But in reading various documents more closely, the equally big news is that the project has gone from a restaurant with a roof deck and patio to a design that's more in keeping with the idea of a real "beer garden" -- the design that will now be built is of a big outdoor space with tables and room to stand around, plus a small "service" building that has no seating.

In 2011, site owners Mark Brody and Alan Gaunoux had planned what I described at the time as a "one-story building with a roof deck, in addition to the proposed ground-level summer garden. The look of the building (which is closer to 1 1/2 stories high) is very industrial, with large multi-paned windows and lots of "wood rainscreening" on the exterior and the roof deck."

The Historic Preservation Review Board's staff report in Feb. 2011 referred to the design's "somewhat chaotic and unfinished appearance," but the commissioners felt that it was on the right track and "was very close" to achieving acceptance. The next month, the owners returned with a "substantially simplified" design, moving to a brick veneer and other changes. This version appeared on the board's consent calendar, with final approval delegated to the board's staff.

And then we fast-forward to April of 2013, when Brody and Gaunoux returned to the HPRB with a scaled-back plan after apparently having "reevaluated their finances." The HPRB staff report described the new version as "largely an open-air 'use' of the existing lot, with a smaller service building rather than the indoor restaurant space previously proposed."

The new design included a one-story stucco building along the northern edge of the property, just for restrooms, storage, a small kitchen, and the bar opening up to the garden. There would be a roof-type structure projecting 10 feet southward to cover the bar area, and a paved area along the east edge of the site that could provide space for a food truck and trash collection. The bulk of the site would be "paved" with flagstone, and there would be a 6'6" "ornamental" metal fence surrounding the site, plus a central pole anchoring string lights that would provide illumination. All of which, according to the board's staff, would improve on the "visually disadvantageous" parking lot now on the site, as seen in the above photograph from March of 2014.

The service building became a focus, with the Historic Preservation Office having "discouraged the applicants from proposing trailers, shipping containers, or portable toilets." In June, a revision of the revised design updated the service building including signage and new fixed shutters on the building's blank wall along 8th Street, plus a "decorative parapet" and cornice along the roof line, similar to what is seen on several of the one-story buildings along Barracks Row.

On July 11, 2013, the board approved these concept plans, and by mid-August a building permit had been applied for, with a scope of work described as "a prepared food shop with an accessory fast food establishment (food truck) for 210 seats and 399 occupants." That permit took nearly 15 months and numerous corrections to get its approvals, with the permit finally being issued last week and the owner saying that he expects to break ground soon.

(And this huge summary doesn't even get into the Class CT Tavern liquor license fight back in 2011!)

So, all in all, it does sound like if you're one who likes your beer garden to be heavy on the "garden," this will be right up your alley. It also sounds like it's perhaps starting small, without too much of an investment, to see whether it catches on.

This season's hours of operation are noon to 7pm Monday and Tuesday, noon to 9 pm Wednesday through Friday, 11 am to 10 pm Saturday, and 11 am to 7 pm Sunday.

The cost is $9 for adults, and $8 for children, seniors, and military. Skate rentals are $4.

Maybe this year I'll actually venture onto the ice. Or maybe not.

There has been no public news of a new site, but the DC government has announced that there will be a public meeting on Nov. 20 at 6:30 pm "to receive public comments on the proposed surplus" of a portion of the DC Water site, which presumably includes all or some of the footprint of the Forest City planned development.

The meeting announcement also contains this string of caveats:

"Because DC Water will continue to occupy the Property while pre-development is ongoing, declaration of the Property as surplus will be conditioned on (i) DC Water receiving rights to occupy suitable relocation/replacement property(ies), (ii) available funding for activities necessary to allow DC Water to relocate to and operate on such relocation/replacement property(ies) and (iii) approval by an independent engineer procured by DC Water of an operational plan during and after relocation."

The meeting is at the Boilermaker Shops at 3rd and Tingey, in Unit 140 (the empty space next to Nando's). In addition, written public comments will be accepted until Nov. 25.

If you're just joining us, it was a smidge over two years ago that news first started bubbling up that Forest City was looking to bring a "high-quality theater operator" to a six-acre portion of the DC Water site. In November 2012 the potential operator was revealed to be Showplace Icon, and in 2013 the plans for the entire site went through the Zoning PUD fun factory, and were approved late in the year.

The first phase of the project, which received Stage 2 PUD approvals from the Zoning Comission, will be the movie theater, a two-story 16-screen offering, built above a four-story parking structure, located at a new intersection of N Place SE and the to-be-built 1 1/2 Place.

The rest of the project envisions two residential buildings totaling 600 units, built along 1st Street directly across from the ballpark. with the facade of the existing red brick building at the corner of 1st and N Place preserved and incorporated into one of the buildings. Potomac Avenue would be extended eastward to the new 1 1/2 Place, and Diamond Teague Park would be expanded northward. There would also be a minimum 40,000 square feet of retail.

But all of this has to wait until DC Water can find a suitable new home for some of the operations that currently live at 125 O Street SE.

It's also worth noting with each post on this project that DC Water will not be departing the site completely--the beautiful historic Main Pumping Station building will keep right on pumping, as will the less-beautiful and less-historic O Street Pumping station. In addition, earlier this year DC Water solicited bids for the design of a new headquarters building, which would bring the agency's HQ from Blue Plains to a space on top of the O Street station.

Fascett won with 62.2% of the vote, beating Josh Hart (14.4%) and TD Stanger (12.5%).

A total of 763 of the precinct's 2,911 registered voters cast ballots either today or in early voting, a 26.2% participation percentage. (Boooo....)

This was the only one of the seven ANC 6D races to be contested. Near Southeast's other commissioner, Stacy Cloyd, ran unopposed in 6D02, the district that spans South Capitol Street and includes the ballpark and blocks up to I Street SE.

In other races, Charles Allen is now officially Ward 6's council member, taking the precinct with 75% of the vote, and Joe Weedon has won the Ward 6 State Board of Education seat.

While Muriel Bowser has won the vote and will be the city's next mayor, David Catania was the neighborhood's choice by a slight margin, 366 to 336 votes or 48% to 44%.

Precinct 131 mirrored the rest of the city in the voting for the two at-large council seats, with Anita Bonds and Elissa Silverman the top vote-getters, at 20% and 13% of the vote respectively. (Though it looks like a whopping 368 of you didn't realize you could vote for two candidates in that race.)

UPDATE: Dang it, I forgot the pot vote! Neighborhood partiers voted for Initiative 71 68% to 27%. Duuuuude.....!

Here's the complete precinct vote totals.

And congratulations to Meredith!

This afternoon--5 pm on Election Day--the Federal Highway Administration released its Record of Decision on the Virginia Avenue Tunnel project, which approves the chosen preferred alternative for the project, while also approving "short-term closures of I-695 ramps at 6th and 8th Streets SE" and "occupancy of a portion of the 11th Street Bridge right-of-way located on I-695."

It also brings to a close the NEPA process on the project that began a thousand years ago, give or take. (Okay, it took about three years.)

This design will replace the current tunnel with two new permanent tunnels, constructed sequentially. It is expected to take somewhere between 30 to 42 months to complete.

CSX immediately issued a press release saying that this decision will enable the company "to complete the tunnel’s design and initiate the construction permitting process" with the District Department of Transportation.

CSX's release also says that "major construction is expected to begin in the next several months, following receipt of the required permits." But somehow I am guessing that the path from this ROD to shovels in the ground isn't necessarily a smooth one, especially since the Committee of 100 has already let it be known that any decision short of an indefinite delay of the project would result in a lawsuit.

The entire ROD document is close to 300 pages long--feel free to dive right in.

I'll update as more statements, stories, and rending of garments come in.

UPDATE: Here's the Post's initial story, and a lengthy quote from it: "CSX Transportation can now move into the local permitting phase, followed by what could be about three and a half years of construction. Although the company must obtain permits from the city to move forward, there is every indication that the process will go smoothly. Even before completion of the mandated National Environmental Policy Act review, the D.C. Department of Transportation had agreed to let CSX take over the roads near the tunnel for the purpose of rebuilding it. Crews could start securing the site as early as this fall, officials said."

UPDATE II: A quote from page 3 of the ROD, about the approach to the tunnel work: "Implementation of the Selected Alternative will involve replacing the existing Virginia Avenue Tunnel with two new permanent tunnels constructed sequentially. The south side tunnel will be constructed first as train traffic will continue to use the existing tunnel. Once completed, train traffic will shift to the new south side tunnel, and the existing tunnel will be demolished. Most of the north wall of the existing tunnel will remain in place so that the structural integrity of the I-695 viaduct will not be affected. Following demolition, the north side tunnel will be constructed. At the end of construction, each new tunnel will have a single railroad track with enough vertical clearance to allow double-stack intermodal container freight trains. "

Madison Marquette, the current owners of the Blue Castle, put it on the market about a year ago, after purchasing it in 2007 from PREI, which had bought it in 2005.

WBJ reports that the sale price is expected to be between $25 million and $35 million, with the church benefitting from a $4.5 million donation to help fund the purchase, along with income from existing leases for the Castle's remaining tenants to help cover the $1.5 million-a-year mortgage.

As you may recall, NCC went on a Lower 8th buying spree back in 2010 and 2011, snapping up 10 lots on the block bounded by Virginia, 7th, 8th, and K, including the old Miles Glass building at 8th and Virginia, which was demolished in 2012. (Their holdings do not include the lot on the corner of 8th and L, where "The Brig" beergarden is going to go.) The church also owns and operates out of the former People's Church a few blocks to the north, on Barracks Row.

When making the Square 906 purchases in 2010 and 2011, it was with an eye toward perhaps some combination of coffee house, performance space, and church offices, though no designs or plans have ever publicly begun moving forward.

The church's Virginia Avenue lots are also right on the front lines of the CSX Virginia Avenue Tunnel project--and back in August the Post quoted NCC head Mark Batterson as saying, "It’s been difficult to take the first step because we don’t know exactly what or when CSX will build and how that will affect us." Which, alongside today's news, does make one wonder about the NCC-related future of those properties.

WBJ says that Batterson told his congregation that the church "hopes to tack on several new floors" to the building--though I have no doubt that that will be a festive trip through the historic preservation review process, along with the Navy giving the stink-eye from across M Street.

I fear I'm reaching maximum velocity in the posting department, but I don't want to let these terribly important Boilermaker Shops observations slide:

* Unleashed(!) by Petco is open. Apologies for the blurry interior photo, but the two staffers froze in terror when I said I'd like to take a photograph inside, so I didn't really dilly-dally.

* The door to the 100 Montaditos space just happened to be open when I walked by, and, well, you know....:

And of course heaven forbid that I'd just wait until the doors open to the public--the folks at Teeter were nice enough to give my camera a quick tour, while dodging the hive of activity that you can imagine marks a 50,000-square-foot grocery store 24 hours before it opens.

I took way too many photos of something that will just become part of the neighborhood's fabric quite quickly, but, well, it was fun.

Check out the gallery. There's a lot more than just these.

UPDATE: Since the numbers just arrived, I thought I'd mention that this store is 6,000 square feet larger than the Jenkins Row store at 14th and Pennsylvania, SE, and basically the same size as the one at 1st and M, NE.

A new restaurant from Bo Blair's Georgetown Events group named Due South will bring a "heaping helping of southern-style cuisine and hospitality" to the Lumber Shed at the Yards in spring 2015, helmed by Bayou executive chef Rusty Holman.

It will occupy 3,366 square feet on the northwest corner of the Shed, and will have outdoor seating.

A quote of note from the press release: “ 'We were early believers in the Capitol Riverfront as a vibrant location for food and drink since opening The Bullpen in 2009,' said Bo Blair. 'Now, we’re very excited to be able to become a permanent part of The Yards. The growth of the restaurant scene in The Yards is truly a great thing for this city and we certainly wanted to be a part of it.' "

Due South will join Osteria Morini, Agua 301, Ice Cream Jubilee, and the also-coming-in-spring-2015 Navy Yard Oyster Company at the Lumber Shed.

This also means that the Shed's retail spaces are now 100 percent leased.

It will be called "The Brig," and will seat 210 and serve 299, and property owner Alan Gaunoux told WBJ that he "expects to break ground next week." I believe the seating is configured as 99 indoor seats and another 200 outside. (see update, below)

This project has been so dormant that I haven't written a post about it since November of 2011. I thought it was still languishing in the Historic Preservation Review Board process, but apparently all systems must be go, though, as WBJ says, "early versions of the development were scaled back[.]"

You can see the rendering from back in 2011 and read the multiple posts on the project's early days on my project page, though I don't know how much it resembles what will actually be coming. It is still apparently a one-story structure, with a bar, and some food, and perhaps some live music.

UPDATE: I will write another post on this in a few days--I'm looking at documentation that indicates this is definitely a very far scaled back operation in terms of a "building" from what was being looked at in 2011. Puts the "garden" in beergarden.

While there has still never been an official announcement of such a venture, Friday's DC register included a public hearing notice for a liquor license application at 301 Water St., SE, under the trade name "Due South." (The sign is up in the window at the Shed, too.)

The application is for a CT Tavern license, for a "Tavern serving Southern food with a seating capacity of 199 and total occupancy load of 250." There is also a request for a 92-seat summer garden (i.e., outdoor patio) as well as an "entertainment endorsement" for the license (i.e., live music, as the Bayou has).

And, with lovely symmetry, the Register also included the news that Shed's other pending restaurant, the Navy Yard Oyster Company, has applied for its Class C liquor license. The posting describes the restaurant as being "a wine-centric oyster bar offering a seasonal, seafood-driven small plate menu drawing its inspiration from the Chesapeake Bay and the states that Washington, DC is connected to, both geographically and culturally." A jazz brunch is also mentioned, along with "other occasional similar performances." It would have seating of 73 and a total occupancy load of 199, along with two summer gardens, with seating for 32 and 18.

As part of normal procedures, both will be taken up by ANC 6D, presumably before the application hearing date of Dec. 29.

The $65 million construction loan for the project was announced on Oct. 8, as was an expected delivery date of September 2016. I've been told there will be an official groundbreaking in the next few months.

It should also be noted that this is the first residential project in the neighborhood actually being built right on the west bank of the Anacostia River.

This building is now part of a frighteningly long list of apartment projects underway: the Park Chelsea (430 units), River Parc (277), Arris at the Yards (325ish), the Lofts at Capitol Quarter (195), 800 New Jersey/Whole Foods (336), and the Gallery at Capitol Riverfront (aka 1111 New Jersey, 324 units).

That's a smidge over 2,230 units in all, and close to 2,450 if you add the recently completed 220-unit Twelve12.

And that tally of non-single-family residential units begun since 2012 is a bit more than double the 2,340 units that were built in the neighborhood between 2004 and 2011. So get ready for a lot of new high-rise neighbors!

Having written more than 100 posts on Florida Rock over the years, I think I'll skip yet another full rundown other than to say that the entire project is designed as a four-building 1.1-million-sq-ft residential/office/hotel/retail project, with no timeline as yet for the rest of the development.

The construction now underway will also expand the plaza by Diamond Teague Park directly across from the grand staircase at Nationals Park, adding ground-floor retail there and along an extension of the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail that will eventually run all the way to the new Douglass Bridge.

All of which looks a little different from these views of the Florida Rock footprint, seen first in August 2005 before the construction of Nationals Park (left) and in January 2012 (right), after the concrete operations were removed and demolished:

It's been a long time coming. And I can't wait for all the steps I'll get trudging down there to take pictures.

More photos through the years and drawings are on my Florida Rock project page.

UPDATED 11/2 with what appears to finally be a definitive unit-count for the building--321 units in a 9-story building . There will also be 18,650 square feet of retail and 286 parking spaces on two below-ground levels. And the amenities will include "grand lobby with onsite leasing presence, ground floor level club/game room with billiards, bar area, and gaming, state of the art health club, rooftop swimming pool, Wi-Fi service and storefront business lounge, conditioned storage, bike storage, 24 hour front desk service and fully access controlled building." All of these tidbits from the MRP Realty page for "The Riverfront."

* TRUCKERBOO: As mentioned elsewhere, Friday brings the Halloween-themed version of Truckeroo, the last food truck shindig of 2014, starting at 11 am.

* WILLIE'S HAPPY HOUR AND "GRAND OPENING" - Willie's Brew & Que at 3rd and Tingey has now launched Happy Hour, weekdays from 4 to 6 pm, with $5 drafts, wine, rail drinks, and vodka or gin gimlets. And Saturday night is said to be its official "grand opening," though there's no recent mention of it on Willie's Facebook page, Twitter feed, or web site. (There will be quite the show outside that night, though.)

Speaking of libations, Willie's "smoked ice" got a rave review from the Post's Going Out Guide.

* BLUEJACKET TURNS 1: The actual anniversary was on Oct. 29, but on Sunday, Nov. 2, Bluejacket Brewery and its Arsenal restaurant will be celebrating out on the patio at 4th and Tingey streets SE from 1 to 5 pm. The wood-fired grill will be operational, with "pig-chetta on the rotisserie plus other bites," and the brewing team is going to break into the vault of barrel-aged brews. And EaterDC has some stats from Year One, starting with 2,396 barrels produced, and 15,715 soft pretzels baked.

Also, with the arrival of baseball's off-season comes the return of Saturday tours at the brewery.

* UNLEASHED OPENS: Hey, pet food is food too, for some critters! Don't forget that Unleashed by Petco officially opens in the Boilemaker Shops on Tingey St. SE on Monday, Nov. 3.

* TEETER'S GRAND OPENING: As momentous as any food event in the neighborhood's recent history is the pending arrival of Harris Teeter at 4th and M SE, in the Twelve12 building. The signage has been announcing the official opening on Wednesday, Nov. 5, but on Nov. 4 at 5:30 pm there will be a ceremonial ribbon cutting, followed by a "Taste of Teeter" sampling event, running until 8 pm. (Because no one in Washington DC will have anything going on the evening of Election Night!) The 50,000-square-foot store will be open seven days a week from 6 am to midnight.

* OSTERIA MORINI TURNS 1: Bluejacket isn't the only one celebrating a first birthday, for on Wednesday, Nov. 5, Chef Michael White will be in the house as Osteria Morini marks its own anniversary with a special five-course menu for $85 per person ($125 with wine pairings). Reservations are available between 5:30 and 9 pm--RSVP via e-mail.

* JUBILEE WINTER HOURS: Not that ice cream isn't wonderful any time of year, but I'm sure we can all respect a switch to shorter hours at Ice Cream Jubilee until the weather warms again. It will still be open from noon to 9 pm every day.

And before long it'll be time to start breathlessly awaiting the 2015 arrivals of the Navy Yard Oyster Company, Scarlet Oak, and Bonchon.

(One would think Subway Café and the Big Stick will arrive at 20 M before Dec. 31, but we shall see....)

It starts at 6 pm, and promises a "mystical environment for guests," with street performers, fortune tellers, a mariachi band, a beer garden, and a "celebrity graveyard," allowing attendees to "pay their respects to the likes of Elvis."

Admission is free, and it runs until 10 pm.

And it took me every ounce of strength to not write this as Stefon: "Near Southeast's hottest ghoul-based event is GraveYards...."

"As part of the 11th Street Bridge project, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) will close the intersection of 11th Street, and M Street, SE from 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM on both Saturday, November 1, 2014 and Sunday, November 2, 2014.

"The westbound I-695 (Southeast/Southwest Freeway) exit ramp to M Street, SE and the on-ramp to southbound I-295/northbound DC 295 at M Street, SE will also be closed during these times.

"The closures will allow crews to complete milling operations at the intersection in preparation for final paving and striping.

"During the intersection closures, temporary signs and traffic control measures will be in place to alert and guide the traveling public around the work zone."

{emphasis mine, along with some improved paragraph breaks. Here's the official release.}

It also would seem to mean that, for all intents and purposes, use of the 11th Street Local bridge will be hampered considerably as well, since it's pretty much required that vehicles use 11th and M to get to or from that bridge.

The wording also telegraphs that there will be another closure still to come for the actual paving, which DDOT tells me has not yet been scheduled.

This also means that my plans to do a big post about all the changes along 11th Street north of M using photos that are now three weeks old will probably just wait until after this work is done.

UPDATE: So, perhaps DDOT's use of the phrase "close the intersection" is a bit of overkill--in an exchange of e-mails trying to pin down the ability to access the 11th Street Local bridge, I was told that the milling operation will be staged such that traffic can be routed "around the work."

I'd still stay away if at all possible.

The ANC commissioners running for 6D02 and 6D07 may be unfamilar to you, so I suggest again that you read the questionnaire they were all nice enough to fill out (even though one of them told me it was like filling out a college application).

Neighborhood residents will be voting not only for mayor and the aforementioned ANC Commissioners, but also for their Ward 6 council member, either Charles Allen or Libertarian candidate Pranav Badhwar. Voters will also choose the delegate to the US House of Representatives, two at-large council members, and the city's attorney general, which is an elected position for the first time. There's also the race for Ward 6 representative to the "state" board of education, and the "shadow" US House/Senate seats.

And if none of those races get you excited, there's also the vote for or against Initiative Measure No. 71, the "Legalization of Possession of Minimal Amounts of Marijuana for Personal Use Act of 2014."

Here's the Ward 6 sample ballot, if you don't believe me. (Scroll to page 5 for the "back side.")

The DC Board of Elections is happy to tell you that early voting is underway, up through Saturday, Nov. 1. The closest early voting center to Near Southeast is at the King Greenleaf Recreation Center, at 201 N St. SW, and it's open from 8:30 am to 7 pm daily. It's only had 504 voters so far as of this writing, the lowest of any of the early voting centers. Let's step it up, people!

If you're feeling old-school and you plan to vote on Election Day itself (that's Tuesday, Nov. 4, if you REALLY aren't paying attention), you can find your polling place here, though for most of the residents of Near Southeast you'll be voting at Van Ness Elementary School, 1150 5th St. SE. It will be open on Election Day from 7 am to 8 pm.

The Voter's Guide (with its upside-down DC flag now fixed) can help you as well.

Plus, when you vote you get one of these, which is really the best part of all.

UPDATE, 10/30: The Hill is Home interviewed mayoral candidates about Ward 6 issues. See who responded, and who didn't.

The proposal apparently is to exchange both the L Street building and its land for various streetscape and construction improvements to be performed by the District along of Martin Luther King Avenue adjacent to St. Elizabeths. "In return, the District would own 49 L Street SE in fee simple with full rights and ownership over the property."

Quoting the quote from the EHN release: " 'This exchange takes GSA further with work necessary to complete the DHS headquarters,' Norton said. 'In the process of moving a DHS priority, GSA has found a way to dispose of the long-underutilized 49 L Street SE by exchanging it for construction services from the District.' "

This is the building that residents have eyed as possibly becoming the Half Street Market, envisioning the building as a "public venue for a food market, restaurant, and flexible community space." (The group recently posted a new video rendering of their reimagining.)

As the release says, this is still in the negotiations stage, and even if the city does get the building there will then be I imagine a process about how to handle the site, but it's the first sign of movement since the flurry of activity about the building and the market idea back in 2013.

The building, as yet unnamed and generally just referred to by some variation of the oh-so-attractive "Square 769N Residential" moniker, is planned for the northern part of the block bounded by 2nd Place, 3rd, L, and M, next door to the recently discussed 250 M Street office building. It will be 11 stories, and will include 34 units of public housing in its 171 rental units. There will also be about 4,100 square feet of ground-floor retail. (The above image shows the block as seen from Canal Park, with the apartment building at left and 250 M at right.)

This funding is not enough to get the building's construction jump-started, but a) it's better than no funding at all and b) it probably helps move the process toward full funding forward.

It has already spent plenty of time in Zoning Land, having received its second-stage PUD approval back in 2009 followed by time extensions in 2011 and 2013.

This is one of four** large mixed-income apartment buildings still to be built as part of Capper's redevelopment, with two more planned for the other blocks along the east side of Canal Park plus one on the old trash transfer site at New Jersey and K.

* For sticklers, this award is part of the 2014 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) awards from the Housing Production Trust Fund.

** It could be five, since the Housing Authority is looking at splitting some units out from one planned mixed-income rental building (not this one!) into a second market-rate condo building. But there has been no public indication of movement one way or the other on that, and a planned Zoning hearing this fall has been pushed back to at least early 2015.

Move-ins are being billed as starting around Dec. 1, at least if you go by the Craigslist ads for low-floor units posted in the past few days. The base prices as published give the rate for 1 BR/1 BA units as being between $1,970 and $2,165, going up to 2 BR/2 BA ranging from $2,385 to $3,485. The Craigslist ads include two studios priced at $1,600 and $1,770, and on all units advertised there are showing a current one-month-free deal. (Parking and storage units extra.)

The building isn't open for tours yet, but there's PDF floor plans on the official web site.

However, if you're looking for something a bit more three-dimensional, they've created virtual tours of five upper-floor units (hence the killer views depicted): a studio, a junior one bedroom, a one bedroom, a one bedroom/den, and a two-bedroom penthouse.

You can also virtually tour the roof and the ground-floor amenity spaces. And check out the new twilight-time building rendering.

The office, in the trailer across from the building on the southeast corner of 1st and K, is open seven days a week.

(By the way, this is the first rental apartment building in DC for Toll Brothers.)

This study is actually an Environmental Assessment, meaning there are very specific structures and steps that DDOT will be following.

Its stated purpose is "to develop a premium transit system that improves transportation capacity, connectivity, mobility, and safety through an integrated, multimodal transportation corridor" across Near Southeast, Southwest, and the Anacostia Historic District.

Also, the study is to address "east-west transportation needs between the Southeast and Southwest Washington communities of Anacostia and the Waterfront."

One tidbit in the materials that may be news to people: If streetcars are chosen as the area's "premium transit mode," there will be a need for storage and/or maintenance, and so this Environmental Assessment "will review and analyze potential sites for a Streetcar facility."

Eight potential sites meeting the initial minimum requirements have been identified: three near M Street, SW, three at Buzzard Point, and two along 7th Street, SE, including, believe it or not, the Blue Castle, aka the Navy Yard Car Barn, where streetcars were stored and maintained during the many years they ran through the city before being shut down in the early 1960s.

A second public meeting is expected in early 2015, with the draft Environmental Assessment and associated public hearing in spring and the final document late in the year.

(Thanks to Josh Hart for the heads up about the web site, and no thanks to DDOT, who didn't mention it in their releases about the meeting. BAH!)