Blog | Photos | Projects | Nats Park | Time Machine Photo Archive | Project Directory | Nats Park | Search | About | Contact JD
Please note that JDLand is no longer being updated.
peek >>
Near Southeast DC Past News Items: Nationals Park
See JDLand's Nationals Park Project Page
for Photos, History, and Details
In the Pipeline
25 M
Yards/Parcel I
Chiller Site Condos
Yards/Parcel A
1333 M St.
More Capper Apts.
Yards/DC Water site
New Marine Barracks
Nat'l Community Church
Factory 202/Yards
SC1100
Completed
Thompson Hotel ('20)
West Half ('19)
Novel South Capitol ('19)
Yards/Guild Apts. ('19)
Capper/The Harlow ('19)
New DC Water HQ ('19)
Yards/Bower Condos ('19)
Virginia Ave. Tunnel ('19)
99 M ('18)
Agora ('18)
1221 Van ('18)
District Winery ('17)
Insignia on M ('17)
F1rst/Residence Inn ('17)
One Hill South ('17)
Homewood Suites ('16)
ORE 82 ('16)
The Bixby ('16)
Dock 79 ('16)
Community Center ('16)
The Brig ('16)
Park Chelsea ('16)
Yards/Arris ('16)
Hampton Inn ('15)
Southeast Blvd. ('15)
11th St. Bridges ('15)
Parc Riverside ('14)
Twelve12/Yards ('14)
Lumber Shed ('13)
Boilermaker Shops ('13)
Camden South Cap. ('13)
Canal Park ('12)
Capitol Quarter ('12)
225 Virginia/200 I ('12)
Foundry Lofts ('12)
1015 Half Street ('10)
Yards Park ('10)
Velocity Condos ('09)
Teague Park ('09)
909 New Jersey Ave. ('09)
55 M ('09)
100 M ('08)
Onyx ('08)
70/100 I ('08)
Nationals Park ('08)
Seniors Bldg Demo ('07)
400 M ('07)
Douglass Bridge Fix ('07)
US DOT HQ ('07)
20 M ('07)
Capper Seniors 1 ('06)
Capitol Hill Tower ('06)
Courtyard/Marriott ('06)
Marine Barracks ('04)
 
Go to Full Blog Archive


1142 Blog Posts Since 2003
Go to Page: 1 | ... 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 ... 115
Search JDLand Blog Posts by Date or Category

Everyone's an Architect!
Here we go! Time to play the Stadium Design Guessing Game, this time courtesy of Thomas Boswell's column: "'I hope the new park looks like the rest of the city with all the pillars and white stone,' said [veteran reliever Joey] Eischen. 'Go to the stadium and it would be a little bit like walking into the Lincoln Memorial, but it's your ballpark. Fans would love it. 'Come check it out.' Even Robinson could not resist playing what will soon be Washington's leading parlor game: amateur stadium architect. 'I hope our new ballpark sets a new trend and doesn't just follow one,' said Robinson. 'When Dodger Stadium arrived, I think it was the first big league park that looked out into the landscape -- at the [San Gabriel] mountains. Royals Stadium [in Kansas City] felt unique with the waterfalls. Camden Yards set a new direction, too.Just so long as you can see the U.S. Capitol from some spot in the ballpark, that's all people will talk about. When the new San Francisco ballpark opened, everybody raved about the views [of the Bay]. Well, you had to go in the upper deck to see the water. But that's what you heard about. Just make sure you can see the Capitol from some seats.'"

More posts: Nationals Park
 

There's a Stadium Coming to the Neighborhood
Technically, it was a formality (although with this crew, you never know), but the final reading of the stadium lease agreement just passed the city council, 9-4. Will post stories here as they become available.
UPDATE, 9:04 pm: In the meantime, what's next, other than much rejoicing from some quarters and doom and gloom from others? The design should be unveiled soon, and will have to get approval from the Zoning Commission. The city will probably get back in front of Judge Zeldon ASAP to get the ruling to evict the landowners in the stadium footprint. The bonds to actually fund everything will be sold sometime in 4-6 weeks. And MLB will name an owner, maybe by opening day? Then there will be (perhaps in mid-April) news from the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation as to the plans for the Ballpark District--I would hazard a guess that they're going to try real hard to have at least the stretch along Half Street between M and L well-developed with restaurants and retail by Opening Day 2008. Which means that the city and WMATA need to figure out where that Half Street bus depot is going to go. And maybe by early May demolition will begin. And... and... and....
UPDATE, 10:28 pm: Here is the AP story about the votes. Jack Evans is quoted as saying that the city hopes to unveil the designs next week, with a groundbreaking in late April.
UPDATE, 11:26 pm: And the Post story.
UPDATE, 12:57 am: And the WashTimes story, which has this item: "Clark officials already have locked in prices on most of the stadium materials, including steel. Those prices remain valid as long as construction begins before June. Sports commission officials said the construction team can complete the stadium in time for Opening Day in 2008 provided they have access to the land soon. However, the stadium could open as late as July 31 of that season without penalty from the league."

More posts: West Half St., Metro/WMATA, staddis, Nationals Park, zoning
 

Construction Agreement Passes
The Design Build and Completion Guarantee Agreement for the D.C. Major League Baseball Park Approval Resolution of 2006 (i.e., the construction contract) just passed, 9-4. Next up, the final reading on the lease agreement.
More posts: Nationals Park
 

Still Waiting on the Council....
No, no vote yet. In the meantime, here's a Post DC Wire blog entry from 2:30, counting the votes and saying that there should be 7 for both the lease affirmation and the construction cap agreement. (But wonder of wonders, Marion Barry might vote no!)
More posts: Nationals Park
 

Mayor Signs Lease Agreement
From Reuters: "Washington's planned waterfront baseball stadium cleared its last major obstacle on Monday after the city and Major League Baseball signed a 30-year lease that caps city-funded costs at $611 million. " The article says that the path is now cleared for CFO Gandhi to sell the bonds to fund the stadium, a process expected to take four to six weeks. It also says that the construction contract with Clark is expected to be approved by the city council on Tuesday.
UPDATE, 10:43 pm: And here is the AP's very similar piece, with the quote that makes me perk up: "Once the construction contract is approved, the city hopes to unveil ballpark designs next week." Because we haven't had enough acrimony already!
UPDATE, 8:38 am: Tuesday's Post has "DC Exempt on Stadium Overruns," focusing the mayor-signs-lease story on a letter from CEO Gandhi to the city council certifying "that the deal struck over the past few days between the mayor, the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission and baseball officials includes a legal "acknowledgement" of the council's mandate to cap public spending on the project at $611 million" and that "excess tax revenue may be used only with the council's approval," thereby erasing the last major doubts from council members about the deal. A new owner could be named by the end of March. The WashTimes article this morning is very similar to the others, although it does have a new tidbit that says MLB has allowed the new stadium to open as late as July 31, 2008 without penalty. It also says "council members said they had no plans to disrupt the deal." Let's wait until today's council session is finished before putting all our faith in that statement :-).
UPDATE, 8:45 am: And, just for the heck of it, here's the MLB.com story on the lease signing. And if you feel like watching today's council proceedings (you masochist!), here's the streaming video link.
UPDATE, 10:30 am: I'll add in this nice Baltimore Sun piece, which uses a good hook of the long-suffering fans hoping that this finally makes the Nats DC's team.
And, last but not least, here's the Mayor's statement on signing the lease.

More posts: Nationals Park
 

First Stadium Construction Subcontracts Awarded
This might be just a touch more than anyone really needs to know, but that won't prevent me from passing along this item from the Clark/Hunt/Smoot A Joint Venture web site (the guys building the new baseball stadium), dated March 1: "Clark/Hunt/Smoot has awarded its first major subcontracts for Demolition and Mass Excavation. Demolition has been awarded to F&L/Wrecking Corp., A Joint Venture, consisting of the local F&L Construction and Wrecking Corporation of America. Mass Excavation has been awarded to Anderson/Urban, A Joint Venture, consisting of The Anderson Company and the local Urban Service Systems Corporation. Approximately 315,000 cubic yards of soil will be excavated from the 20-acre site." If you thought a lot of heavy trucks rumbled through Near Southeast now , just wait until the demolishing and the digging start...
More posts: Nationals Park
 

Lease Agreement Day 2
Lori Montgomery's DC Wire blog entry on MLB signing the lease agreement seems to have some of the hesitation that I was expressing last night, and it centers around MLB's condition that "Excess ballpark tax revenue earmarked for debt service will be available for stadium cost overruns." Linda Cropp is meeting with people from the Mayor's office and the Sports Commission this morning. So I feel good to not have popped the champagne *just* yet. Also, here is the WashTimes's piece from this morning's paper on the "deal."
More posts: Nationals Park
 

Baseball Signs Lease Agreement
From the Post: "Major League Baseball today signed a lease for the Washington Nationals use of a proposed $611 million stadium project along the Anacostia Waterfront, clearing the way for the city to begin construction of the stadium and baseball to move ahead with the sale of the team, according to sources familiar with the process. Baseball delivered a signed document to the D.C. Sports & Entertainment Commission on Sunday afternoon, with a provision that the lease not become effective until the city begins its sale of the bonds to cover the stadium project, sources said. The document, which was delivered to the city attorneys representing the D.C. Sports Commission, also contains a number of other conditions, sources said." And,for my favorite part: "A major condition was that the document does not become legally binding if the city enacts further legislation that is contrary to the stadium funding plan it passed last month, sources said." What does it mean? Is it really good to go? I want to see a bit more information first. See you after the Oscars.
UPDATE, 9:44 pm: Here is the AP story, containing this line, which is why I haven't been jumping up and down with glee just yet: "DuPuy said the lease will go into effect if the Council agrees to several provisions, including an agreement that the city not enact any legislation that violates the terms of the lease." This whole process has made me a wee bit gunshy of declaring "Ballgame" until we've got some more details, but hopefully all will be well.
UPDATE, 11:53 pm: The updated Post story, "MLB Officials Sign Lease for D.C. Stadium," does seem to have a feeling that this is all done. In addition, I saw Adrian Fenty interviewed on ABC7, and he said even though it was a bad deal for the city, it's time to move forward. So perhaps this really is finally completed, although I might not be completely convinced until there are shovels in the ground :-).

More posts: Nationals Park
 

Stadium Latest (Not Really)
There doesn't appear to be any big news tonight on the stadium lease agreement, so I'll take the opportunity to point people to this morning's WashTimes article (which I looked for but didn't find earlier today), "Mayor Defends Proposal." It appears that everyone is waiting to find out if the city's attorney general will rule whether the legislation passed in February allows use of excess baseball revenue to pay for any cost overruns. Another interesting notion is that if baseball signs the lease agreement on Monday, the council's scheduled vote on Tuesday to extend the cap legislation for 225 days might be, well, superfluous: even if the council were to vote against the extension, the lease will have already been signed. And, says Mayor Tony, "Once a lease is signed, a lease is a lease. It's a contract. You can't authorize people to enter into a contract and then change the law to de-authorize it." Hmmmm. The WashTimes does say that "Some sources, however, said council could disrupt matters by rejecting the city's contract with the ballpark construction team, which also is up for approval Tuesday." Food fight!

More posts: Nationals Park
 

Day 2 on the Latest Stadium Shenanigans
That screeching sound you hear is the brakes grinding on Mayor Bow Tie's attempt to use revenue left over from the debt service on the stadium to pay for cost overruns. In "D.C.'s Mayor Draws Fire on Stadium Plan," from Thursday's Post, city council members express, shall we say, displeasure over the idea. I think Tony has it right: "People feel betrayed on both sides," Williams said of the council and MLB. "There's bad faith on both sides. And I think the only thing everybody agrees on is they don't like me." Someone wake me up on Tuesday, when we see how this turns out; having to go through this uncertainty for a fourth time is just absurd.

More posts: Nationals Park
 
1142 Posts:
Go to Page: 1 | ... 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 ... 115
Search JDLand Blog Posts by Date or Category




                  © Copyright 2024 JD.