City Paper: "A group of Capitol Riverfront residents has been pushing to turn a vacant warehouse at 49 L Street SE into a community amenity called the Half Street Market. But if a congressional hearing there this morning was any indication, they may be facing an uphill battle."

WashPost: "An official for the General Services Administration, which manges federal real estate, told the representatives that the 32,013-square-foot brick building was no longer needed by the government and that the agency was in the process of preparing it to be sold or traded for construction services on other projects, for which the GSA is in need of funding.

"'Given the high real estate value and rate of growth in the surrounding Capitol Riverfront neighborhood, the 49 L Street property presents us with many potential opportunities to find a better use for or to dispose of a vacant property from the federal real estate inventory and provide considerable savings to taxpayers,' said Michael Gelber, acting deputy commissioner of the GSA’s Public Buildings Service."

WBJ: "D.C. Councilman Tommy Wells, D-Ward 6, testified, saying that the District could be willing to put up the $19 million price tag for the property. U.S. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., spoke passionately in support of the project.

"The will is certainly there. But what of the way?

WashPost: "The GSA, however, is not in the business of giving away property at a discount even if its acting administrator, Dan Tangherlini, is a former D.C. city administrator and transportation official. Gelber reiterated in an interview that the agency’s preference was to trade the building for construction services, similar to the way the GSA is trying to use the J. Edgar Hoover Building as a trading chip for a new FBI headquarters elsewhere in the region.

"GSA has not disclosed how much it believes the L Street warehouse is worth but Gelber said putting it up for auction, as the agency did with the West Heating Plant, would likely fetch the highest price. Adding a requirement that a market be part of the redevelopment wasn't likely to help the sales price — quite the opposite. 'The more conditions you put on a sale the more that you affect valuation,' he said.

City Paper: "So it appears likely that the feds will be selling the property to the highest bidder—and with Union Market and Eastern Market both within a few miles of the site, the highest bidder probably won't want another market there."

JDLand: It's also worth noting that 50 M Street, the empty lot on the south end of the warehouse's block, fronting M Street directly across from the Navy Yard Metro station entrance, is now on the market, making it possible for a developer to have the entire block if it were to gain control of the warehouse and buy the 50 M site.

UPDATE: Here's Urban Turf's take on the hearing, which includes this:

"A sizable contingent (for a Thursday morning) came out to the meeting in support of the Half Street concept, and Councilmember Tommy Wells and ANC 6D Commissioner Ed Kaminski testified in support of the project. Kaminski brought up a potential revenue stream that could help fund the market and culinary incubators on the ground floor: a boutique hotel on the upper floors could send a stream of cash to the GSA. Generally, Kaminski felt that the air rights over the warehouse could be utilized in a profitable manner.

The representatives seemed supportive of the local officials, and were open to the prospect of putting in motion a process that would lead to selling the building to the city. However, the question remains: can DC afford it?"

Tommy Wells and ANC 6D02 commissioner Ed Kaminski will be testifying in support of returning the building back to DC's control, and to make it all even more festive, the hearing is going to be held in the warehouse itself, at 9:30 am on Thursday, April 25.

Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), who is the chair of the committee, has been making his displeasure known about the (lack of) speed with which GSA has been disposing of excess property. And, as Housing Complex puts it today, "At the time, Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) said the subcommittee would consider holding hearings at vacant federal properties around the country if GSA didn't start moving on them more quickly. Now, the congressmen appear to be making good on their pledge."

* Forest City has put up fence signs around the Twelve12 construction site, showing new sleeker renderings of the exterior. The signs also announce the official web site, Twelve12dc.com, which is pretty much just a placeholder at this point, but does at least show two of the new renderings, including the one at right that I pilfered. (I asked for the other drawings on the signs, but Forest City isn't ready to release them yet. Waah.) This is the 220ish-unit rental project at 4th and M that will be home to both Harris Teeter and Vida Fitness when it's completed in spring 2014. And if you look through the fences, you can see that the northern end of the construction, near M Street, is already about up to ground level.

* Construction at the 432-unit Park Chelsea at New Jersey and I continues to move along, and the two tower cranes should be up on the site by late May/early June. While the increasingly large hole on the site makes it look like they are excavating the entire block, folks at William C. Smith tell me that they dug beyond the building's actual footprint to make excavation easier, and will be filling it back to the property line as construction continues. Also, they have now cleared and smoothed out the small hill that used to exist between the old Canal Street and New Jersey Avenue, so that you can even see a dirt-road version of H Street running from 2nd Street west to New Jersey. (It would help if I had new pictures of what I'm talking about to match to the old ones, but soon.)

* Technically outside of my borders, but yesterday there was a ribbon cutting at the new Camden South Capitol apartment building at South Capitol and O, across from Nationals Park. The 276-unit building begins leasing its lower floors today, with rents ranging from $1288 per month for the smallest studio to $3225 per month for a 2BR/2BA unit. The web site, which includes floor plans, is available here. I used to follow this project back when it was getting underway, so you can see my before-and-afters of the site going back to 2006, though I haven't gotten into the ballpark yet to get the true "afters" from there.

If you stop by there, give us some details in the comments.

UPDATE: I should also mention that the BID tweeted that the water feature (some might call it "fountains") at Canal Park is operational today as well, after a breather during the switchover from ice rink to warm weather retreat.

UPDATE II: Here is the menu. (If you want to see the chicken, parm cream, and dried cherries flatbread, here 'tis. And here's the taps. And the cocktail menu, blurred to give you the experience of ordering after you've had a few.) The manager told me they will just be open for dinner for a few weeks, then expand to lunch.

UPDATE III: Photos of the interior here and here. (Yeah, they were taken back in November, but nothing's changed!)

This is the latest in big-name appearances at the stadium that happen about once a year, following Springsteen, Dave Matthews, and Billy Joel/Elton John in previous years.

I assume Friday's announcement will say when tickets go on sale, but I just couldn't bear to wait that long to post. UPDATE: Tickets go on sale April 12 at 10 am, though American Express card members get their shot starting at 10 am April 9.

If you can't get enough of concerts at the ballpark, the Nationals also announced this week the lineup for their NatsLive free postgame concerts: Blues Traveler on June 8, Thompson Square on July 6, Gavin DeGraw on Aug. 31, and Montgomery Gentry on Sept. 21. The concerts are free for anyone holding a ticket to that day's game.

And, on a slightly different scale, the U.S. Marine Band is going to be free playing weekly concerts at the Yards Park, on Thursdays at 7:30 pm beginning in June and running through August. They'll be set up near the Terraced Lawn Steps, and will be playing "light classics, country music, and popular band favorites."

(Which means you can stroll from the Marine Band's appearances at the Yards Park on Thursday evening right up to Canal Park for the BID's Outdoor Summer Movie Series.)

This is also a good time to mention that I'm not really going to be keeping up with the many smaller events that now go on at the Yards Park, the Fairgrounds, and elsewhere. I'll mention big ones (I think McCartney qualifies as "big") and the series-type events, but otherwise, I'm playing my semi-retired card. If organizations are wanting to get the word out via JDLand about such events, there's always those flashy boxes at the top and sides of all of my pages....

The article doesn't give any additional details on where the hotel might actually be, and the story's RSS summary describes it as "a 165-key hotel in Capitol Hill," but given that the story's headline is actually "PM Hospitality Eyes Navy Yard Hotel," and assuming that the project won't actually be *in* the Washington Navy Yard, signs point to this being the L-shaped hotel planned for the corner of 1st and N SE on land formerly owned by the Welch family. Those plans for a 13-story 167-room hotel were okayed by the Zoning Commission in December, and in mid-March a $5.44 million sale was recorded of the Welch lots to Capital Riverfront Hotel LLC. (The rendering at right is from the zoning filings.)

At the zoning hearing, representatives of the developer said that it was expected that construction would take about 16 months, which would point to a start date sometime in early 2014 to then deliver in mid-2015 as the article says.

This is one of three hotels currently planned for the block just north of Nationals Park, along with no-timeline projects by Monument Realty and Grosvenor.

The 1st and N hotel will have no on-site parking, and no ground-floor retail space. (UPDATE: Per commissioner David Garber in the comments, there will be no "traditionally leased" retail space, but there will be a retail space operated by the hotel facing N Street, which is shown in the final zoning drawings as a restaurant or bar.). It wraps around Grosvenor's planned two-story retail building, and would be nestled between the residential buildings also planned by Grosvenor and Monument. My previous post on this hotel project has additional details.

PM Hospitality Strategies is an affiliated company of the Buccini/Pollin Group, which is the developer listed on this project's zoning documents. BPG owns properties throughout the mid-Atlantic, including the Madison Hotel. Not known at this point is the brand this hotel will operate under, though of course I hope they call it the L Hotel. (UPDATE: Or not, given how now we're all mistakenly referencing it being on L Street.)

See all the pictures here.

There's one more day of test seatings on Friday, and then a VIP reception on Saturday.

It's a pretty dang big space. Definitely a completely new experience in the neighborhood!

According the latest batch of approved building permits, a building permit has been issued (to Williams Willies Sports, technically), for a restaurant with 109 seats and 156 occupancy load.

So now everyone can start keeping an eye out for any work in the space on the Boilermaker Shops' western end, on Tingey at 3rd Street. (The photo above is from a visit I made to the Willie's spot back in September.)

Other items worth noting in the latest permitting blitz:

* The Park Tavern has gotten its permit for a 75-seat summer garden.

* Gordon Biersch's outdoor seating has been reduced from a 94-seat area to a 60-seat summer garden.

Then there's this additional tidbit, which needs to have a glaring "CONJECTURE!" label attached to it. But a few weeks ago EYA got a soil boring permit for 908 2nd Street, SE, which is the empty parking lot owned by the Housing Authority between I and K and between Canal Park and EYA's now-completed Capitol Quarter townhouse project. I have heard rumors for a while now that there's been talk of another deal between EYA and DCHA, though not for townhouses this time around. The empty lot where the soil borings took place is part of the Capper Hope VI footprint, and the plans have always been for a six-story, 147-unit mixed-income building on that site. Is something in the works? All together now: We shall see!

So, once again I highlight my Visting Nationals Park page, which I built last year to bring together links and information both about the ballpark itself and what's available and interesting outside the stadium.

For those wanting to know what's happened in the Near Capitol Ballpark River Yards (#NeCaBaRY) neighborhood since last season, my What's New and Notable list fills in the headlines, while the Google Map of Food and Drink options shows both the currently opened eateries and the ones coming soon.

There's also links to information on the Riverwalk, the Yards Park and new-to-you Canal Park, and the Navy Yard, for people looking for other ways to pass the time before and after games.

As for the ballpark itself, there's my map of official and "cash" parking lots, a "Getting There" guide, and of course all of my photos of the stadium's construction and milestones.

But, for people who can't even bear to click a link, I'll give the headlines that I know are most of interest:

* Brewery/Restaurant Gordon Biersch should open on Opening Day at 1st and M.

* The Park Tavern at 2nd and M could be opening Any Minute Now.

* Kruba Thai and Sushi at 3rd and Water in the Foundry Lofts has been open since November.

* Highly anticipated brewery Bluejacket is expected to open at 4th and Tingey in the Boilermaker Shops in late spring or early summer, as will Nando's Peri-Peri, Buzz Bakery, and (maybe) Willie's Brew and 'Que.

* Later in the summer should see the opening of the first two restaurants in the Lumber Shed at the Yards Park: Agua 301 (which has just begun its buildout), and Osteria Morini.

There's also still Justin's Cafe, Five Guys, Subway, Potbelly, Lot 38 Espresso, McDonald's, and the Fairgrounds.

And, alas, there's also still the hole in the ground at Half and N.

On the bright side, there are two new holes in the ground where work is actually underway, for new apartment buildings the Park Chelsea at New Jersey and I and Twelve12 at 4th and M, both expected to open next year.

And the Camden South Capitol apartments directly across South Capitol from the stadium are opening in just a few weeks.

In other words, believe it or not, good things are actually happening outside the ballpark. And it seems like good things should be happening inside the ballpark this year, too.

So bookmark the guide and use it whenever you come down to Near Southeast/Capitol Riverfront/Navy Yard/Nats Town/#NaYa/#NeCaBaRY.

There is also a rendering (seen at right) of how the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail will run both under the bridges and down from O Street when finished; it also shows the small overlook that will be built out into the river just to the east of the entrance gate to the Navy Yard Promenade. WashCycle also got a recent photo of the path under construction, where you can see the outlines of what the rendering shows is coming.

The presentation slides also have some photos of the demolition underway on the old outbound freeway flyover, and aerial photos of the work that's completed and still underway on the east side of the river. There's also, on page 21, an image which looks like they've already almost completed the filling-in of the portion of the Southeast Freeway between 8th and 11th, since it shows dirt almost up to the underside of the existing bridge that takes 11th Street across the sunken freeway between I and L.

What all of this really means is that I need to get back to 11th Street with my camera pretty soon, since my last batch of photos is now a bit dated (waaah!).

The Yards has announced on its Twitter/Facebook feeds that furniture store Desi Living Loft Furniture is coming to the Foundry Lofts in June.

Some items of note (click photos to embiggen):

On your left, hard-to-get evidence of the ongoing work at Bluejacket at the Boilermaker Shops. They've covered up all the eye-level windows, but peeking through the (dirty!) glass above the large door on 4th shows the fermenters now installed on the mezzanine level.

At right, my first viewing of the renovated Team Store at Nationals Park's Center Field Gate.

Below, the Lumber Shed in the sun.

Agua 301's space is to the left, and Osteria Morini's is to the right. (On the ground floor.)

And, everyone's dream come true, a parking garage being born:

Of course, it's actually the parking garage that will be underneath the Harris Teeter in the Twelve12 apartment building at 4th and M, so it's probably allowed. If you want even more photos of rebar and concrete, my Twelve12 page has them.

The restaurant, developed by the same people who run Zest Bistro on Barracks Row, will be on the building's southwest side (the left side in the photo at left, closest to the pedestrian bridge), and buildout is apparently now getting underway, with the owners "hoping for" a late July opening.

It is a 3,500-square-foot space, and will have 107 seats indoors, plus another 43 on the patio.

So, let's do a run-down of the next few months:

Canal Park's Park Tavern could be close to opening {ahem}, so let's call that March.

Gordon Biersch is aiming for Opening Day, April 1.

Bluejacket says "May/June" for its highly anticipated arrival at the Boilermaker Shops.

Nando's Peri-Peri says June for its opening, also at the Boilermaker Shops.

Agua shooting for July.

No dates other than "summer" have been announced recently for Osteria Morini, Chef Michael White's Italian restaurant planned for the southeastern corner of the Lumber Shed. So, August or September might not be out of the question, though until a buildout is underway, that would just be speculation.

Also no dates for Buzz Bakery or Willie's Brew and Que at the Boilermaker, though since Buzz is by the Bluejacket folks, perhaps it'll come around the same time? UPDATE: A Facebook commenter passed along this Hill Rag piece by the Capitol Riverfront BID's director, saying that Buzz is aiming for an April opening. Willie's remains a mystery, though.

Anyway, basically one new restaurant a month from now through summer is a little bit different from what the neighborhood has seen since, well, ever. (Though, of course, we know how targeted opening dates can sometimes slide...)

For Nats fans doing a little preseason salivating, here's my map of where the neighborhood's restaurants are, and will be. (If you haven't been to the neighborhood since last season ended, you'll also want to note the arrival of Kruba Thai and Sushi at 3rd and Water Streets, in the Foundry Lofts building at the Yards.)

"Our new chef is in place!! Should be about 10 days until we open. More details to come"

Is the opening really now looming? We shall see...!

Forest City Washington is moving forward with the plans for a sixteen screen movie theater near Nationals Park, having submitted a truckload of documents this week to the Zoning Commission for its plans to redevelop more than five acres of land currently occupied by DC Water.

GoG says the restaurant will open at 11 am seven days a week, with happy hour from 3 to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The bar will stay open open until 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and midnight the rest of the week. (Food looks to be available until 10 pm Sunday-Monday, 11 pm Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday, and midnight Friday-Saturday.)

The restaurant will have 226 seats inside, along with another 88 on the planned outdoor patio (they have applied for the required public space permit, but it's not approved yet). Might be a bit crowded on game days, but it will be interesting to see what kind of crowds it draws the rest of the time, especially from outside the neighborhood.

The location is now on the Gordon Biersch web site, too. And the head brewer has popped up on Twitter.

(The next question: will Biersch end up opening before the Park Tavern, which is now apparently delayed again?)

There's still a lot in flux, but the big news is that three of the lots that have long been in the official Nats inventory are not there for 2013. But users of the lots formerly known as J, N, and M should know that I've talked with Monument Realty and have confirmed that these lots will be cash lots this season. (If you're not in the know on the lot lettering, these are the lots at South Capitol & N SE, South Capitol & M SE, and the northwest corner of Half & M SE.) Rates and details are still to come, and it's possible that season passes for the lots may be sold as well. If you're interested in keeping updated on these three lots and don't trust me to tell you the latest (boo), you can e-mail natsparking@monumentrealty.com to be added to their distribution list.

What seems to be causing some angst, though, is that the $5 economy lot under the SW Freeway at South Capitol Street, known as HH, is also apparently no longer in the official inventory. I haven't been able to track down who is running that lot to find out if it will still be available for cash parking, but will keep trying.

There appears to be one new official Nats lot this year, labeled Lot P, positioned on the team's map next to existing Lot K. If that position is correct, it would be at 1015 Half Street, which would make it garage parking, though it's not labeled as such on their map. I've written the team to confirm that 1015 Half is the actual location, but have not heard back.

I've also been in touch with folks at the Yards and they say that they are planning to offer the same parking lots as they did last season, including the "new" lot that became available at 1st and M when the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency folks decamped in 2011. Prices for those lots are still under discussion. (UPDATE, 2/25: The folks at the Yards are clarifying and now saying that their easternmost lot, on 4th south of Tingey, won't be available this year. Map is updated.)

It also looks like the Nationals raised the single-game parking prices for Lots T and U on 3rd Street by $1 for non-"prime" games, to $21 and $26, respectively. ("Prime" game cash prices at the official lots range from $15 to $45, compared to $10-$42 for nonprime.) Season ticket holder prices seemed to go up by $2 in most lots, except for Lot T ($1) and Lot W, which remains the one "economy" lot at $10.

As to whether the non-official cash lots scattered around the neighborhood that were available in 2012 will still be operating in 2013, we may just have to wait until Opening Day to see what lots are operating where, and for what prices. (For now, I've left the 2012 prices on the map.) The only non-official cash lot from 2012 that I know to be gone this year is the old Lot K at 2nd and H, which is now where the big Park Chelsea hole is being dug.

I've updated my Stadium Parking map with all the changes that I know of, and will keep updating it as more information becomes available. And any tips on the cash lots' operations as the season gets underway are always appreciated.

Quoting: "If most craft breweries are akin to spacious but modest homes, Bluejacket, when it opens in May or June, will be a small mansion with all the amenities. The quantity and variety of equipment, much more than a brewery of its size would usually have and all custom-built, will arguably make Bluejacket like no other small brewery in the country: a facility that [Neighborhood Restaurant Group] hopes will turn out a staggeringly diverse, constantly changing array of topnotch beers."

After much describing of the how Bluejacket's approach to its brewery differs from many other ventures in the US, the Post asks, "So what, then, will be the end result of this perfect-world brewery buildout? Once we descended from the mezzanine to the ground floor, Engert began describing a wildly ambitious beer program: 15 drafts and five cask ales at all times, plus five drafts from other breweries, along with an assortment of house beers in 375- and 750-milliliter bottles and even magnums and Jeroboams. He wants to implement the same sort of constant rotation that is a hallmark of Birch & Barley/ChurchKey and other NRG restaurants."

I haven't been inside the space since September, but the photos I took that day, from before the buildout began, should help envision the setup that the Post piece describes.

This would probably be the perfect forum to ask some of the questions that have been posted in the comments here, such as whether the new boulevard will have an intersection with 13th Street, and how the pedestrian/cycling trail planned to be built alongside the boulevard will be handled.