Washington City Paper surveys the state of the strip club business in DC, and describes the difficulties that nightclubs formerly of Near Southeast--Wet/Edge, Club 55, and the O Street gay nightclubs owned by Robert Siegel--have had trying to relocate elsewhere in the city. One big item that needs better explanation in the story--the Nexus Gold Club isn't just "contemplating" leaving Near Southeast, the land it sits on is soon going to become JPI's 909 New Jersey Avenue residential tower, and the scuttlebutt continues to be that Nexus will be closing by the end of the year.

Alas, the new DCStats Building Permits RSS Feed is still undergoing some birthing pains (updates daily around 10 pm instead of 9 am, leaving it well behind the other feeds, and seeming to miss some day's permit issuings), so I have to go back to the old-fashioned report to learn that last week the JPI's 100 I Street residential project received its building permit, so work can begin on its section of the lot, next to the already under construction 70 I Street. Together, the two towers will have nearly 700 units when they are delivered in mid-2008. Also, permits have been issued for six soil borings (4" wide and 30' deep) in two locations (200 L and 200 M streets) in the Canal Park footprint.

I heard from two people this weekend saying that the Nexus Gold Club (the last night club, and also the last strip club, left in Near Southeast) was either closing immediately or had in fact already closed. Terrified that I had missed a critical piece of news, I marched up to the front door (ignoring the gales of laughter coming from throughout the neighborhood) and made my inquiries, and was told by an unidentified staffer that Nexus is still open, with December still being the rumored closing date. Coming to that location will be 909 New Jersey Avenue, a 238-unit residential project by JPI. (I did notice the last time I drove past the 900 block of 1st that the tire alignment shop right next to the Nexus appeared closed in the middle of a workday. While last I heard the A1 auto shop directly on the corner of 1st and K was not selling to JPI, perhaps it's next-door neighbor has decided to move on; no property sale has been recorded through late August, the most recent records available in the city's online sales database, but perhaps that's changed.)

Pieces of news so small that I'm practically embarrassed to be posting them: Landscape work is being done at DOT, with a whole slew of trees and shrubs having been installed in the past few days along M and 3rd. The digging of what will be a very big hole for 70/100 I has begun, along I Street and now moving north into the property. And steel beams have started to be installed at the stadium site. Tomorrow's update: 15 leaves fall from a tree at 1st and K.

I've gotten my hands on a rendering of 909 New Jersey Avenue, the 238-unit residential tower being developed by JPI on the block currently occupied by the Nexus Gold Club. No official word yet on when construction will begin, I've heard mentions in the past of early 2007, and I've also heard rumors that Nexus will close by the end of 2006. This is also a good time to mention that in late July JPI paid $1.989 million to the William C. Smith Co. for two lots on this block, totalling a mere 2,873 sq ft of land. (It should also be noted that the official sale of the Nexus land to JPI from current owner Marty Chernoff has not yet happened; in 2005 JPI paid Chernoff $1 million for two lots on the block, and the Post reported in January that the total sale price for all four of Chernoff's lots [incuding Nexus] will be $8.9 million.)

I've added some new photos of the now-cleared 70/100 I Street construction site. The buildings that were on the site were demolished back in April, but the site wasn't truly cleared of foundations, trees, etc., until last week.

Another big project has now gotten underway--new fences have gone up, the green windscreens have come down, construction office trailers have been delivered, a "Construction Zone" sign has been posted, and there was even a bit of site clearing being done, so I think it's safe to decree that work has begun on JPI's 70/100 I project. These two buildings, when finished in mid-2008, will total nearly 700 residential units. (And I'm dispensing with the technicalities where 70 I construction is supposedly starting in September, and 100 I in October. They're gonna share a wall, they're by the same company, as far as I'm concerned, they're being constructed together!) A big batch of demolition took place in April 2006, but there's still a fair amount of leftover foundations and other stuff that will need to be dug up. UPDATE: Here's the GlobeSt.com piece on the 70/100 project; it says that they plan to break ground next year on their New Jersey Ave. project.

Within the last few days a bunch of "No Parking" signs have appeared along the north side of I Street between 1st and Half, which is the location of JPI's 70/100 I Street condo project, two buildings totalling more than 600 residential units. The signs give a date range of (get ready) Sept. 11, 2006 until March 27, 2009. I hope they're just being cautious with a time frame--could erecting those two buildings at the same time take really that long? 70 I's building permit has been approved, 100 I's is still in process. Anyway, let's see if they start the digging in the near future. UPDATE: About 30 minutes after I posted this, I found an article in today's Commercial Property News about 70/100 I: "Ground will break on the first apartment community, Jefferson at 70 Eye Street [...] this month, paving the way for the creation of a building with 448 units, a three-level underground parking facility, a fitness center, community movie theater and conference room. The project carries a price tag of $130 million. The second apartment property will cost approximately $80 million to develop. Located [at] 100 Eye St., the second development will yield 246 residences and is scheduled for an October groundbreaking." The article says that 70 I is on target to deliver in June 2008. (And you won't ever catch me using that stupid "Eye" construct.) As for calling it the Jefferson at 70 I, I thought that the other JPI project, on the Nexus site, was supposed to be called the Jefferson, but JPI holds it's cards close, so it's hard to know what's going on. With this and 100 M office/1100 First Street residential projects about to start (and perhaps the Cohen/Square 699N project too), 1st Street is going to be a zoo for the next couple of years. UPDATE II: It looks like "Jefferson at" is actually JPI's preferred nomenclature for their DC condo projects.

The DCRA has approved JPI's building permit application for its 70 I Street residential project, which is listed as valued at $20 million. Still pending is the permit app for 100 I Street, it's sister building to be built right next door. JPI has said that they planned to begin construction on this project in Fall 2006, so that would appear to still be on track. There's also an application filed for 909 New Jersey, JPI's other pending residential tower in Near Southeast (on the site of the Nexus Gold Club), which may also get underway by the end of the year.

A Building Permit Application has appeared on the DCRA web site for 909 New Jersey Ave., SE, which would be JPI's residential tower on the current site of the Nexus Gold Club. I've heard nothing recently about when Nexis will close, when demolition will begin, or when construction on this project will begin.