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The Maren / Dock 79
Florida Rock/RiverFront on the Anacostia
25 and 79 Potomac Ave., SE

Four-phase waterfront site on about six acres; in development since the 1990s
Construction of 9-story, 305-unit residential building "Dock 79" begun late 2014, completed Fall 2016; 15,266 sq ft retail
Phase 2, The Maren, a 264-unit residential building with 12,500 sq ft retail, underway spring 2018
Phase 3 planned as 12-story, 313,705-sq-ft office building with 11,500 sq ft retail;
Phase 4 planned as 14-story, 261,760-sq-ft building (type undecided) with 12,610 sq ft retail;
Dock 79 Retail Tenants: The Salt Line, All-Purpose Pizzeria, Dacha Beer Garden

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)
 
  Nov. 3, 2019 - The Maren, getting its face on, as seen from the Douglass Bridge, with its sibling Dock 79 to the right, and with the Anacostia River at right. Alas, the upriver pedestrian path is closed, so I had to shoot from across the bridge. Waaaah!
  Nov. 3, 2019 - Looking at the Maren up close.
March 23, 2006 - The site known as Florida Rock in its pre-redevelopment phase.
  Nov. 3, 2019 - Basically the same location, 13 years later, with the Maren at left and Dock 79 at right.
Feb. 16, 2006 - Looking south-southeastward from east of the intersection of South Capitol and Potomac in early 2006.
  Nov. 3, 2019 - And more or less the same location, with the first two phases of the RiverFront redevelopment front and center.
The Maren, Sliding from to February 2006 to May 2019
before
after

Looking across Potomac Avenue at what was then its intersection at Half Street, first when the land was a concrete plant and now the current view.
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  Nov. 3, 2019 - Florida Rock Alley isn't quite an alley yet, but it is already a pedestrian and vehicular passageway. It is also where the shared bikes for residents of Dock 79 are parked.
  Nov. 3, 2019 - A look at the plaza on the site's eastern edge, where both the Salt Line and the Dacha Beer Garden liven up the proceedings, especially on game days. (But not on Sundays at 10:30 am, when this photo was taken.)
  June 22, 2019 - The reverse view of the plaza as seen from Nationals Park, to prove that the proceedings are indeed livened up on game days.
May 19, 2019 - Dacha, with both an interior space and a large beer garden on the adjoining plaza, opened in April 2019.
May 19, 2019 - The aforementioned plaza. Yes, it's blurry--I took it from a bike.
April 14, 2018 - Dock 79 welcomed All-Purpose Pizzeria in April, 2018, and it didn't take long for Nats fans to find it.
August 2005 - The "Florida Rock" property as seen from the Frederick Douglass Bridge in August 2005. Click to see all available photos of this location.
May 19, 2019 - The same view more than a decade later, with Dock 79 completed, the Maren topped out, and with something else kind of different, too.Click to see all available photos of this location.
March 2005 - Looking at the RiverFront property from across the Anacostia River, at Poplar Point; the riverfront bulkhead marks the property's boundaries.
March 23, 2019 - The same view, 15 years later.
August 6, 2017 - Dock 79, completed, seen here from Potomac Avenue, SE.
July 16, 2016 - The planned four phases of the RiverFront redevelopment, with Phase I's Dock 79 completed and Phase 2 expected to begin construction in 2018. Note that the two latter phases are dependent on the demolition of the existing Douglass Bridge.
Oct. 16, 2016 - The original public plaza's built-in tables, which were replaced in early 2019 by the Dacha beer garden.
Oct. 16, 2016 - Another view of the original plaza.
June 2008 - The Florida Rock site, as seen from the southeast viewing platform at Nationals Park in June 2008. The concrete plant eventually closed, and the tower was demolished in late 2011.
June 22, 2019 - A not-panoramic shot of the same location, with Dock 79 finished and the Maren under construction.
August 18, 2016 - The Dock 79 lobby, not long after the first residents began moving in. For more interior photos, see this gallery.
Dock 79, Sliding from to January 2008 to June 2017
before
after

At 1st Street and Potomac Avenue, SE, the old concrete plant known as Florida Rock stood until November 2011. Now, the Dock 79 apartment building construction looms over what will be a new public plaza connected to Diamond Teague Park.
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Oct. 16, 2016 - The same view nearly ten years later, with Dock 79 and the plaza completed.
Nov. 25, 2011 - My last shot of the Florida Rock concrete tower, taken from the new Yards/Teague connector bridge just as demolition was getting underway. The Anacostia Riverwalk Trail will continue into and all along the RiverFront site. (11/25/11)
April 16, 2016 - And the same view more than years later, with Dock 79 nearing completion.
A blurry overhead view of what we now call the Florida Rock site, taken in April 1973. From the National Archives. (4/1973)
Jan. 1, 2015 - The TV coverage of the NHL Winter Classic at Nationals Park helpfully provided this overhead view of the footprint for current construction, at right.
Dec. 9, 2014 - The ceremonial groundbreaking for the Phase 1 apartment building was held in a cold rain, but there was no shortage of VIPs wielding shovels. (See more photos from the event.)
Looking eastward on Potomac Avenue from the Frederick Douglass Bridge viaduct in April 2006, a little more than a year before the overpass was demolished; RiverFront lines the entire right/south side of the street. (04/06)
A very similar view to the one at left, but focused more on the RiverFront property itself, just after its fences were taken down to prepare for the pre-ballpark widening of Potomac Avenue. (07/07) Click to see all available photos of this location.




Note: The renderings below are from the designs approved for the site in 2008. However, in 2011, the site's developers began the process of returning to the Zoning Commission to seek approvals for changes to the site's design, with a new architect. So the renderings you see here are, for now, merely interesting for a general sense of the site and for historical purposes.
A January 2008 rendering of the 5.8-acre, four-building RiverFront project, as seen from the Anacostia River, with Nationals Park a strong presence just to its northeast. A hotel, two office buildings, a residential building, a riverfront esplanade, a glass-enclosed retail galleria, and a public plaza are all parts of this 1.1-million-square-foot proposal. This site map shows the January 2008 revised design and layout, with the Nationals ballpark to the north, and to the left/west the eventual revised configuration of South Capitol Street (running in a traffic oval at the foot of a new Frederick Douglass Bridge).
A January 2008 rendering of the eastern edge of the project, looking from Diamond Teague Park and Piers back toward the public plaza and the grand staircase of the ballpark.
Working from right to left, here are some additional details:
  • A public plaza on the far eastern edge of the project would complement Diamond Teague Park on its eastern side, helping to pull stadium-goers to the Anacostia riverfront and the Riverwalk esplanade.
  • The eastern office building would be smaller than in previous designs, but would have much more ground-floor retail.
  • To the west of the east office building would be "Potomac Quay", highlighted by a glass-enclosed 365-day-a-year galleria-type atrium. There would be ground-floor retail on both sides of the quay, and also a two-story destination restaurant on the south end of the Quay; a "watercourse" with fountains would run into and through the atrium.
  • The residential, hotel, and west office buildings are now curved around the "Piazza Cascade", where an oval drive connecting the lobbies of the three buildings surrounds a large water feature.
  • The Riverwalk and Esplanade remain unchanged from previous designs, with a depth of no less than 75 feet and with a bike path separated from the pedestrian areas.
    Construction of the project's eastern end (the eastern office building with ground-floor retail, the public plaza, and perhaps the glass-enclosed galleria) is slated to be first, with zoning approvals having been finally received (after 10 years of winding through the system) in 2008. Phase II would be the 160-unit residential building, and at the same time the underground parking and loading for the rest of the project would be built. Phase III would be the western office building, followed by the Phase IV hotel. The final two phases could not start until the new Frederick Douglass Bridge is built, since the old bridge is on the western edge of the RiverFront property.
  • A December 2007 rendering, looking west on Potomac Avenue from First Street, showing RiverFront's northern side, facing the ballpark. The building at left is the east office building, which would be RiverFront's first phase of construction. The plaza at far left would flow into the city's planned Diamond Teague Park. The rendering also shows the ground-floor retail planned for all spaces along Potomac Avenue.
    A January 2008 rendering showing the western end of the development, which will border a new large traffic oval at the intersection of South Capitol Street and Potomac Avenue, when the new Douglass Bridge has been built to the south of the current one, which will be demolished. The westernmost portion of RiverFront in fact can't be built until the new Douglass Bridge is done and the old one removed, because the old bridge sits on part of the development's footprint. From left in this rendering you see the east office building, a sliver of the residential building, the west office building prominently at center, and the hotel at far right.
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