* 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.

I somehow managed to make it through four hours of Monday night's ANC 6D meeting (yay?). I already gave you the big headline (at least from the JDLand vantage point), but here's some other tidbits:

* DUE SOUTH: After initially applying for a Class CT Tavern license, the southern food restaurant planned for the Lumber Shed agreed to amend the application and change to a CR license as part of the settlement agreement negotiated with 6D. However, the city's liquor license board apparently voted on March 4 to approve a CT license. After much (much!) discussion and consternation about process, 6D voted 4-2-1 to send a letter to ABRA saying that if in fact Due South is being given a CT license, the ANC requests to be reinstated as a protestant to the license application and also moves for reconsideration of the CT order.

* HALF STREET HOLE: A presentation was made on the new plans I posted about for the northeast corner of Half and N, i.e., Monument Valley, i.e., the Half Street Hole, which received a generally positive response from the commission, along with suggestions for a better external differentiation between the condo wing facing N Street and the rest of the building and a request that the new sidewalks be made of softer materials if possible. The commission then voted 4-0-2 to support the project, which is now scheduled for its Capitol Gateway Overlay review on May 28.

* BREW GARDEN AT FLORIDA ROCK: Representatives of MRP Realty and Bardo presented their brew garden/neighborhood park concept. It was very late in the meeting, and so the discussion was hurried, but the commission raised issues based on concerns from when similar aborted attempts were made to use this site in previous years. These ranged from the fact that initial discussions with MPD and DCRA have apparently not yet been had, nor has the BID been talked to (which came up when the MRP/Bardo folks said they were looking to the ANC to "program" the site's offerings beyond the brew garden). One thing emphasized to the commission was that this is not envisioned as a place for baseball fans to come and swill down Bud Light, and that no hard liquor would be served. In the end, with time running out and the somewhat muddled presentation leaving the commissioners a bit quizzical as to exactly what the team is planning to do at the site, no vote was taken.

There was also one item just barely outside the JDLand border region, so you can read SWill on a new residential project planned at 1319 South Capitol, immediately to the north of the Camden South Capitol building and across the street from the ballpark.

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.

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.

If so, this would go into the empty space on the northwest corner of the building (across from Kruba Thai). It would also join Ice Cream Jubilee, which should be opening soon in the northeast corner of the building.

Forest City, as always, does not comment on leases before they are executed, so there is no confirmation of this as yet.

(Those Forest City staffers up on the second floor better all be getting memberships at Vida.)