Overview/Half Street Phase I/Navy Yard Metro Other Parcels Monument News Items
 Monument Realty has assembled thousands of square feet of land just north of the Nationals ballpark site, and has begun work on its propsects on the eastern side of Half Street. It also owns lots along N Street and South Capitol.
In October 2006 WMATA agreed to sell the land above the Navy Yard Metro station entrance at Half and M to Monument, with the agreement that Monument would oversee the expansion of the station as part of its construction of 55 M Street so that it can better handle the expected crush of ballpark crowds (more fare gates and vending machines, two new elevators, and relocating the station kiosk, fare gates and fare vendors). Monument was expecting to acquire the Southeastern Bus Garage on the west side of Half Street, but the site was awarded to Akridge in October 2007.
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Monument Half Street Phase I
 
(Left) A still from an October 2007 promotional animation shows the design of Monument's Half Street project, which started construction in early 2007, and (right) a May 2008 photo of the same angle, showing the northern half of the project nearly topped out. It will have a 275,000-sq-ft office building at 55 M Street; a 200-room boutique hotel mid-block; two residential buildings (one condo, one rental) totaling 320 units at Half and N, directly across from the stadium; and 50,000 sq ft of retail. Nationals Park is one block to the south. The project is expected be completed by early 2010. The official web site is at HalfStreet.com.
If you want to view more before-and-after photos of 55 M Street from additional locations,
see the Expanded Project Archive.
A ground-level shot of the east side of Half Street at M Street, with the Navy Yard Metro's Half Street entrance at left; the left photo is in February 2006; the right photo, taken on August 24, 2008, shows 55 M topped out, and the ballpark at the end of the street. WMATA spent $20 million to upgrade the station's west entrance to handle 15,000 visitors an hour (the same as the Stadium/Armory station), increasing the number of fare gates and vending machines, adding two elevators and relocating the station kiosk, fare gates and fare vendors from the mezzanine to the street entrance. It reopened on March 28, 2008.
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55 M (right middle) now commands center stage when looking north from inside Nationals Park. At least until the residential portion of the project on the south end of the block gets underway. (8/3/08)  
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Looking at the entrance the Navy Yard Metro station on Half Street, two months after it was closed for expansion. (2/24/07)
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The same location, with the renovations of the Metro station completed. While the escalators are still in the same spot, the entrance to the station is now about 30 feet south down Half Street. (3/29/08)
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Backing away a bit to show the south side of M Street west of First, in September 2006. The Normandie Liquors building seen here was demolished in early 2008. (09/06)
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The same location, with 55 M even in its early stages changing the landscape considerably. (8/24/08)
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Looking down Half Street toward the stadium from M Street, in a still from the October 2007 animation.
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Yet another video still from the animation, showing the entrance to the Metro station on the ground floor of 55 M, on Half Street.
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The southern side of M at Half in July, 2006. (07/06)
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The same location. (8/24/08)
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The southern end of 55 M, along Half, will be at a new "Monument Street," which will allow not only for a cut-through to the hotel entrance on Cushing but also for additional corner retail spaces along Half Street. Here's the general location of Monument Street, then a WMATA employee parking lot, in January 2006. (01/06)
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The same location, with construction underway. (8/03/08)
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Two stills from the animation showing the retail and streetscape anticipated for Half Street; the image at left shows the southwestern corner of 55 M, at the new Monument Street intersection (the same location shown in the photos above it), with the entrance to the mid-block Hotel on the southeast side of the intersection. The right-hand image shows the two-story retail spaces in the residential building on the southern end of Half.
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Checking out 55 M from the roof of 70 I Street, with the ballpark visible at rear. (5/6/08)
Hotel and Residential
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( Top left) A new 2008 rendering showing the northeast corner of Half and N, with two-story retail on the corner, and the residential building wrapping from Half to N. The hotel is on the northern part of the building, at left. ( Bottom) Two views of the same Half and N corner seen in the rendering; the first is in January 2007, just before the start of demolition, and the second is with construction of 55 M underway, but the residential building not yet started. (8/03/08)
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The view back up Half Street, from N Street, in February 2006. This is where most people will exit the stadium, heading north to the Metro station or elsewhere. By April 2007, most of the buildings seen here were demolished. (02/06)
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The same location, as streetscape improvements along N Street change the view considerably, as does the construction of 55 M visible at rear. (8/03/08)
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Monument's vision of the same location as the two above photos, looking north up Half Street from N Street. Don't expect it to look like this on Opening Day; the right/east side of the street won't be completed before 2009, and the left/west side of the street is still under design and development.
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A wide-angle shot (hence the feeling that everything's about to fall over) showing the eastern side of Half Street between M and N in October 2006. This is where the hotel and residential buildings's ground-floor retail will be. (10/06)
Residences on the eastern side of Half Street between M and N were occupied until mid-2005, and were demolished in November of that year. This is the southern end of Half Street north of N; the blue building at far right marks the start of the ballpark footprint. (01/05)
The same location, a bit more than three years later, on the day of the first exhibition game played at Nationals Park. (3/29/08)
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The south end of the Cushing Street alley will be punched through to N Street as part of Monument's redevelopment of this block. This is the Cushing and N "intersection", in December 2006; this lot, which is the southeastern corner of the Monument site, faces the ballpark. (12/06)
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The same location, with construction of 55 M visible at rear. (6/24/08)
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Overview/Half Street Phase I/Navy Yard Metro Other Parcels Monument News Items
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Monument Realty's vision of Half Street, looking south from M Street. (image courtesy 
