All of that is just a time-wasting intro to a roundup of the progress photos I took.

Dock 79 is getting pretty close to the finish line, with the sidewalk along Potomac Avenue now open and work proceeding on the open plaza to its east. (Yes, those are sculptures.) There's also emerging placeholding signage for The Salt Line in advance of its 2017 opening.

ORE 82 now has some completed balconies overlooking New Jersey Avenue and I Street, but mainly I just wanted the excuse to post my rather striking shot (below left). And speaking of red buildings, the Homewood Suites at 50 M is making steady progress as well.

The walls of windows at 909 Half Street are making for some interesting reflections, not only from the reflected bright blue sky but from the patterns of recesses and bump-outs, as well as the windows that are left open to presumably give the poor workers a little air.

If you stand at New Jersey and M, you can get good views of Insignia on M to your north and the F1rst apartment/Residence Inn hotel project to your west.

Then we have the even newer neighbors, the ones who we can't quite see just yet, although the 1244 South Capitol apartment building now has one floor above ground level. (I admit, this is one I am looking forward to watching rise up.) Then there's the office building at 99 M, which seems to be slooooowly getting ready for vertical construction, though a peek down in the hole indicates that a skeleton is still some weeks away.

I also took photos of the Bixby, but nothing much is changing on the outside there. And I only took morning-light photos, which means I don't have any good ones of Agora, unless you like looking at its backside. (So to speak.)

Then there's Parcel O at the Yards, where one condo and one apartment building are to be built. Fences are up, and there is some infrastructure work going on along with breaking up the concrete pad that the trapeze school stood on until last year. I believe the shoring, sheeting, and excavation permit is approved, but whether the true Digging of the Dirt is underway, well, We Shall See.

There are more new photos than just the ones above--follow the links for additional shots, plus I've also updated a bunch of before-and-after sliders. And maybe soon I'll get out in the afternoon light to get photos of the western side of all of these projects--with a new camera!

(If you're thinking that these photos don't look that blurry, it's really more on the edges of the shots where the problem lies, plus I do some sharpening of all photos after I size them down for posting.)

Last week the Zoning Commission received the filings for the project, so now there are some additional details about not only Parcel L's residential building, but a few other items percolating nearby.

First, the basics on Parcel L, some of which may or may not be new (what, you think I'm actually going to go back and read what I wrote?):

The plans are for a 110-foot-high building with somewhere between 270 and 285 units, 54ish of which will be set aside for households making up to 50 percent of the Area Median Income.

There will be a little more than 17,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, on the building's southern and eastern sides, facing 3rd Street and the Yards Park.

Two levels of below-grade parking will provide 270 vehicle parking spaces for both the residential building and a planned future hotel on the north end of the block. There will also be 109 long-term bicycling parking spaces in the garage.

Originally the plan was to open to vehicles 2nd Street south of Tingey down to an extension of Water Street, but that has been replaced with the idea of a 2nd Street "mews," helping to create a much more pedestrian friendly approach to the Yards Park from points north and west.

In the rendering below, you can see the apartment building's position on the block with the planned hotel site to its north. What you also see, in the foreground, is Tingey Square, the planned reconfiguration of the intersection of New Jersey, N, and Tingey. The site plan at right shows the Parcel L layout, the 2nd Street position, and Tingey Square. You can also see how then the residential entrance is keyed to the road on the southern side of Tingey Square while the hotel sits on the square's eastern edge.

In honor of all of this additional info, I have now created a Parcel L page, my 10th Yards-related project page. I also added to the main Yards page a spiffy updated Yards development map that was included in the Parcel L zoning filing, with all the parcel markings and whatnot.

Forest City representatives told me in June that the company is looking to get started on the Parcel L apartment building in 2018.

There will be at least two levels of underground parking, with a third level being pondered "given the parking demands of [Nationals Park] and the pending soccer stadium." And although the building is not covered by the city's Inclusionary Zoning laws, the filing says that eight percent of the units will be set aside for households with incomes up to 80 percent of the Area Median Income.

The construction of this building will also bring the completion of "Florida Rock Alley," running between 71 Potomac and Dock 79 and providing another route for pedestrians to move between Potomac Avenue and the waterfront along with the access to parking and loading for both buildings. The waterfront Esplanade will also be extended along 71 Potomac's frontage.

The 12,500 square feet of retail is an increase the previously approved 5,600 square feet. In the filing statement, developers Florida Rock Properties and MRP Realty mention that "based on the success in leasing retail space in Dock 79, the Applicant is confident that there is a retail market along Potomac Avenue," and that "the desire for retailers to locate in this area has only increased" since the previous plans were approved in 2013.

The site plans are very helpful to not only understand where this Phase 2 building at 71 Potomac will be, but how the eventual third and fourth phases are dependent on the construction of the new Douglass Bridge and its accompanying traffic oval, and the demolition of the existing bridge. (The filing mentions DDOT's current estimated schedule of a notice to proceed on the new bridge in 2017 and completion in 2020, but We Shall See.)

There are a slew of renderings in the zoning packet, which of course I'm snagging (we'll call it a one-for-one exchange for all of the photos of mine they used in the site overview portion of the package!).

These plans will require ANC presentations and a vote and zoning hearings and building permits and financing, so don't pack your bags just yet.

*For those to whom such things matter, this is a second-stage PUD filing.

Slipstream's mission statement says that it aims "to elevate coffee and cocktails from seemingly common to extraordinary through engaging service, a comfortable atmosphere and a relentless focus on quality." Its first DC location is on 14th Street NW south of Rhode Island Avenue, not far from Logan Circle.

The menu for the 14th Street location shows not only coffee at all hours and cocktails, beer, and wine from 8 am to close (wheeee!), but menus of sandwiches, bowls, toasts, and soup served for breakfast/lunch until 3 pm and meats, cheeses, salads, snacks, bowls, and toasts for dinner from 5 pm to closing, plus brunch on weekends. Whether that will be the same configuration at New Jersey and I is not yet clear.

Slipstream joins Orangetheory Fitness in ORE 82's tenant lineup.

All-Purpose is another venture from the folks behind Red Hen an Boundary Stone, with its first location having opened earlier this year at 1250 9th St., NW.

That location is open six days a week for dinner, and the the menu has flights of cheese, cold and hot antipasti in addition to the centerpiece pizzas.

City Paper profiled All-Purpose back in May, describing the process with a 650-degree oven that results in a crust "crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and sturdy enough for the 'New York fold hold.'"

*Though, if you are a wise reader of the JDLand comments, you would already know about this, since we discussed passing references to this without any official announcement back in May.

UPDATE: Washingtonian has additional details, including that there will be a separate takeout shop serving square Sicilian-style slices.

The block's multiple parcels were bought for nearly $70 million in 2007 by DRI Development Services and Jamestown Properties, with the project first dubbed Plaza on K and then Congressional Square. However, given both the overall climate for office space in the city and the neighborhood's clear shift toward being a residential center, it's not surprising that this project never found its way.

The Recorder of Deeds database lists $63.75 million as the purchase price, but sometimes that doesn't tell the entire story. (And since the RoD site uses Java for its viewer and these days I don't have Java installed, that's the most I can give you right now.)

The Post says that Tishman Speyer is the new owner, and quotes a company representative as saying that the "first apartment building will be completed at the end of 2019 and the second in 2021." No architect has been chosen as of yet. Also, the project could have as much as 80,000 square feet of retail, but "we'll balance supply with demand as the project moves forward."

This block was once home to a firewood lot, a towing company, and a cab company garage, but was mostly cleared by 2008. You can see my older photos and lots of renderings of the now-defunct office project on my Not-Congressional-Square-Anymore project page.

(h/t to commenter jdc)

Near Southeast is currently covered by two SMDs, as you can see on my map of ANC 6D or ANC 6D's map of ANC 6D. The larger and more eastern/northern of the two SMDs is 6D07, represented since the beginning of 2015 by Meredith Fascett, who has confirmed for me that she is running for reelection.

Then there is 6D02, which crosses South Capitol Street from the bulk of its acreage in Southwest to include multiple residential buildings in Southeast, including 909 New Jersey, Velocity, Parc Riverside, and Capitol Hill Tower--and will before long also include F1rst, 1244 South Capitol, 909 Half, and all the other pending projects between 1st Street SE and South Capitol Street. (6D07 gets the Park Chelsea, Arris, Dock 79, Insignia, ORE 82, and Agora.)

Stacy Cloyd has represented 6D02 since March of 2014, but has announced that she will not be running for reelection.

If you are interested in becoming an ANC commissioner, confirm which SMD you live in and then start the petition process. And then let me know that you're running.

"Normal" SMD boundaries are drawn to include approximately 2,000 voters, but these two SMDs aren't anywhere close to that anymore, since the boundaries were drawn with 2010 census numbers, and a WHOLE lot more people live in the neighborhood in 2016 than did in 2010, and a WHOLE LOT more will live in the neighborhood in 2020, when the next census and redistricting cycle will come around. It will be fascinating to see how different the Near SE/SW ANC structure is--along with Ward 6 as a whole--after 2020. But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. (If you want to read about the 2011 process, go here and scroll down a bit to get to the meat.)

However, while sometimes when these doldrums hit I redouble my efforts to dig to find something to post, I will now admit that I have been distracted for a few weeks as unfortunately Mr. JDLand (aka @theslot) is in the midst of what he described today as a "medical adventure."

My mind and my heart and my soul are most decidedly elsewhere, and so while if the stars align for me to find some time to post items as they come along I will, but I am not expecting to give JDLand my all in the near future.

Feel free to continue to discuss news and events of the neighborhood here in the comments, and hopefully I'll be around from time to time with "milestone" updates (new restaurant/retail announcements, starts of construction, openings, etc.).

And keep Bill in your thoughts, pretty please.

(This is the site that has the tower crane with the lit crescent moon hanging from it, if you're someone who has gotten used to seeing that tableau from your seats at the stadium.)

The building is expected to be completed in late 2017ish, and will have 26,000 square feet of retail.

This lot is at the south end of the same block where the new National Association of Broadcasters HQ and its sibling 163-unit condo building 10 Van are expected to begin construction later this summer.

While I don't know anything specifically, I'm guessing that the owners of the Public Storage building that within two years or so will be sandwiched between two new luxury residential buildings get a lot of phone calls from developers.

There will be a slew of activities, including tours of the new space, short boat trips on the Anacostia, live music, games (yes, including corn hole), face painting, circus performers, children's crafts, "Mermaid Story Time," and much more. It is free and open to the public.

The marina has 50 boat slips, a water taxi dock (though no announcement yet as to any new services), and a paddler dock for kayaks and smaller personal boats. Half of the slips are for "long-term, seasonal use" while the others are for stays of 10 days or less. If you want more information on slips (including free "parking" for the grand opening), contact Living Classrooms at 202-488-0627.

While actual construction isn't underway just yet, the shovel-wielding VIPs did their duty. Mayor Bowser, Ward 6 councilmember Charles Allen, DC delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, NAB chairman Gordon Smith, and other luminaries made remarks, and noted local radio personality Tommy McFly acted as master of ceremonies (his radio station is after all only a block away).

You can see all my photos here, if microphones and shovels are your thing. But here's a few, if that one extra click is more than you can handle:

It's expected that construction will get underway later this summer on both the 120,000-sq-ft NAB HQ (which will have about 4,800 sq ft of ground-floor retail) and a 163-unit condo building immediately to its south, also fronting South Capitol but with an address of 10 Van Street. Both are being developed by Monument Realty, and you can see my project page for more details. If both do get started this summer, the buildings would probably be completed in 2018.

It's open to the general public of all ages, with gear and bait provided, along with instruction should you need a little help.

See the flyer for more details.

Lead by DC HSEMA director Chris Geldart, fire chief Gregory Dean, and Department of Energy and the Environment director Tommy Wells, the session will provide training "about safety during a derailment involving hazardous materials; sheltering-in-place vs. evacuating; emergency vehicle access; and emergency communications."

The meeting is at 10 am at 200 I St., SE. Contact ANC 6D07 commissioner Meredith Fascett for more information.

The Brig is located on the northwest corner of 8th and L Streets, SE (1007 8th for your GPS). See my project page for photos and links to posts on the long and winding road to this milestone. And see you all there for a JDLand Happy Hour at some point in the relative near future.

UPDATE, 6/17: Yup.

The real work of construction, I'm told, is slated to start later this summer, but the NAB bigwigs were apparently going to be gathering in DC for a board meeting this month and so will take the opportunity to mark the occasion.

(And of course there is no statutory requirement that ceremonial groundbreakings take place x number of days before or after the start of actual digging.)

This headquarters will be a 120,000-square-foot offering with about 4,800 square feet of ground floor retail, and is expected to open in 2018. NAB and Monument announced the deal in April of 2015, calling it the "culmination of a rigorous search for a location with easier access to Capitol Hill that will allow NAB to improve its advocacy efforts."

Monument also tells me that the current plan is to also start this summer on 10 Van Street, the NAB HQ's 163-unit residential sibling immediately to the south, which you can see here and on my One M/10 Van project page.

And the big news that I'm burying all the way down here is that Monument tells me that the decision has been made that 10 Van will be condos, with a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units as well as multi-level two-bedroom townhouses facing both Van and South Capitol.

Once it gets started, the NAB HQ would be the second office project under construction, joining Skanska's on-spec 99 M a couple of blocks to the east. The 10 Van project will become part of the long list of residential projects currently being built, and will be the second in this block of South Capitol Street, along with JBG's 290-unit rental building at 1244 South Capitol that is expected to be completed in 2017. These will also be the first projects to get underway in 2016, unless the Yards Parcel O condo and rental buildings get started first.

I guess we'll know for sure that NAB/10 Van construction is truly at hand when the surface parking lot there stops accepting Nats gameday parking....

On Monday night, there was an initial presentation to ANC 6D about the project, and some renderings were shown to the assembled masses, shots of which have arrived in JDLand's inbox.

I think there is still some tweaking going on--6D was not asked to approve these specifically and there is as yet no zoning filing--but the general idea of a terraced building that would be a large focal point from the Yards Park just to the south probably won't change.

The top image, obviously, is that Yards Park view. These others are the view looking west on Water Street and then looking southeastward from Tingey Street.

Note that this building would not front Tingey Street--there are eventual plans for a hotel to be built along Tingey to the north of the residential project.

Forest City told me last week that a 2019 completion date is the target for this Parcel L project.

As for what used to stand on this site, the old Southeast Federal Center Building 159 was in residence until about 2000, long enough for me to remember it but not long enough to have photographed it with the JDLand camera. (Waaaaaaah!) However, a few years back I did uncover this photo, taken in about 1992, as part of the Library of Congress's Carol M. Highsmith archive. Building 159 is the white building directly between the DC Water Main Pumping Station and what's now the Foundry Lofts building. (You can also see two low red brick buildings fronting M Street next to Spooky Building 213 that I also didn't get to photograph, along with a little red brick annex on the north side of the still-empty Building 170 at 3rd and Tingey.) If you want to see more photos of the neighborhood taken from above in the early 1990s, check them out.

"Members of the First District are currently investigating a shooting that occurred at approximately 9:24pm in the 900 block of 5th St SE. Members of the First District responded to the location for a report of multiple gunshots and found an adult male victim who had been wounded. The victim was quickly transported to the hospital for treatment. This case is being actively investigated by the First District Detectives Unit. If you have any information, please call 202-299-2025."

The 900 block of 5th is home to some private residences on the west side and the Capper Seniors public housing building for older folks on the east side.

If you are interested in discussing this event or any other public safety issues with members of the police department, the monthly PSA 106 meeting is this Wednesday, June 15, at 7 pm at 200 I St. SE.

Getting the bad news out of the way first: the negotiations between DCHA and its original unnamed choice to operate the center "reached a natural conclusion without an agreement to move forward," according to DCHA spokesman Rick White. This means that the agency is "looking at alternatives," but any new agreement does not appear to be in the immediate future. That said, I have heard unconfirmed rumors that there will be some sort of "programming" at the center this summer--if that indeed turns out to be the case, the building will at least then not stand completed-but-empty while waiting for a deal to be struck with a new operator.

But there is a more pressing issue, which is that because of construction at Van Ness Elementary, the new building has been tapped to function as the Precinct 131 polling station for DC's primary election day on Tuesday, June 14. Even though the center does not yet have its official Certificate of Occupancy, spokesman White says that a temporary certificate of occupancy is in the works, and that DCHA is "not expecting any issues around the election."

So, other than snagging a peek in the gym on Tuesday when you go vote (because OF COURSE you are going to go vote), everyone will just have to gaze longingly at the new building's exterior a little while longer. At least it looks nice in the bright early June sun.

And in case you don't quite remember what this site used to look like, this slider can help. As can the project page.

It would have 270 rental units and two levels of underground parking, and currently has a targeted completion date of 2019 (which just isn't as far away as it used to be).

No renderings are available for public (or blogger) consumption, but my understanding is that it has a "terraced" design, and will be a U-shaped building with a courtyard that opens southward toward the Yards Park and the river. There will be retail along 3rd Street, but I don't know the exact amount.

Also, it should be noted that for the very north end of this parcel, along Tingey, there are also plans to have a "boutique" hotel, but there's no time frame for that.

Forest City is on the agenda for next Monday's ANC 6D meeting to give an initial presentation on the residential plans, in advance of heading off to Zoning Land later in the year.

This is not the only Yards residential project in the near-term pipeline, as the condo and apartment projects two blocks east on "Parcel O" at 4th Street are expected to begin construction in coming months. These projects would join the lineup of already completed Yards residential buildings Foundry Lofts, Twelve12, and Arris. It's also expected that there will be additional residential buildings along 1st Street SE near the planned movie theater.

As you can see in the photo taken this weekend, the basics of the street are now finished, its creation having been tied to the construction of the Bixby, DCHA's 195-unit mixed-income apartment building that is expected to open this summer and which is itself getting some infrastructure built, as seen below.

I don't know anything about traffic control, i.e., whether there will be a four-way stop at 6th and L, or whether left turns will be allowed from 6th onto M (and from M onto 6th). I've asked DCHA, but haven't yet heard back. UPDATE: Apparently it was set out in the zoning that there will be no cut in the median on M Street, so only right turns onto and off of 6th will be allowed.

UPDATE 2: DCHA tells me that they are still "working out details with DDOT as to whether or not this portion will be a one way from M to L." Sounds like they found some unexpected infrastructure underneath the planned intersection that forced a reduction in the size of the 6th and M corner--if I had actually looked at the work from the M Street side, I'd have more insight, but alas....

As for any more precise estimations as to when this new block of 6th will open, I am so not going there. It will open when it opens, right?