But those negotiations have still not completely been resolved, and, in a time-extension request filed last week with the Zoning Commission, Forest City described the current situation, which will displease long-frustrated neighborhood moviegoers:

"Because of the extensive delays tied to the important and expansive discussions regarding DC Water's relocation and operational needs, as well as DC Water's need to retain control of the F-1 Parcel to facilitation construction of its headquarters building, Forest City's rights with respect to the lease with the theater operator have expired. Despite efforts to reconstitute that deal, it is clear that Forest City will not be able to proceed with the original approved program for a two-level, 16-screen theater above a four-level parking garage."

The filing goes on to say that the company is "now pursuing additional refinements to the approved plans." While the building's size and scale will likely stay the same, it is possible that the theater will be "reduced in size" and/or "incorporating other appropriate and compatible uses for the site to ensure a viable project." There is also apparently a need to relocate the building's planned loading and service access onto N Place and away from DC Water's ongoing operations. The facade design will likely change as well.

The filing states that the "very complicated planning constraints on this unique site" have "nearly reached final resolution," but that Forest City now requests an additional two years to work on redesigning the plan.

(Of course, this means that the replacement of "When will Whole Foods open?" with "When will the movie theater open?" as the most-asked question at JDLand will continue on for a while.)

* MOVIE THEATER MOVING FORWARD: WBJ reports that "D.C. Water, developer Forest City Washington and the District government have settled all outstanding business tied not only to the parcel needed for the long-planned 16-screen, 1,500-seat movie theater, but other sites surrounding it that are similarly planned as part of The Yards."

Forest City should receive the movie theater land in late spring, apparently, with the other residential-planned parcels to come probably over the next five years.

* LERNER BUYS 49 L: The General Services Administration announced this morning that the sale closed on Feb.22 for the one-story brick warehouse on the southeast corner of Half and L, SE.

Property records show that "Half Street Partners, LLC" paid $31 million for the site. And that LLC happens to have a mailing address of 2000 Tower Oaks Blvd., Eighth Floor, which happens to be the address of Lerner Enterprises.

No word yet on the plans for the site, which is (sort of) across the street from Lerner's 20 M office building, and also creates a sort-of Lerner-owned triangle with...

* 1000 SOUTH CAPITOL MOVING FORWARD: Lerner officially announced this week its plans to build the 250-unit 13-story residential building at South Capitol and K that has been working its way through the design and zoning process for the past few years. Designed by Shalom Baranes Associates, it will also have 10,000 square feet of retail along with the lineup of amenities befitting a new "luxury" building--fitness center with Pelotons, private dining room with demonstration kitchen, rooftop pool and entertainment center, and pet spa and bicycle repair offerings for residents. It is expected to get underway late in 2018.

UPDATE: And now we have one more piece of neighborhood news from WBJ today, which is that it has finally been officially announced that the new hotel at 3rd and Tingey in the Yards will be a Thompson boutique hotel.

(Though it must be noted that the WBJ story doesn't seem to quite realize that the hotel is already under construction, in a joint digging-and-building project with Forest City's next residential building, on Parcel L.)

The hotel will have 225 rooms, and the residential building will have about 270 units, and combined the two will have about 24,000 square feet of retail.

* HAMBURGLARY: Fresh on the news of its pending demise, the McDonald's at South Capitol and I was robbed early Saturday morning, with the three suspects jumping through the drive-through window to get to the cash. And here's MPD's Persons of Interest video. (WaPo, MPD)

* CSX DERAILMENT: The derailment in Northeast of a CSX train carrying hazardous materials has reignited {sorry} the concerns over both the city's need to boost its oversight of freight rail and the movement of hazmat through the Virginia Avenue Tunnel. (WaPo, plus a City Paper piece as well)

* TENANT NEWS: "Global public strategy firm" Mercury Public Affairs, LLC has signed a lease for the 8,020 square feet of office space in the upper levels of the Boilermaker Shops at the Yards, and will move in this summer. As for other Yards tenants, I hear that Whaley's could be opening Any Minute Now, with Philz not far behind. (Elsewhere, the Brig is probably still a couple of weeks away.)

* THE VERY MODEL OF A MINOR MODIFICATION: Forest City is back to the Zoning Commission with some changes to the design of the planned Showplace Icon movie theater. But you might need a microscope to spot the difference between old vs new on the exterior renderings. (And it's technically not a "minor modification," but I was feeling all Gilbert and Sullivan this morning.)

* WHY, A DUCK: Duck stops 11th Street Bridge traffic. (WaPo)

* BEHIND THE CURTAIN: DCist profiles a crazy blogger who has spent years taking photos of construction sites. I mean, honestly! Get a life!

Here's a few things, some of which could be their own posts, but, well, my walk wore me out.

MOVIE THEATER EXTENSION: On Monday night the Zoning Commission granted Forest City's request for a two-year extension to the PUD governing the plans for the Showplace Icon movie theater on the current DC Water site, which has continued to see delays because of DC Water's issues with moving some of its operations off of the site as planned. And, probably in response to a WBJ story a few days ago headlined "Big trouble for proposed multiplex at The Yards? Site 'may be in limbo for many years'," Forest City issued a press release quoting its president, Deborah Ratner Salzberg, as saying that "We look forward to beginning construction on the Showplace Icon Theater at The Yards by the end of this year," and that "DC Water, the District and Forest City meet weekly on this project to ensure that this first-ever theater complex for Southeast DC opens on time." There is also a quote from the CEO of Kerasotes Showplace Theaters, Tony Kerasotes, saying that "We realize this is a complicated site and remain fully engaged in seeing it through and moving forward with construction."

HISTORIC DESIGNATION: The little Lincoln Playground Field House at 555 L Street SE, now nestled between Van Ness Elementary School and the Bixby, has been designated a DC historic landmark. It was built in 1934, and you can read more about its significance here. As for getting it rehabilitated, ANC commissioner Meredith Fascett says there will be a community meeting upcoming on both the field house and a redesign of the adjacent Joy Evans Park.

POLLING PLACE MOVE: The DC Board of Elections has announced that the polling place for Near Southeast's Precinct 131 will be moving from Van Ness Elementary School to the gym at the new Capper Community Center one block to the north, starting with the June 14 primary. However, DCBOEE might want to double-check the address they are using for the community center, since in the past it's always been 1000 5th St., SE, and "1005" would be one of the townhouses across the street.

DOCK 79 LEASING: Pre-leasing of the apartment building on the Florida Rock site just south of Nats Park starts on April 7, the day of the Nats home opener.

BIG STICK HOURS: The beer and brats place at Half and M SE has applied for a "substantial change" to its liquor license, looking to extend its allowed beverage sales/service/consumption hours to 1 am Sunday-Thursday and 2 am Friday and Saturday.

Earlier this month Forest City filed a two-year extension request with the Zoning Commission, as the continuing bureaucratic machinations to move DC Water's fleet maintenance and customer care operations off of the site at 1st and O SE have moved slowly enough that Forest City has been unable to file for a building permit by the date required in the zoning approvals received in early 2014.

While there have been steps that have moved the process forward, including the official execution of a lease with Showplace Icon theaters back in July, Forest City writes in its letter to the Zoning Commission that the lack of a building permit filing "is due to continuing challenges in identifying and developing appropriate relocation facilities that are acceptable to DC Water. DMPED and DC Water have worked diligently--with continued assistance from Forest City--to identify appropriate relocation facilities [for the operations], but substantial work still remains."

Land in Prince George's County has been acquired for the fleet operations, but Forest City says that DMPED and DC Water "are currently negotiating an agreement on the scope of improvements to be built out at the new site," and that once those are completed, "the improvements must be designed, permitted, and built."

As for a potential new customer care operations site, there is apparently work underway between DMPED and WMATA "to acquire a property that would serve as a new location." But, while "the parties are actively discussing the terms of the site control with DC Water," there would still need to be design and construction before a move could happen.

The letter goes on to say that DMPED and DC Water--the entities with "sole responsibility" for the moves--"estimate that the relocation of one of the two operations could be completed within 10 months," but that "out of an abundance of caution and in recognition of the complex negotiations and construction required" for either or both of the operations to be relocated, Forest City is requesting the two-year extension, because even after relocation, the movie theater parcel will need environmental remediation before construction can proceed.

There are also plans for two residential buildings to be built along 1st Street, once both sets of operations are moved and the construction of the movie theater is finished.

(For those zoning fanboys out there, I'll be a bit more precise and say that technically Forest City is requesting a two-year extension of the consolidated PUD approval for the movie theater parcel and the first-stage PUD approval for the remaining parcels, plus a two-year extension of the original first-stage approval, because doing that would reset the clock on the twelve-year time frame originally approved for filing for a second-stage PUD for the remaining parcels. {pantpantpant})

Finally, while only tangentially related, I'll remind readers that not all of DC Water's operations will be leaving this plot of land between Nats Park and the Yards, and that DC Water's plans for its new headquarters to be built on top of the existing O Street Pumping Station immediately to the south of the movie theater site received final approvals from the Zoning Commission in recent weeks, and construction should/could be underway there this summer.

My DC Water and Yards at DC Water pages give more details and background on these projects, should you so desire.

From the release: "Each theater in the new Showplace Icon at The Yards will feature wall-to-wall screens and premium sound, deluxe leather recliner seats and reserved seating. The facility will also have exclusive VIP levels with adults-only access and tables for enjoying food and beverages inside the auditoriums. The theatre's Lobby Lounge will feature a full bar, along with a tasty menu of appetizers, small plates, snacks and desserts for enjoying before, during or after the show." The theater will also have its own 320-space parking garage.

Word of Forest City's plans for a movie theater first leaked out in the spring of 2013, but it wasn't until just a few months ago that the deal to take control of this portion of the DC Water site was locked down. Though note that the press release also says that "the theatre construction start is dependent upon DC Water’s timetable for vacating that portion of the property."

There are also plans for two residential buildings along 1st Street, though no timeline for those has been announced.

See my Yards at DC Water page for more details, or read my previous posts on the theater.

(PS: deep in the release, it mentions that the Due South restaurant at the Lumber Shed is expected to open "this summer." No date for Nicoletta, though. It also says that the PN Hoffman condo building and Forest City's apartment building immediately to its south on the current trapeze school lot are expected to break ground in early 2016.)

* MORE GROUND BROKEN: I had posted a photo last week of the new fence at not-Ballpark Square but wasn't quite ready to say that construction had started. However, the pile driver has arrived, and steel beams are already sticking out of the ground, so I think it's now safe to add the residential/hotel portion of the project to the ludicrous lineup of developments currently underway. (The office component at 99 M is expected to get started before long as well.) It's also the fourth to break ground just within the past month or so, joining residential projects 909 Half and 82 I and the Homewood Suites hotel at 50 M. And I think that's probably it for major projects getting started until the end of this year or early next year.

* BONCHON GETTING CLOSER: The paper is off the windows, so I was able to see where things stand at Bonchon--and it's looking well along. (Not pictured are the five or so boxes containing large flat-panel TVs.)

* DEMO PERMIT APPS: Applications have been submitted to demolish two buildings on the DC Water site--a 50,000-square-foot brick building and a 1,980-square-foot wood shed. Whether these are on the footprint of the planned movie theater/accompanying residential, I cannot tell you.

* SPRING! SPRING! There's now quite the inventory of outdoor tables at Willie's Brew & Que, and work is underway for a patio at the Big Stick (photo by Mr. JDLand):

* MORE ABOUT FOOD: I mentioned it in passing before, but there's been enough tweets sent my way to mention again that work has now started at the Scarlet Oak space at 909 New Jersey. And there's purty window ads now, to both get their name out there and to THWART my PEEKING. And closer to the river, at the Lumber Shed, both Due South and the Navy Yard Oyster Company have gotten their building permits.

With all that cleared out of the hopper, I now may be a bit scarce for the rest of the week. Hopefully the site will behave, though.

And so a Happy Holidays to all, from the entire staff of JDLand.com! Including from George, pictured at right.

* MOVIE THEATER LATEST: I mentioned this on Twitter last week, and appended it to my post on the subject, but I've heard kvetching from certain quarters that I did not specifically post anew that last week the DC Council passed the emergency versions of bills that among other things declare portions of the DC Water site at 1st and O as "surplus." This will allow the process of Forest City developing its movie theater there to move forward another step.

* VAN NESS KINDERGARTEN: I have been embarrassingly slow to report that earlier this month DCPS made known its decision that Van Ness Elementary will open next year with two kindergarten classes (in addition to PK-3 and PK-4). There will be 15 out-of-bounds spaces in these classes. The school system also released this FAQ about Van Ness's opening if you are just catching up.

* 100 M STREET SOLD: GlobeSt.com reports that Lionstone Investments and Hermes Real Estate have purchased the 100 M Street SE office building, with a source "pinpointing the purchase price at $78.9 million, or $324 per square foot." The building originally went up for sale back in 2012. This is the Gordon Biersch building, for those of you who don't look at address signs.

* METRO BALLGAME USE: WMATA's "PlanItMetro" blog took a deep dive into ridership patterns on Nationals game days at the Navy Yard-Ballpark and Capitol South stations. "Carrying an average of 11,000 riders to every Nationals home game, Metrorail maintained a 34% mode share to Nationals park in the 2014 season." There's also a good discussion of what the numbers may mean in the comments of this Greater Greater Washington post (along with chit-chat about the new Southeast Blvd.).

The good news for those tapping their toes waiting for the project to get started is that city officials testified that land is under contract in Prince George's County that would house DC Water's fleet operations, and the sale is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015.

While the fleet ops footprint at 125 O Street does not perfectly match the theater footprint, it was indicated that between the Prince George's site, the rest of the O Street site, and a potential interim site controlled by Forest City nearby, there would be the ability to shuffle DC Water's needs enough to clear the way for construction of the theater, which Forest City wants to get started by the end of 2015. (Apparently there is a looming end-of-2017 deadline in the letter of intent with Kerasotes Showsplace Theaters to get the project completed.)

So, assuming that the purchase of the PG County property takes place, and assuming that the DC Council approves the emergency legislation to declare the DC Water site as surplus, and assuming that there are no hitches in the move of DC Water's fleet operations, the theater may in fact be inching toward getting underway. (Though that's a lot of "assuming," especially when dealing with municipal government--but at least the fleet operations move already has its funding.)

However, the horizon isn't quite so clear when it comes to getting DC Water off two additional parcels on the site, where Forest City plans 600 residential units in two buildings along with 35,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. The agency's customer care and sewer services operations currently located there need to be moved somewhere within the city limits, and these days there are precious few industrial-type locations to choose from.

A suitable location has been identified, and it just so happens to be the trash transfer station on W Street in Brentwood that has long been a thorn in the side of residents. However, talks between the city administrator and the station's owner apparently didn't get very far, and so Ward 5 councilmember Kenyan McDuffie has (again) submitted a bill to authorize the use of eminent domain to take control of the site if city officials feel that no agreement can be reached. (At-large councilmember and former Ward 5 rep Vincent Orange, in attendance at the hearing, spent much time warning about possible litigation over such a move, how long that would tie things up, how the lack of spelled-out funding for the acquisition of the site could tie things up, what a bad idea it is to not be planning non-industrial development for the site, etc. etc.)

In other words, the theater portion of the project seems to be lurching towards being a "go," but the residential/retail phase still needs a lot of massaging.

The emergency legislation should come up for a vote at next week's council session.

(And I'll note, as I always do, that DC Water will not be completely departing the site--the main pumping station in its historic structure certainly isn't going anywhere, and the agency is working on plans to move its headquarters into new construction on top of the O Street Pumping Station building on the southeast portion of the property.)

UPDATE, 12/17: The DC Council today passed the emergency versions of the bills related to this land disposition. This means that Forest City gets the Land Disposition Agreement needed to gain "site control," allowing them to continue to move forward on this project.

* BIG STICK: I figured I'd better finally provide own photo of the restaurant's new signage, at right (click to enlarge). Is it open? Not quite yet, though there are apparently private soft-opening events coming before long.

* 1333 M: I'm pretty sure I don't get paid enough to watch all 3 1/2 hours of Monday night's zoning hearing on Cohen/Siegel's planned three-building 673-unit project on the east end of M Street, though I did survey a few moments here or there. Was it approved? Not quite yet: the commission had a series of items it wants more details and tweaks on, and the project will be back before the board in January. HillNow wrote about the list of community benefits the developer agreed to in its Memorandum of Understanding with ANC 6B.

* DC WATER: There had been some talk last week of Ward 5 councilmember Kenyan McDuffie wanting to use eminent domain to get rid of a trash transfer station on W Street NE and then moving there a portion of the DC Water operations currently at 1st and O SE--which would help allow Forest City to move forward on its movie theater and residential plans. Does this mean that the movie theater is coming soon? Not quite yet: during Tuesday's marathon council meeting, McDuffie withdrew the measure because of a lack of support.

* SOCCER: There's a gonna be a new stadium across the way. It appears. But not quite yet. So, while you're waiting, check out the Walking Tour photos I took of the site last fall.

And one that I couldn't figure out how to shoehorn into the motif:

* YARDS PARK SURVEY: The Yards Park folks would love it if you would take a moment to fill out their 2014 Perception Survey.