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Search term: wrapped goodness : 22 matching blog entries

Renderings of Planned Baseball Art on Ballpark Garages
Aug 3, 2010 6:24 PM
The Post's Dan Steinberg blogged today about the latest planned "public art" at Nationals Park, first reported by WBJ last month, and linked to two renderings of the 30 stainless steel orbs lit by LEDs that will be installed on the infamous garages by the spring of next year.
On his "In Progress" page, sculptor Thomas Sayre notes how 70 percent of ballpark-goers arrive from the north side of the stadium, and that the garage facades that greet visitors are "large, powerful, and do little themselves to welcome fans to the magical experience of a baseball game."
He explains the concept behind his work thusly: "Inspired by the primary action of the game of baseball itself - the pitch followed by the hit - this public art project consists of a succession of polished stainless spheres derived from a spinning baseball which depicts physics of how a 90-mile per hour pitch is able to curve in such extraordinary ways. Eighteen stainless steel "baseballs" follow the theoretical model of the trajectory of a curving fast ball pitch. The western garage facade will show the more straight and higher-angled trajectory of the same ball as it is hit by the batter and is depicted with twelve "baseballs". The pitch comes at you from the left and sails off from you to the right as you enter."
UPDATE: After hearing a comment or two about the garages themselves, I thought a little bit of history might be in order. I just posted this in the comments:
If you weren't around during the haggling over the construction of the stadium in 2006, you missed all of the angst about the garages. MLB mandated 925 1225 on-site parking spaces. They also mandated a stadium ready by Opening Day 2008. And the city mandated a spending cap for construction. Those three requirements left the city little choice but to construct the garages in their current location, above ground.
I invite readers to plow through my *many* posts from back in the day, to learn of such things as the proposed Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness, and other ideas that fell by the wayside because of political and financial reality.
This doesn't preclude the eventual demolition of the garages and putting them underground, but I haven't heard that spoken of much since 2008, when most people saw the garages, sighed, and began just averting their eyes.
UPDATE II: A reader passed this link along--if you click on Projects, then Pitch Terrain, you'll see what's billed as a "finalist proposal" for the competition for the Nats garage art. This design, by Rob Ley, was an "undulating lighted facade system," using aluminum screens to simulate the flow of the ball between pitcher and batter.
Comments (6)
More posts: parking, Nationals Park

City Settles Miller Ballpark Garages Lawsuit
Jul 7, 2008 7:19 PM
According to the Post's DC Wire blog, the final chapter of the Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness saga has now been written: "Developer Herbert Miller has settled his $40 million lawsuit against the District government over the failed plan to build two 13-story condominium towers just outside Nationals Park. Under the settlement, the city will pay Miller's Western Development $2 million and the company will drop its legal grievances, according to Miller's son Ben, who is now the company's president." Above is the design for the condo/garages, and here's my various entries on the Miller plan. While you look at those links, think about the current four-story parking lots in the outfield and imagine them with another eight stories on top. And no centerfield plaza, either.
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More posts: parking, Nationals Park

A Long Trip Down Ballpark Memory Lane, Via the Blog
Mar 26, 2008 9:33 PM
Let's take break from the here and now and spend a few moments looking back at Big Moments in Nationals Park History, as reported here on JDLand. This is kind of long, but you younguns and latecomers who didn't follow it all from the beginning might find this timeline of interest.
* Sept. 21, 2004, I posted this wonderfully understated entry: "Baseball coming to Near Southeast? "District officials disclosed plans yesterday to build a publicly financed stadium costing more than $400 million on the Anacostia waterfront near South Capitol Street, amid growing signs that Major League Baseball will attempt to move the Montreal Expos to Washington." It doesn't mean that baseball in DC is a done deal, or that the Near Southeast site is a done deal, but it's a very interesting decision, and one that would have a huge impact on Near Southeast if it were to happen." I got that right.
* April 1, 2005: "As expected, the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission has chosen HOK Sport (along with Devrouax & Purnell Architects/Planners of DC) as the architects for the new Nationals baseball stadium. They promise a design that will "change the paradigm of ballparks" and will be "iconic and truly distinctive to Washington, D.C."
* May 15, 2005, a fond memory of the old-school JDLand days: "As a heads up, I'm not going to follow here on the site every twist and turn of the Nationals baseball stadium funding saga. The bickering over costs and land acquisition and whatnot leaves me totally cold. [H]ere at JDLand I'll just be concentrating on news of the design and construction."
* Aug. 5, 2005: "According to yesterday's Washington Times, officials at the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission still maintain, despite "a growing wave of pessmism among bidding groups seeking to buy the club," that the new baseball stadium will be ready for the 2008 season."
* Sept. 19, 2005: "Anyone who's lived in DC for any amount of time will be stunned to read today's Post story, "As Stadium Clock Ticks, DC Officials Bicker," detailing the difficulties of getting a design for the new baseball stadium agreed upon. Much of the trouble revolves around the desire (pushed most vehemently by Jack Evans) to have views of the Capitol Dome from as many seats at the stadium as possible."
* Oct. 18, 2005: "DC Council Chair Linda Cropp has signaled that she will block any attempts at significant alternations to the baseball stadium financing package[....] Says [Kathy] Patterson: "The District is at some risk of not being taken seriously as a government if we renege on the deal we have. That said, we negotiated a lousy deal.""
* Jan. 27, 2006: "WTOP is reporting that the city and Major League Baseball have reached agreement on negotiations over the stadium lease agreement."
* Feb. 7, 2006: Three entries (including my first-ever liveblogging) detailing the rollercoaster day in front of the DC Council that started with the stadium lease agreement being voted down before a long recess resulted in a return to approve it, with the cost cap in place.
* March 14, 2006: The stadium design is unveiled. How close are the original drawings to how it's turned out?
* March 22, 2006: "Both the Post and the Blade report that Judge Zeldon has ordered the eviction of the last remaining stadium landowner holdouts, including the gay bars on O Street owned by Robert Siegel. Siegel, plus the trash transfer station at 1st and N also covered under yesterday's order, have until April 4 to vacate."
* April 25, 2006: "Thanks to a tip from a correspondent, I can confirm that there is now demolition underway at the ballpark site, at its southernmost corner (South Capitol and P and Potomac). "
* May 3, 2006: "Everyone's now reporting that the ownership group led by DC-area developer Theodore Lerner has officially been picked as the owners of the Nationals."
* May 4, 2006, the Groundbreaking Ceremony: "The riff-raff-o-meter at the gate of the stadium groundbreaking was apparently malfunctioning, allowing me to get in and witness this morning's festivities."
And, just like that, here we are. If you want to read more (I didn't even touch the months of let's-try-private-financing, let's-do-it-at-RFK-instead, and the Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness), use my Search page, click "Baseball Stadium" in the topic box, and pick a date range to browse.

Florida Rock Gets Preliminary Zoning Approval
Mar 21, 2008 10:13 AM
With a surprise motion at the end of last night's second-stage PUD hearing, the Zoning Commission has given preliminary approval to the design of RiverFront on the Anacostia (better known as Florida Rock), the 1.1-million-square-foot four-building mixed-use project nestled between Nationals Park, the Anacostia River, the Douglass Bridge, and Diamond Teague Park. It's been about 11 years since FRP Development first entered the zoning process for this site, and almost two years since the commission unexpectedly sent architects back to the drawing board for a design that better responded to the changes brought by the ballpark.
You can see a few renderings of the latest design on my project page, and read about the specifics (dear heavens, I'm not going to summarize it all AGAIN--read the Office of Planning report for more on this submittal). The one big addition to the design is a large sculpture to be placed on the public plaza ("Anacostia Place") across from the grand staircase of the ballpark, celebrating the Anacostia River watershed, which the commissioners seemed to respond to favorably.
The commissioners all remarked that the project has come a long way, and were pleased with the overall design. There were some concerns from commissioners Peter May of the National Park Service and Gregory Jeffries about the facades of the two western buildings that will face the proposed traffic oval on South Capitol Street at the foot of a new Douglass Bridge, that they aren't "animated" enough in terms of retail for such a prominent location. May had also called the project "too complex", with too much going on with different facades and finishes, but when longtime commissioner Michael Turnbull of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol said that he "liked the complexity," it was clear that there weren't going to be requests for large-scale changes to the design.
After 2 1/2 hours of presentations and questions, Chairman Hood brought up the idea of giving initial approval immediately, which, judging by the wide-eyed glances between the many representatives and consultants in the audience, was not expected. Commissioner May was not really in favor of moving forward, and Jeffries initially seemed to be leaning that way but then hemmed and hawed his way back to agreeing that the proposed action could go forward. (Earlier Jeffries had noted with some surprise that a project of this scope had not brought out a single member of the community in opposition.)
It was decided that the developers need to submit more detailed drawings of the plans for the South Capitol Street facades, and that no final approval would be given to the project until all commissioners approved of them. Commissioner May ended up abstaining on the vote, which was 4-0-1.
Architect Davis Buckley asked for six weeks to prepare the new renderings, and the commission scheduled a Special Public Meeting for May 22 at 6 pm to take final action.
This doesn't mean that earthmovers will arrive on May 23 to start building Anacostia Place and the eastern office building; construction drawings will have to be completed, and the trip through the vaunted DC permitting process will have to begin. But the notion of a Fall 2009 start date for the first phase of this project is looking closer to a reality. As for when the entire project could be completed, the western two buildings are dependent on the construction of the new Douglass Bridge before they can start. So, mark your calendar for about 2018.
I hope to snag some additional renderings included in last night's presentation; there was also a cool fly-over animation of RiverFront and its relationship with its surroundings, though it included the long-defunct Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness once envisioned for the north side of the ballpark, causing Commissioner Turnbull to spend some time lamenting What MIght Have Been.
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More posts: Florida Rock, zoning

June: Month O'Meetings
May 29, 2007 12:41 PM
The calendar for June is quickly filling up with all sorts of meetings and hearings on various Near Southeast-related projects, and although I've been adding them to my Upcoming Events list, I thought it would be a good idea to highlight them. So mark your calendars, and if you're interested in participating, many of the links have information on how to do so.
* It's not actually in June, but on May 31 at 6:30 pm (close enough!), the Zoning Commission is having another public hearing at 6:30 pm at One Judiciary Square on Case 06-41, Camden Development/1325 South Capitol Street, this time to consider the project as a consolidated planned unit development and map amendment request to rezone as C-3-C.
* The Anacostia Waterfront Corporation public board meeting originally scheduled for last week was postponed and will now be held on June 1 at 1105 New Jersey Ave., SE, at 6 pm; agenda items include "South Capitol Waterfront Modification of Contract for Parsons Brinckerhoff" (which I believe has to do with the project to design Diamond Teague Park) and "Baseball District: Western Development Litigation" (which is the lawsuit that resulted from when the city opted not to move forward with Herb Miller's Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness plan for on-site stadium parking).
* On June 7, the DC Council Committee on Workforce Development and Government Operations is having a Public Oversight Hearing at the Wilson Building at 9 am on the proposed relocation of the Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters to 225 Virginia Ave., SE, also known as the old Star/Post plant. (UPDATED with a date change to June 7.)
* On June 12, the council's Committee on Finance and Revenue will have a public hearing at 11 am on the bill to create the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District (bill B17-0208, "Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District Amendment Act of 2007").
* On June 14, WMATA's Planning, Development, and Real Estate Committee will be meeting, and included in their anticipated agenda items is "approval of developer selection and term sheet for the Navy Yard station east entrance", which is referring to a joint development solicitation proposal back in September 2006, looking to develop the 4,400 square feet owned by WMATA above the Navy Yard station entrance at New Jersey and M with some combination of a public plaza at ground level and development above it.
* On June 16, the council's Committee on Economic Development is having a Public Roundtable on "Progress of Economic Development Projects in Southwest and Near Southeast DC," at the Westminster Presbyterian Church at 400 I St., SW, at 10 am. (This was listed in the June issue of the Southwester, I don't have a link to an official announcement yet.) UPDATE, 6/1: I've now got a copy of the meeting notice.
* And on June 20, the Zoning Commission is having a public hearing at One Judiciary Square at 6:30 pm on Case 06-32, a proposed text amendment to add Square 766 [the old Post Plant at 225 Virginia Ave.] to the Capitol South Receiving Zone, a move that would allow greater height and density on the lot than under its current zoning.
So, don't ever say that this stuff sneaks through the political process without anyone knowing about it! The trick is trying to stay awake through it all.
UPDATE: I should add, even though it's outside of my purview, that on June 7 there will be a Zoning Commission hearing on the updated plans for Waterside Mall on M Street in Southwest.

Upcoming Events: Community Benefits Roundtable, Youth River Sports Day
May 16, 2007 1:05 PM
A quick heads up on a couple of events that might be of interest: On May 19 and 21 there will be Roundtable Discussions on "Development Dollars for Community Benefits", an event sponsored by ANC 6D, the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly, and the South Washington/West of the River Family Strengthening Collaborative (see the flyer for locations and times). And on May 26, the Anacostia Community Boathouse Association is hosting a Youth River Sports Day, sponsored by the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation and the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission--see the AWC announcement for more details.
UPDATE: Just across the transom is an announcement (not yet online) of the next Anacostia Waterfront Corporation board meeting, on May 23rd at 6:00 pm at 1105 New Jersey. Near Southast items on the agenda include "South Capitol Waterfront Modification of Contract for Parsons Brinkerhoff" (which I believe has to do with the project to design Diamond Teague Park) and "Baseball District: Western Development Litigation" (ah, reliving the good old days of the Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness).

Bee-You-Tea-Full New Stadium Renderings
Dec 15, 2006 2:18 PM
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.
More posts: parking, Nationals Park

Parking Back on the Council Agenda - And Herb Miller Sues
Nov 13, 2006 10:40 AM
Lookee here at what's popped up on the agenda for tomorrow's City Council session, a reading and vote on "Ballpark Parking Completion Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2006" and "Ballpark Parking Completion Emergency Amendment Act of 2006." (No sign of either of them in the online system, though.) I don't know what either of them contain, so we'll just have to wait for news to trickle out. The fun never stops. UPDATE: Speaking of the parking, WTOP is reporting that Herb Miller is suing the city, the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission and the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation, saying that his agreement with the city and Mayor Williams to build the Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness has not been honored. Says Miller: "D.C. will realize it has lost a remarkable opportunity to renew a neighborhood and provide hundreds of millions of dollars in economic benefit to the city. It is a major loss that didn't have to happen." (Says JD: Just because this plan fell through doesn't mean there will never be development on those two blocks, not to mention that there's already plenty of other development on the blocks just north of the stadium.) UPDATE II: Here's the Washington Business Journal story on Miller's lawsuit.

CFO Documents on Garages Funding
Oct 16, 2006 6:29 PM
Since I know this will back in the news any second now, here is the DC CFO's Oct. 2 Fiscal Impact Statement on how the draft bill being shopped around by Marion Barry to get the Herb Miller/Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness plan back on track to put garages on the north end of the stadium site will result in the busting of the $611 spending cap the council placed on the ballpark project. And there's a bonus surprise! At the end of the FIS is the draft of the bill itself. (Also, just for the heck of it, here's CFO Gandhi's testimony back in July on the Miller garages plan.) Back on Oct. 4, news reports said that Mayor Williams told the council that he supported Barry's bill with several amendments that addressed Gandhi's concerns. There was talk of this bill coming before the Council at it's session this coming Wednesday, but it's not yet on the schedule. UPDATE: The city council schedule for tomorrow (Wednesday) has now been updated to show so many different ballpark-related items on the agenda that I'm not going to even try to figure out what's what. We'll see what transpires on the morrow....

Herb's Stadium Garages Deal Goes Kaput
Sep 20, 2006 6:55 PM
From WTOP: "Herb Miller's Western Development Corporation Baseball Partners rejected a deal from the city to develop parking and retail at the new stadium for the Washington Nationals. The move puts the city at risk of default on the stadium agreement with the Lerner Family. That agreement calls for the city to provide 1,225 parking spaces at the site by opening day in April of 2008. If the District is unable to provide that number of spaces, the Lerners could sue the city for damages. [...] Those options include creating surface parking around the stadium as an interim fix until more permanent parking can be developed. The D.C. Zoning Board has ruled the parking cannot preclude other development on the site, such as retail. " It appears that what they're now arguing about is how much Miller gets compensated for the deal falling through. More as I get it (and perhaps the Post will give us some clarity, this seems a bit jumbled). UPDATE: Here is the WashPost story, which doesn't tell us much that we haven't already heard. The article is a bit overwrought when it says "The dissolution of the Miller project could have far-reaching consequences on the entire baseball experience and the city's planned revival of the waterfront." -- after all, there are millions of square feet of office, residential, and retail projects planned for around the stadium, whether the Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness got built or not. Next step, trying to put 925 parking spaces on the northern edge of the stadium site by Opening Day 2008.

Another Day, Another New Map
Sep 12, 2006 4:34 PM
With the latest news about Florida Rock's design modifications, Monument Realty's bid for the WMATA land at Half and M, the still-in-limbo Stadium Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness, and the apparent moving forward by the Cohen, Camalier/Davis, and Welch families to develop their land along First Street, it appears that the Ballpark District is moving forward, despite the AWC's still never having released it's "Development Strategy" for the area. So, fresh off my success with my North of M map, I've created a Ballpark District map to better help keep track of what's happening. Be aware that the boundaries I drew for the new public plaza at the foot of 1st Street are not really based on anything other than trying to remember how it looked in Florida Rock's exhibits to the ANC. And no final design for the traffic roundabout at South Capitol and Potomac has been released yet, either. UPDATE: And, for the heck of it, I just added a page with both maps fused together, creating a pretty nice Stadium Corridor Development Guide. But be prepared to scroll :-).

Garages Deal Still Not Finished
Sep 7, 2006 8:09 AM
From today's Post, word that negotiations between Herb Miller and the city on the Garages Wrapped with Development Goodness have "bogged down because of financing complications," and the city fears that his proposal will fall through and have "begun developing a plan that relies heavily on surface-level parking lots." It says that negotiations are to resume today--interesting timing of this story, then!--and that the main issues are whether the plan violates the $611 million stadium cost cap and who will pay for any overruns. The story says that if the deal falls through, "The sports commission has explored the possibility of paving over the five-acre plot north of the stadium to provide surface level lots for the scheduled opening of the stadium in April 2008. A temporary one-level garage might be included to reach the required number of parking spaces. Under that plan, additional development could be built in the future by Miller or another developer."

Post Editorial on Garages
Sep 1, 2006 9:17 AM
No news yet on the fate of the Herb Miller/Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness plan to solve the issue of parking at the new baseball stadium (despite the Sept. 1 date when the financing was supposed to be in place having now arrived), but the Post editorial page weighs in on the lonely plight of CEO Gandhi trying to make sure that the DC taxpayers' interests don't strike out.

Yeah, That'll Happen.
Aug 21, 2006 9:30 AM
Today's Washington Times reports that DC mayoral candidate Michael Brown has vowed to "stop construction of the Washington Nationals' baseball stadium on South Capitol Street and instead would refurbish RFK Stadium for the team." He will apparently be holding a press conference this week to detail his plans. Additionally: "Mr. Brown acknowledged the apparent difficulties in gaining the approval of all interested parties for a new stadium deal but said he can do it. 'I didn't say it was easy, and there are a lot of different moving pieces.' " In other the-stadium-is-a-boondoggle highlights from the weekend, the WashTimes editorial board compares the financing for the new Yankee stadium to what DC "negotiated" to get the Nats to DC (i.e., stop pointing the gun at us, Bud, we'll give you everything you want, just so you'll finally put a team in one of the biggest markets in the country), but also uses it to once again castigate the Lerners for standing in the way of the city's desire to recoup some money by building the Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness. In addition, local muckraking institution DC Watch has had much discussion from its readers over the past few weeks about the stadium and it's financing, and addresses it specifically in its current issue.

More posts: parking, Nationals Park

CFO Gandhi's Testimony on the Garages
Aug 17, 2006 11:17 AM
This is a little old at this point, but here's the prepared remarks of CFO Natwar Gandhi when he testified before the council's Committee on Economic Development on July 6 about his concerns with Herb Miller's proposal for the Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness.

Boswell on the Garages
Aug 8, 2006 8:26 AM
The Post's Tom Boswell doesn't like the plan for Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness. He REALLY doesn't like the plan for Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness. "What you absolutely positively must not do is build a $281 million condo and hotel theme park behind left and center field. Washington can have a beautiful home for the Nats. And the District can have its urban development renaissance. They're compatible. However, the worst imaginable first step toward both goals would be to dwarf the new stadium with a couple of cityscape-shielding 13-story towers, which we'd glare and cuss at for decades, just to settle a fuss over 925 parking spaces."

More posts: parking, Nationals Park

It's the Parking, Stupid.
Aug 4, 2006 3:07 PM
Because you just can't ever get through a day without hearing about the stadium's parking issues, here's Friday's WashTimes with "City Feeling Crunch on Stadium Parking," which reports that it's now going to cost $18 million to build the 300 other parking spaces on the stadium site (on the south side, beneath the plaza), and with only $21 million budgeted to provide all 1,225 spaces, well, there's a problem. Yes, the city is negotiating with Herb Miller to build the Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness, but as the article notes, Miller "would pay about $39 million for the land, and the commission would pay for the garages." So, what's to be done? Quoting: "The commission could ask Miller to pay for the garages in exchange for a lower purchase price on the land, or work out some other financial arrangement that will not require more city money. It is possible, however, that the commission would ask the D.C. Council to approve more funds for the project and is eyeing a possible council meeting Aug. 15. A spokesman for Mayor Anthony A. Williams, however, said yesterday the mayor will not ask the council to approve more funds." With the garages construction needing to get started by Labor Day in order to guarantee on-time completion in March, 2008, the clock is a'ticking.
More posts: parking, Nationals Park

More Stadium Renderings, Zoning Commission Docs
Aug 4, 2006 11:18 AM
A lot of new stadium stuff today for those who are interested. I've posted a bunch of additional renderings of various parts of the stadium project (and the Garages Wrapped with Development Goodness, too) on my new baseball stadium page (follow the icon, of course). These renderings were gleaned from the DCSEC's packet of materials submitted to the DC Zoning Commission in advance of the June 26 hearing; I've also now posted portions of that zoning filing, including additional renderings and other supplemental materials.
More posts: parking, Nationals Park

Herb Presents Garages Proposal to DCSEC
Aug 3, 2006 8:35 AM
From today's WashTimes, we hear that the Herb Miller presented his Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness plan to the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission on Wednesday. There was no vote (as we heard about yesterday), so the article deson't really contain much news, just reiterating that Mayor Tony's for it, the Lerners are against it, and CEO Gandhi is warning that it's a big mistake. One new item: "[Miller] also must show, in writing, that the city will not be held liable if he fails to complete the project on time." Miller says that he is ready to start construction, although he has yet to line up all of his financing. If the DCSEC rejects the plan, they could "recommend that the city find at least $44 million in additional funds to cover the cost of underground garages. Underground garages could be completed on time and would allow for commercial development to be built a street level at a later date. But any additional spending on the stadium would require approval from the D.C. Council, which earlier this year passed a $611 cap on stadium expenditures."

DCSEC Vote on Garages Delayed
Aug 2, 2006 8:04 AM
A small Post blurb says that the planned vote by the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission on the Garages Wrapped with Development Goodness next to the new ballpark has been delayed: "The city attorney general's office has raised questions about the legality of Miller's plans that mayoral aides have sought to answer," and so Miller and mayoral aides didn't supply the necessary paperwork to the DCSEC in time to allow for a vote today. A spokesman says the mayor still expects the plan to be approved by the commission.

Report from July ANC 6D Meeting
Jul 28, 2006 11:29 AM
Voice of the Hill has posted it's summary of the July 10 ANC 6D Meeting. It's a bit of water under the bridge at this point, but it's still worth noting here that the ANC did vote to oppose the Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness, which were then approved the next day by the city council. Also on the agenda had been William C. Smith's request for alley closings and street openings in preparation for its development project at 800 New Jersey Ave. The proposal was referred to the ANC's development subcommittee, with there again being debate about what "community benefits" the project would be providing. According to VOTH, the "William C. Smith representative pointed to amenities his company has already promised, including an affordable housing component and funding for a public park." The public park being Canal Park, which William C. Smith is helping to fund. (Note that the alley closing/street opening request is on the Aug. 3 NCPC agenda.)

Mayor Calls for Cease Fire with Lerners
Jul 27, 2006 8:02 AM
From the Post: "D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams called yesterday for a meeting to restore goodwill between city officials and the new owners of the Washington Nationals, saying that the family of Bethesda developer Theodore N. Lerner had been "condescending" in dealings with the city." Tony got in a few good licks: " 'We're both in this,' Williams said. 'You put up $450 million for the team. Well, we put up $611 million for the stadium, and we're trying to get some benefits for our people. Excuse me, we do not need the condescending attitude. Maybe I have not built a stadium, but we brought $40 billion of investment to this city. Someone must think we know what we're doing.' " Team president Stan Kasten attempted to dial back the hostilities by releasing a statement saying "The new Nationals ownership has nothing but appreciation and respect for the enormous work and political courage of Mayor Williams and the D.C. Council in making big league baseball a reality in the Nation's Capital. We have been consistently supportive of their commitment to Major League Baseball to deliver a first class ballpark on time and on budget." [snarky emphasis mine] Other tidbits in the article: Herb Miller is scheduled to present his financing plan for The Garages Wrapped Wth Development Goodness to the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission on Monday. And the Mayor has said that he would go to the council for more money (up to $83 million according to CFO Gandhi) if the Miller plan falls through. The WashTimes has a similar article, with the additional info that after the financing plan is presented to DCSEC on Monday, they will vote on it on Wednesday; at that point, it would then need the Lerner group's approval for it to move forward.




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