY: The ramp from M Street at 11th to the outbound 11th Street freeway bridge will be closed for "pavement striping modifications" on Saturday, April 11, from 7 am until 5 pm. The local bridge will be the detour. (DDOT)

* NO HOLIDAY FOR METERS: If you are thinking that you can park for free in metered street spaces near Nats Park on game days that fall on Sundays and holidays, you would be wrong. (DDOT)

* DOUGLASS BRIDGE $$$: Mayor Bowser's proposed FY16 budget includes $512.7 million for the new Douglass Bridge. (WBJ)

* BEST BAR BLUEJACKET: Esquire's "Best Bars in America" visited Bluejacket, among other spots, calling it the "Willy Wonka of beer breweries." (HillNow)

* FAIRGROUNDS LAMENT: "The Fairgrounds is a dying breed of the Nats fan experience." (WaPo)

* BREAKING ICE CREAM NEWS: Ice Cream Jubilee has added "Chocolate Matzo Crack," "Fig, Port, & Goat Cheese," and "Cherries Jubilee" as springtime flavors. And milkshakes!

F1rst.

(Yes, that's a numeral "1" in place of the "i".)

We also now have an operator for the 170-room hotel--it will be a Residence Inn by Marriott, joining the chain's Courtyard location that's been in the neighborhood since 2006.

The residential building will have 325 units--a mix of studios through 2 BR/den--plus a fitness center, club room, outdoor courtyard, garage with bike parking, and a rooftop deck with a pool, grilling stations, dog park, and an "outdoor multimedia theatre" on the building's southwest corner that will have stadium-style seating and a view into Nats Park.

It will take about two years for the buildings to be completed, though some retail tenants could move in starting in the first quarter of 2017.

And, as I reported a few weeks ago (even though nobody believed me), Taylor Gourmet and Chop't are already signed for some of the project's 25,000 square feet of retail.

The event today did not have shovels and hardhats--which made sense given that the ground has already been broken--but there were dignitaries and speeches, and a ceremonial throwing of baseballs into the construction footprint.

I took photos, of course, and here's the full gallery. A few snippets here, though:

It's been open to move-ins for a few months now, even while final construction activities were wrapping up, but on April 2 they threw a not-small grand opening party, where I took advantage of getting in a little ahead of the crowds to snap some quick shots of the communal spaces, the roof, and the model unit. (I also used the occasion to grab overhead photos of the holes in the ground at 82 I and 909 Half.)

Here's a smattering of images (click to enlarge), but check out the gallery for the complete lineup.

(I know the pictures with shots of the Capitol dome will *thrill* anyone who lives at Velocity.)

You can read the opinion here, but here's a quote that gets at the meat of the ruling, on page 3:

There then follows 40 pages of discussion of the legal merits of each of the Committee of 100's points of contention, before concluding:

It goes on to say that, while a resident's misgivings about a large-scale construction project outside her windows are "understandable," those concerns "do not outweigh the broader public's substantial interest in modernizing this deteriorating and outmoded tunnel."

This is not necessarily the end of the lawsuit--it just means that there is nothing preventing DDOT from issuing the permits that would allow CSX to begin work on the project while the lawsuit continues to wind its way through the process.

See my Virginia Avenue Tunnel page for an overview of the project; and back in February I looked at the staging plans for the first few months of construction, which can begin once the required permits are in CSX's hands.

And perhaps this is as good a time as any to mention that CSX's next quarterly open house is scheduled for April 23 from 4:30 to 7:30 pm at the Courtyard by Marriott at 140 L St., SE.

UPDATE: Here's the WashPost piece about the injunction denial.

This development has been referred to up until now as "Ballpark Square," but apparently its real name will be unveiled at this event.

The rendering above shows, from left, the project's two-story retail building at 1st and N, just across from Nats Parking Lot C, then a blank spot where the Hampton Inn is being built, then the 285-unit (or is it 325-unit) residential building, then the 170-room hotel (no operator so far named). At far right is the 233,000 square foot 99 M Street office building being developed by Skanska, which isn't technically part of this groundbreaking but which appears to be close to getting its own permits to start digging.

Their destination is Monument Realty's planned project on the southeast corner of South Capitol and M streets, on the old Domino's spot.

I wrote about this site a few weeks ago when Monument went before ANC 6D to give a heads up on their plans to build both a 120,000-square-foot office building and a 175ish-unit residential building there, and that they already had a "user" (not a tenant) that they "felt pretty good about."

And now we know why the word "user" was chosen: upon the completion of the new headquarters (expected to be in the fall of 2018), NAB will be buying the building.

"Among the features in the new 10-story building will be a curved facade facing M Street, a rooftop terrace with a view of the Capitol, along with a 100-seat theater. Both the rooftop terrace and theater will be used for receptions and special events."

There is also a quote from Gordon Smith, the president and CEO of NAB, that this new building "will be a showcase venue for radio and television stations across America and will send a strong message to public policymakers on the vibrant future of local broadcasting."

Look for this revised project to pop up in front of the zoning commission for a Capitol Gateway Overlay Review soon. The announcement says that it's expected that construction will begin in the spring of 2016.

This news has also brought about an update of my Ballpark District 2.0 project map.

UPDATE: Monument Realty has passed along the above rendering of the NAB portion of the project--with a ghostly placeholder for where they are proposing an additional 180,000-square-foot residential building, which the comapny says will be built at the same time as the NAB HQ. The NAB building was designed by HOK; the residential building is being designed by Gensler.

And today brings the answer, with the official announcement by new Commissioner Rob Manfred that 2018 will indeed be the year, as has been rumored for months now

That will dovetail nicely with what I hope will be a nice slew of celebrations of the stadium's 10th birthday that year. (And, for the historically minded, this will be the first All-Star Game in DC since 1962. UPDATE: Make that since 1969. I'm an idjit with poor reading comprehension.)

As for whether by July 2018 there will be more in the block north of the ballpark than just shipping containers and holes in the ground, I can point you to my new Ballpark District 2.0 map, giving the rundown of the latest plans along Half Street and nearby. Hint: somewhere near the middle of the 2016 season will be a good point to assume that whatever projects are started will be completed by July 2018.

It's going to be a fun three years watching this new little deadline become a focus and target of so many projects and plans in the neighborhood....

And hopefully with this good news we can now dispense with "#DCisReady." Because not everything in life needs to be accompanied by a hashtag.

The neighborhood is pretty darn different compared to when the Nats took up residence in 2008, and it's fair to say there is more development now underway than at anytime since 2007.

Here's a rundown.

You've got the just-opened BonChon at Half and K SE, with not only their signature Korean fried chicken but also a large bar with TVs (and eventually an outdoor patio). BonChon has special game day hours, staying open until 11 pm Sundays-Wednesdays and midnight Thursdays-Saturdays.

Kitty corner from the Half Street Metro entrance is The Big Stick, with a sausages-and-sandwiches menu and also quite the lineup of craft beers and other beverages.

There's also two new options at 3rd and Tingey Streets in the Boilermaker's Shops, starting with Willie's Brew & Que, which has all sorts of offerings of the barbeque persuasion, along with a sizeable beer menu and house cocktails.

A more fast casual option is 100 Montaditos, which serves small sandwiches on crispy buns (100 different ones to choose from, and someone has eaten them all) along with other Spanish delicacies along with draft beer and sangria.

There's also a new Subway at Half and M, plus a new Harris Teeter at 4th and M at if you feel like grabbing some groceries.

Three more restaurants are expected to open in the coming months: Scarlet Oak and its American fare, Due South and its southern fare, and the Navy Yard Oyster Co. and its, well, oysters. There will also be a long-awaited new beer garden at 8th and L, SE, with the great name "The Brig."

And of course there are all of your favorites from the past few years, from Five Guys to Bluejacket to Osteria Morini.

Here's the full restaurant map, all nice and interactive and Googily.

BALLPARK DISTRICT 2.0:

For people who have been tapping their toes waiting for the block north of the ballpark to finally show signs of regeneration, I've created a handy dandy Ballpark District 2.0 map to guide you through the latest plans and changes between South Capitol and 1st Street.

But if you can't bear to click through, here's a quick rundown:

In addition to the Hampton Inn that sprouted just across from Nats Parking Lot C last year and should be completed by the end of 2015, work is now underway just to its north on 1st Street on Ballpark Square (perhaps not its real name), which will have a 300ish-unit apartment building, a 170-room hotel, an office building, and 45,000 square feet of retail when construction is completed, probably in 2017.

Immediately to the north of the subway entrance, a new 195-room Homewood Suites just getting started at Half and M.

And the three lots across N Street from the stadium and its garages now have new owners, who seem motivated to get new residential projects underway in late 2015 or 2016.

(It may mean the end of the Fairgrounds after this season--or at least it'll get a lot smaller--but change marches on.)

A WHOLE LOT OF CONSTRUCTING GOING ON:

You may feel like the entire neighborhood is a construction zone, and that isn't far off, because, in addition to the Ballpark Square apartments, there are eight other residential projects currently under construction, totaling around 2,800 new rental units.

(Note that one of these is going to change the view of the Anacostia River from the stadium's viewing platform a fair amount, so begin to prepare yourself.)

Also look for a temporary park to sprout later this year on the huge empty lot just northeast of the ballpark. And possibly a big beer garden and park immediately to the south of the stadium, if the Bardo folks' vision comes to fruition.

The JDLand Visiting Nats Park page has links to all of this, along with my Stadium Parking Lots map and more.

Whew! It would probably be easier to just read JDLand religiously in the off-season. But now, with this and my Parking Update and my Ballpark Update, my pre-Opening Day mandate has been fulfilled. Play ball!

There's no getting around the fact that parking is going to be tighter this year, thanks to the following:

* Lot F at 1st and M, and the cash lot that sprouted immediately to its south last year, are both gone, thanks to the beginning of construction on Ballpark Square, the large residential/hotel/retail project.

* Season ticket holders' Lot P in the garage of 1015 Half Street has exited the inventory thanks to the fact that the building is finally starting to get tenants. (And Bonchon!)

* The cash lot at Half and M is no more, because construction has just started on a Homewood Suites hotel.

* Also gone is the cash lot at New Jersey and I, where work is now underway on a new apartment building.

(Are you sensing a pattern?)

One bright spot in the offing, though--a 220-space lot will return to the northeast corner of 1st and N on the former Spooky Building 213 site, but it still has to be built--they are hoping it'll be done later this summer.

I have confirmed that the cash lots at South Capitol and M, South Capitol and N, and the two Yards lots on N and Tingey streets will be available this year. But confirmation on some of the other cash lots--especially the ones on the west side of South Capitol--will have to wait until this weekend or Opening Day. (Any and all intel on these lots will be much appreciated!)

Also watch for lots of construction around the neighborhood, with some street parking eliminated (but you weren't using that anyway, RIGHT?). And the walk from your lot to the ballpark might require tiptoeing around some closed sidewalks, especially on the west side of 1st Street south of M.

As for getting to the stadium, note that, if you use Maine Avenue in Southwest to get to the ballpark, the construction at the Wharf may impact your route--plus it has done quite a number on the asphalt along there.

Finally, if you use South Capitol Street alongside the ballpark, keep it to 25 mph, because there are currently speed cameras set up in both directions.

Check the parking page for more information.

From lots of new food to the new Norfolk Southern club level to the new not-for-plebes Club 24 to the new grass to the soon-to-be-new team store to the new mumblemumble metal detectors, there was a lot to cover.

Which means I took a lot of photos. Virginia biscuits? Check. Korean BBQ tacos? Check. Grilled cheese sammiches? Check. Club-level choo-choos? Check. Stormtroopers? Check. (No, really.)

Here's a smattering (click to enlarge), but go look at the gallery, which also has a lot of detail about what you'll see during the 2015 season. I'll also be adding here links to the more straightfoward coverage of the day.

UPDATE: Here's the Post on the new food and the Sam Adams 10th anniversary offering. Here's MASN's coverage. And Eater's. And MLB.com's.

I went back on Sunday and found it much quieter, and saw at least part of the reason that the pedestrian walkway had been closed - a new curb had been built, and new concrete poured along the gutter, as you see in the photo below. I also saw evidence of the old cobblestone, as you also see in the photo.

But this was apparently just the first part of a process that then resulted in new asphalt being laid down on Monday, as you see in the other photo below.

I had actually noticed last Thursday that the old asphalt was starting to show cracks and appeared to be sinking toward the new 82 I excavation, so this work was probably pretty critical.

And in other good pedestrian news along New Jersey, the stairs up from/down to Garfield Park are being repaired today.

If you are interested in more conversations about the subject, a group calling itself Capitol Riverfront Citizens for Pedestrian Safety (on Twitter at @SaferWalksSEDC) is working to keep a close watch on the state of things.

* ALL-STAR GAME: The rumors keep flying that Nationals Park will be the site of the 2018 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, but when Tom Boswell says he is "virtually certain" he will be happy with the 2018 announcement when it is made, well, one does take notice. Official word could come on April 6, when new commissioner Rob Manfred comes to Nationals Park to throw out the Opening Day first pitch.

* NLRB MOVE DELAYED: There's been some wondering about when the National Labor Relations Board will arrive at 1015 Half Street, and WBJ has the story of the "costly planning snafu" that delayed the move by six months (it looks like late June may now be the date).

* 11TH STREET BRIDGES VERSION 1.0: DDOT's latest dive into its photo archives includes a shot of the construction of the highway version of the 11th Street Bridges, back in 1964, before there was a highway to connect them to. It also shows the original "local" bridge.

* 503 ERRORS: I know that the site is throwing "503 Service Unavailable" errors with some frequency these days. I'm begging the hosting company to get them fixed, but in the meantime, at least the errors generally never last more than a few seconds. Count to 10 and hit refresh, and your requested page should appear (though then sometimes it takes a little longer for images and formatting to return). UPDATE: And then the site took a breather for an hour early this afternoon, which seemed to finally get the attention of the hosting folks, though I think there are still all manner of configuration issues that they need to fix. Why this has to happen in March and not December, I don't know....

April 1: The Waterfront Church is holding an Ultimate Nerf Battle for students in grades 5-12, from 6 to 8 pm at the Courtyard by Marriott (2nd floor) at 140 L St., SE. Admission is free.

April 4: As part of the mega Cherry Blossom Festival, there will once again be Lantern Making at Canal Park, with sessions at 10 am and noon. There will be a "variety of Japanese cultural activities," as well as a moon bounce (for the KIDS, not you!). It's co-hosted by Capitol Riverfront BID and DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

(Also on April 4 is the Nats-Yankees exhibition game, but we'll discuss that later, along with Opening Day on April 6.)

April 11: There will be an Anacostia River cleanup event, from 9 am to noon, at Anacostia Park, put on by Anacostia Riverkeeper, Near Southeast Community Partners, the National Park Service, and others.

April 24: Another year of the Truckeroo food truck festival kicks off at the Fairgrounds, from 11 am to 11 pm.

April 24-26: Did you know that, had he lived, William Shakespeare would have been celebrating his 451st birthday this year? It's true! And so the Folger Theater and the BID are marking the occasion with Bard in the Yards, three nights of outdoor films at the Yards Park. The 1993 version of Much Ado About Nothing will kick things off on Friday, April 24, followed by the DiCaprio/Danes version of Romeo + Juliet on Saturday, April 25, and wrapping up on Sunday, April 26 with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in The Taming of the Shrew. All showings are free, and will begin at sundown, somewhere between 7:30 and 8 pm each night. Actors from the upcoming Folger production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead will introduce the flicks. Conversing in iambic pentameter will be optional.

Remember to keep an eye on the JDLand calendar (scroll down the home page) to be reminded of what's on the neighborhood agenda.

It will be open every day at 11:30 am, staying open until 9:30 pm Sunday-Wednesday and 11 pm Thursday-Saturday, except on Nats game days, when 11 pm will be closing time Sundays through Wednesdays. with midnight the post-Nats closing time Thursdays through Saturdays.

The menu is here, and note the $9 lunch special from 11:30 am to 2 pm Monday through Friday, with a choice of wings, drums, strips, or a combo, plus one side.

If you go, feel free to post your review in the comments.

There's also the expanded service for Nationals games, with buses running when there are Sunday home games from 10 am to 10 pm and until midnight when any home game starts at 4 pm or later.

And, as mentioned previously, today also marks a change in the route's stops near Union Station, with buses headed toward Navy Yard only serving the stop at Massachusetts Avenue and Columbus Circle. This means buses will no longer stop at 1st and Mass and 2nd and Mass.

And perhaps later this year the route will be extended to the Southwest Waterfront, though there's been no recent new news on that.