* ALL-DAY CAFE COMING TO NOVEL: Highly regarded restaurateur Erik Bruner-Yang (of Maketto and other ventures) will be opening a 3,000-square-foot "day-to-night neighborhood cafe concept" in the ground floor of Novel South Capitol, at the corner of South Capitol and I Streets, SE. The press release says that the space "will be integrated with" Novel's lobby but will be a "unique community gathering and dining experience" for all comers, not just residents. The as-yet-unnamed cafe will have "breakfast-oriented offerings, evening snacks, and craft cocktails," and is shooting for a late summer opening. More on Bruner-Yang's plans via Washingtonian.

* ROY BOYS: It has apparently been a good start for Roy Boys, the fried chicken and oyster restaurant that opened in Shaw a few months ago, because window signage being put up this morning--as well as this Washingtonian piece--confirm that a second location will open later this year in the old Justin's Cafe space on 1st Street SE between K and L. If you want to get a head start on licking your chops, here's the Shaw location's menu.

* SMORGASBURG: Starting on June 15, a pop-up outdoor food market known as "Smorgasburg" will offer food and beverages from 30 local vendors every summer Saturday from 11 am to 6 pm at Tingey Plaza, at New Jersey and Tingey. Eater DC has a list of the confirmed vendors, as of last week.

If you haven't been keeping up, the list of new food and beverage offerings coming to the neighborhood over the next year or so is starting to get kind of long, and as more buildings are completed, the list will probably grow. (West Half alone accounts for about 40 percent of the list, which they are now touting with their fence signage.) You can see my map of food options and then scroll down to the bottom to see the full future lineup.

The most obvious progress is on the form work for the bases of the bridge's arches, as you can see in a photograph taken on Sunday alongside a, um, tweaked graphic to help non-bridge-o-philes understand what they are seeing:

I also ventured up onto the existing bridge to get a closer look:

If you haven't been paying attention to the plans for the new bridge, you can check out my project page for lots of renderings of the bridge, the wide side paths, and the plans for the ovals. Also, the official web site for the project also has lots of information, and is pretty active on social media, posting the sort of pictures that bloggers who don't have sea-level access can't get.

Now, rounding up a week's worth of tidbits:

* DC WATER OPEN HOUSE: DC Water is throwing an open house to mark the "grand opening" of its sparkling headquarters along the Anacostia, on Thursday, May 30, starting at 3 pm. But be sure to not stay so long that you miss the ice cream social/JDLand camera meet-and-greet that starts at 6 pm at Canal Park.

* HELLO, MERIDIAN: The apartment building under construction at 1000 1st Street SE now has a name and a placeholder web site, so say hello to Meridian on First.

* SOMEWHERE, ALMOST HERE: Washington City Paper reports on the arrival later this month of "Somewhere," the combination clothing-and-coffee venture from the DC native behind Maketto and streetwear brand DURKL coming to the retail row on 1st Street SE south of M.

* CFA VS CHEMONICS HQ: The Commission on Fine Arts does not like the design for the planned Chemonics headquarters at New Jersey and Tingey. Really, really does not like it. (WBJ)

* REMEMBERING TRACKS: Marty Chernoff, the creator of the legendary Tracks nightclub that ruled the northwest corner of 1st and M Streets, SE, from 1984 to 1999, died on May 3. The Washington Blade printed a nice remembrance of both Chernoff and Tracks, and subsequently a reader pointed me to two YouTube videos from 1998 and 1999 touring the club.

* ICE CREAM SOCIAL/MEET AND GREET: On Thursday, May 30, the Capitol Riverfront BID is kicking off its summer lineup of events with an Ice Cream Social at Canal Park, starting at 6 pm. In addition to having free scoops from Altani Gelato and live acoustic music, the event will celebrate the Then and Now photo exhibits, and I'll be on hand to say hello and point at the photo displays and say "I did that!" Hope to see everyone there! And if you haven't been to the Yards Park in the past few days, that portion of the photo exhibit has now been moved down to the boardwalk, which is a pretty cool spot.

* NATS PARK RETAIL SPACES: For 11-plus years now, readers have been asking me when the empty retail spaces along Nats Park's 1st Street facade would get any tenants. Now, WBJ is reporting that the Nats have a deal for a year-round 35,000-square-foot "restaurant and entertainment venue." Given that a similar announcement about Capital One Arena quickly morphed into confirmation of a sportsbook there, it's being assumed that this Nats Park venue will be a sportsbook as well. More as it becomes available.

* WELCOME TO WALTERS AND DACHA: If you haven't heard yet, Walters Sports Bar is now open at South Capitol and N in the ground floor of 1221 Van (as previewed by Washingtonian), and Dacha has now opened its interior space in Dock 79 at 1st and Potomac across from the Nats Park grand staircase (as also previewed by Washingtonian). Its 800-person beer garden on the plaza is expected to open later this month.

* MEDSTAR PRIMARY CARE: On the heels of the news that CVS will be coming to the corner of Half and I in the ground floor of One Hill South, I've received confirmation that Medstar has signed a lease to open a primary care facility in the building.

* SALON?: A recently approved building permit indicates that a hair salon will be coming to the Harlow, the new apartment building at 2nd and L facing Canal Park. That's all I know for now.

* SUMMER SERIES-ES: The lineup has been announced for the Friday Night Concert Series at Yards Park for the Friday Night Concert Series at Yards Park, which will run from June 7 through Aug. 30. And, if I didn't already share it, here's the lineup for the Thursday Outdoor Movie Series at Canal Park, which runs from June 13 to Aug. 22.

* CONSTRUCTION AT 1ST AND K: For those wondering about the new construction happening at the old A-1 Tires garage at 1st and K, it's becoming additional space for the Waterfront Church. (The wrangling over whether developers can build a "sliver" residential building on that site is as-yet unresolved.)

(A new post also means a fresh thread for the JDLand commentariat. If you don't read or participate in the comments, you should--it's a great place to talk about neighborhood goings-on.)

In other news that I've been extraordinarily neglectful of:

* NICOLETTA PIZZA: It was almost six years ago that I first wrote of plans for Chef Michael White's plans to bring a sibling of his Osteria Morini to the Yards Park boardwalk.The notion seemed to fall by the wayside, especially when Morini Piccolo arrived in the fall of 2017, but lo and behold, a few weeks ago signage went up, and now it is open. Eater DC wrote a preview, if you are looking for information beyond ***PIZZA*** (and frozen Negronis, which Mr. JDLand would have been quite revved up for).

* MORE APARTMENTS UNDERWAY: My coverage of the eastern portion of the neighborhood is even worse than my coverage of the rest of it, so I haven't written much about either the completed renovations of the 19-unit apartment building now known as the Callisto at 816 Potomac or about the adjoining four-story, 49-unit new construction apartment building apparently dubbed Europa at 818 Potomac, both by MMg Development. Work is now underway on Europa, as I captured in a terrible photo a few weeks ago. (And maybe I'll get my development map updated with these items soon. Any Minute Now.)

* MORE CONDOS UNDERWAY: Readers have been noticing digging underway on the south side of L Street between South Capitol and Half, and it is the start of construction on an 11-story, 74-unit condo building at 37 L Street, a project of DBT Development. Here is a rendering, from the web site of Bonstra Haresign Architects, that shows the building if you are looking toward the southeast from across L Street. This was the site for the former Empire Cab company, and before that, the site of one of the city's deadliest fires. This is not to be confused with the Metro "chiller plant" site next door, on the corner of Half and L, where residential is slated to happen Some Day.

The ubiquitous drug store will be occupying the building's entire I Street frontage, including the corner space at Half and I. (I don't know the square footage, but it ain't small.)

While it will be the neighborhood's second CVS--the other one being about five blocks away at New Jersey and M--one could say that this portion of the neighborhood is a bit under-served at the moment, unless you want Korean fried chicken.

I'm also hearing that another lease in the building is going to be announced Any Minute Now.

As for the second phase of the Ruben/Related joint venture, the 300ish-unit apartment building temporarily dubbed 950 South Capitol (and not Two Hill South, which is just a criminally missed naming opportunity) is going to be the next skeleton to sprout from the ground before too much longer.

No word on the estimated timeline for CVS's arrival.

Let's start with what has opened since the end of last season:

(I know, one of these things is not like the others, but it still might be of interest.)

Circa and El Bebe are centrally located at 1st and M (kitty corner from Biersch), and will no doubt be big draws before and after games, with Circa offering a wide-ranging menu and Bebe going the tacos-and-tequila route. Both will have lots of outdoor seating, too. Wiseguy Pizza opened in October at Canal Park at 2nd and M, offering both slices and pies (and brews), while its Altani Gelato and Coffee offering is supposed to gear up soon. As for Whole Foods, well, you never know what organic offerings you might need before or after a game. It's at New Jersey and H, just south of the freeway. Not pictured is Bluestone Lane, a coffee shop next to Circa on M Street west of 1st.

We'll start with what will be of most interest to stadium-goers, Walters and Dacha:

It looks like fairly soon (April?) we'll see the opening of these two new offerings within steps of the ballpark, albeit on completely different sides of the stadium. Walters Sports Bar will be at South Capitol and N (on the ground floor below Mission and across from the Geico Garage), offering, well, sports bar-y stuff.

Meanwhile, across from the "grand staircase" at 1st and Potomac (and next to the Salt Line), Dacha is prepping to open its second location, serving comfort food inside and offering a large beer garden on the plaza by the Anacostia River.

Sit down restaurants Albi (and wine bar-sibling Maxwell) and the Shilling Canning Company should be coming to the Yards later this year, as well as ramen shop Hatoba.

However, mark your calendars for 2020, when all of the retail space in all of the current construction projects starts to come on line. Of most interest of course will be Half Street just north of the ballpark, where JBG Smith's West Half residential building is expected to welcome two highly anticipated ground-floor offerings: a second location for Ivy City's Atlas Brew Works and The Commons (or is it the Gatsby?), a two-story 300-seat "contemporary with an upscale diner feel" restaurant. And, before I could even get this post published, news arrived that West Half will also be home in 2020 to Compass Coffee, Union Kitchen Grocery, and Cold Stone Creamery.

Meanwhile, across the street, the 1250 Half Street apartment building will house Punch Bowl Social, the "eatertainment" venue that pairs a "scratch-made menu and craft beverage program" with pinball, skee-ball, karaoke, video games, bocce, bowling, and more, will occupy two floors facing Half Street, likely early in 2020.

Check out my Food Options map for what's still around and for a fuller look at the coming attractions into 2020.

I know nobody is still reading, but I can't bear to not talk about the construction that continues on all around the ballpark, starting with the vastly changed streetscape that stadium-goers will be met with on Half Street (as seen here).

On the west side of the street, the aforementioned West Half project (the funnel-y building) will have 420 rental units along with its scads of retail offerings. Then, across the street on the east side, there are two residential projects in one, the 1250 Half Street apartments facing Half and the "eNvy" (don't @ me) condo building facing N, both of which should see move-ins starting in 2020.

What about all of the other buildings that are under construction? Let me give you a brief summary:

* That beige building with the curved glass right at South Capitol and M? That's the new headquarters for the National Association of Broadcasters.

* That brown-brick sliver of a building at 3rd and Tingey behind USDOT? That's going to be a Thompson Hotel, a boutique offering that is also expected to have a full-service restaurant and rooftop bar by Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group, the people behind Shake Shack and a whole lot more, probably in 2020.

* That hole in the ground at 2nd and M? It'll be the new HQ of the District Department of Transportation.

* Every other building under construction? Apartments. Take a look at my map at the top of every page of my site for details on each one.

There. That was easy.

(Check back for a link to DDOT's press release on How to Get to the Ballpark, 2019 Edition, which they've e-mailed but not yet posted.)

Below are the 10 new angles, and clicking on them takes you to the Photo Archive page for that angle, which will not only allow you to see the Slider but also all of the photos I've taken of that particular angle over the years.

But if you want to play with all 36 new and updated locations at once, go to the Sliders page. From there, if you choose, you can then go to the individual archive pages to see the additional photos.

These might be in order of which ones are my favorites--but I'll also bring attention to the 4th and Virginia slider, which does a really good job of showing how Virginia Avenue has been straightened in the wake of the tunnel construction.

Again, the page for all 36 new and updated sliders is here. There's also always a "Sliders" link in the photo box at the top of the home page.

Slide away!

I decided to ease my way into posting photos with this survey of the latest signage around the neighborhood, but I'm starting with an image of the one spot that isn't "signed" yet but that is looking interesting, which is the Dacha space at Dock 79, across from the Nats Park "grand staircase" on Potomac Avenue. I didn't take a picture of the actual beer garden construction, since right now it just looks like a patio being torn up.

A note for those unsure: the Harlow is the mixed-income apartment building almost ready to open across from Canal Park. (With that signage and location, I could see people thinking it might be a restaurant.)

* ATLAS BREW WORKS: Ivy City's brewery/tap room Atlas Brew Works announced last week that it is coming to JBG's West Half building next year, where it will occupy 4,500 square feet mere steps away from the Nats Park Center Field Gate. The new space, double the size of the Ivy City location, will also have a kitchen and a "limited food program" along side its brewery and 12-draft-line tap room. Atlas is the second announced retail offering at the non-box-like West Half building, along with the previously announced Commons Restaurant and its bakery/breakfast operation Mah-Ze-Dahr.

* DISTRICT DOGS: The neighborhood's second-largest population gets a new retail offering in the coming days, as District Dogs has announced it will officially open its second full-service pet care facility in the ground floor of 1221 Van on Saturday, March 9. In a custom-built space that faces South Capitol Street just north of N, DD will offer daycare (with four separate playrooms), boarding, grooming, walking, sitting, and a "boutique retail shop." There will be an open house on Friday, March 8 from 5 to 9 pm, and services can be booked starting on the 9th.

* EL BEBE: A reminder that Circa's tequila-and-taco sibling El Bebe is opening this Tuesday, Feb. 26, on the southwest corner of 1st and M in the ground floor of the 99 M office building. Here's the menu, should you wish to peruse in advance.

* SHILLING PROGRESS: A reader passed along on Twitter photographic evidence that the Shilling Canning Company seems to at last be inching closer to opening in the ground floor of Arris, on Water Street across from District Winery. The placeholder web site says "Opening Spring 2019," and the restaurant is now hiring.

* WELLS FARGO COMING DOWN THE STREET: If your heart was broken last summer when Wells Fargo closed its branch in the ground floor of 20 M, you can now perk back up, because it was announced last week that a Wells Fargo "Express Center" will be coming to the ground floor of the aforementioned 99 M office building. With this, 99 M's retail space is fully leased.

The entire property is nearly 11 acres (as you can see on my terrible graphic), stretching from New Jersey to South Capitol and underneath the freeway to the southern edge of the train tracks. (Here's the Google Maps view.).

Greystar is wasting no time, having already filed for excavation, foundation, and building permits for all three buildings. According to the building permit, Tower 1 is the hotel (more about that below), Tower 2 will be an 11-story 240-unit residential building, and Tower 3 will be another 11-story residential building, with approximately 460 units. There will also be a two-level underground parking garage for all three buildings, with approximately 300 parking spaces.

As to exactly where on the site the two residential buildings are planned, well, We Shall See, though they will apparently be accessed by new extensions of H Street and 1st Street, as my cruddy graphic sort of shows and as can also be seen in this graphic from the filing. (Another graphic has the New Jersey/H intersection tagged with "Proposed All Way Stop," which is sorely needed and which will hopefully come to pass.) The residential buildings are "matter of right" projects, meaning that we won't get any handy zoning filings to give us more details.

A BZA case filed last year and approved at the end of January involves the plans for the 11-story hotel, with approximately 200 rooms and ground-floor retail that will be built along New Jersey Avenue, across from Whole Foods and just north of ORE 82. (But, unlike ORE 82, the hotel will not overhang the sidewalk, so that the ORE 82 residents with balconies do not lose their northward views.) The filing

The approved zoning order includes a requirement that the developer create (at the request of 6D, which supported the request 5-0-2 in December) a Loading Management Plan to deal with the inevitable traffic issues that will arise with hotel patrons being picked up and dropped off right along New Jersey.

The order also says that the applicant has agreed to create a dog park for exclusive use by residents of the project, and also that "The Applicant shall fully embrace and utilize the area underneath the freeway for amenity spaces that will be reserved for use by hotel guests and residents of the project."

It should also be noted that recently Greystar took over the management of the 70 and 100 Capitol Yards buildings, and already manages ORE 82. So the buildings most affected by this new project are operated by the same company.

* CIRCA OPEN, EL BEBE SOON: The neighborhood's newest restaurant opened on Monday, with Circa finally arriving on the southwest corner of 1st and M Streets, SE, not quite 3 1/2 years after it was first announced. As for now, it's open daily at 4 pm. And its sibling El Bebe is coming Any Minute Now.

* MEYER TO THOMPSON: The Thompson Hotel at 3rd and Tingey is still under construction, but the Post's Tom Sietsema reported in his chat last week that uber restaurateur Danny Meyer (he of Shake Shack, Gramercy Tavern, and more) will be opening a "full-service restaurant and rooftop bar" in the hotel sometime in 2020. There aren't many details (not even a chef), but this will be a project that will garner a lot of interest.

* ALBI POPUP: If you are looking forward to Albi, which is bringing a "contemporary vision of Middle Eastern cooking as soon through the lens of Modern American techniques and Mid-Atlantic ingredients" to the Bower at 4th and Tingey in "early summer" 2019, there is a two-day "pop up" of "preview dinners" on March 3 and 4. Reservations now available, with prices set at $85 per person, plus optional wine pairings for $35.

And in non-food news:

* CAPPER SENIORS GONE: The first building I watched be built is now the first building I've watched be both built and demolished, though the concrete stairwells and elevator shafts remain and await the building that will replace the structure destroyed by fire last year. This makes for a sad entry #182 in my Demolished Buildings gallery.

* VOTE FOR MOVIES: Time once again to make your preferences known in the Capitol Riverfront BID's 2019 Outdoor Movie Series poll. Voting ends March 4.

* PILE DRIVING: That pounding you heard in your head on Saturday morning wasn't your hangover, it's the start of Saturday pile driving as part of the new Douglass Bridge construction. The approved hours are from 9 am to 7 pm. (And, while I'm speaking of it, a shout-out to the NFDMB folks, who are doing a nice job of outreach with a very complete web site and social media offerings.)

* LOWER 8TH STREET STUFF: ANC 6B commission Kirsten Oldenburg reported in her latest newsletter about some changes to traffic flow near 8th and Virginia, now that the tunnel is completed: "The 800 block of Virginia Avenue and the 900 block of 9th Street SE are now two-way streets and the 1000 block of 9th Street SE between L and M Streets will join them as a two-way street but awaits adjustments to the traffic signal at 9th and M SE. The 800 block of L Street is to become two-way (instead of one way westbound). Pedestrian crossings markings will be added to the 9th & Potomac Avenue SE and 10th & Potomac Avenue SE intersections. " She also says she is in the process of asking DDOT for a traffic calming study of the 8th and L intersection (i.e., where the Brig is).

* SHOTS FIRED: Apparently gunshots were heard on Half Street SE near the Big Stick on Sunday night, and MPD reports that a suspect was arrested for the unlawful discharge of a firearm.

* SOUTH CAP OVAL DETAILS: If you really want to go into the weeds (or grass, or trees, or paving stones, or pedestrian flow) of the two traffic ovals coming to either side of the new Douglass Bridge, these two documents supporting final approval for the designs from the National Capital Planning Commission are for you. Also, WashCycle has a detailed look at the final proposed designs, from a bicycling point of view.

* PUNCH BOWL SOCIAL: From Twitter: New ABRA license app for Punch Bowl Social (1250 Half St SE; ANC 6D); "food made from scratch"; food with "social activities"; 250 seats; 40-seat sidewalk cafe; 20-seat summer garden; live entertainment

* BUILDING A WALL? (no, not that one): The Navy wants to build a flood wall around the Navy Yard that could "increase the flood risk to neighboring properties." (Bloomberg)

* CIRCA COMING SOON: Signage is up, training has begun, and Circa says on its Facebook page that its opening date announcement is "coming soon."

* CAPPER SENIORS COMING DOWN: Demolition began last week on the remnants of the Capper Seniors building at 5th and Virginia, SE. DCist has a summary of a report on the fire and its aftermath by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The official cause remains classified as undetermined, but there are theories--and ATF also faulted DC Fire officials for being too cautious about letting search crews and "other agents" into the building after the blaze. UPDATE: Here is the report itself.

Sales are expected to begin "early" this year, and it will probably deliver in 2020.

The official web site is basically a placeholder, but you can get on the VIP list if you choose.

This is not the entire project you see on the northeast corner of Half and N--the portion of the building facing Half Street is still for now known as 1250, and will have about 310 rental apartments and about 55,000 square feet of retail, with Punch Bowl Social having already been signed as the anchor tenant, occupying 24,000 square feet on two floors.

Envy* is the third new condo building in the neighborhood, joining the Bower at the Yards and the still-under-construction Avidian on South Capitol just south of M. (Velocity, the neighborhood's first condo building, is now 10 years old. Wow.) But it is the only condo offering with views into the ballpark from some units (unless the new solar panels on top of the garages interfere), so expect the marketing to heavily tout that fact.

Here's a couple more renderings, first showing Envy from N Street, where you can see at right how it nudges right up against the Hampton Inn (and is built above Cushing Place). The second rendering is the view from the Center Field Gate at Half and N, showing Envy as the darker building at right along N and the 1250 Half apartments running up Half Street..

* Mr. JDLand would haunt me if I used "eNvy," so I will be going with Envy.

First, let us welcome the two new skeletons now above ground level, the Maren on Potomac Avenue and Paradigm's project at 1000 1st St., SE, both of which are apartment projects:

(Tishman Speyer's massive Square 696 residential project is just now starting to peek up, but didn't make the above-ground cut this time.)

It's a sign that the frantic construction pace of the past two years that we only have three projects coming out of the ground, and only one where excavation is stlll underway (One Hill South 2). A breather will be nice.

That said, there are still nine other projects that are in the getting-their-faces-on stage of construction. So let's look at the National Association of Broadcasters HQ (and its sibling Avidian condos to the rear) at South Capitol and M, the Funnel on Half Street (aka West Half), the combo project of the Estate apartments at 3rd and Water by the Yards Park and a Thompson hotel at 3rd and Tingey (shown in closeup because I dig the windows), the second phase of Novel South Capitol, Parc Riverside Phase 2 at Half and L, and the Garrett at 2nd and K. The last photo in the bunch is 1250 Half, which is both a still-rising skeleton on its southern end and a face-being-put-on project on its northern end, completely mucking with my flow.

(Follow the links to the project pages for details--I've already written enough words this week!)

Still under construction as well are residential projects the Harlow and the Bower condos/Guild apartments, but I didn't take any updated photos because their exterior work is mostly done. Plus I might have collapsed.

Tired out by this? Now you know why I for the first time grabbed a scooter to cover all of the territory.

But I also used my newfound scooter freedom to get some sorely needed shots at the far edges of the JDLand coverage area. Here are my first photos of the work on the new Douglass Bridge, as seen from the old Douglass Bridge (and no, that platform is not the new bridge), as well as a picture of the Emblem on Barracks Row condo building at 8th and Virginia, now completed despite my having almost completely ignored it during its construction:

Speaking of the new Douglass Bridge, if you go to the official web site and scroll down to Project Gallery, you will see what I think is a new animation of the new bridges and ovals and whatnot.

As for what's on the boards to get underway in 2019, I'd say that the most likely contenders are the new DDOT HQ at 250 M and Lerner's 1000 South Capitol Street residential building, and maybe one other I will write about soon. As for others? We Shall See.

I also belatedly have added the GSA warehouse at 49 L to my Demolished Buildings Gallery, as #181. That's a lot of demo.

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.)

But, while the expansion of the original tunnel and the construction of the second track tunnel are both now complete, and now it is just streetscape work standing between impatient drivers* and the reopening of the avenue east of 4th, there is a part of the project where I can think I can provide a service, and that is looking at the actual changes in Virginia Avenue itself since digging started in spring 2015.

Yes, we're going to take a tour of the road. You might be surprised at how much it has changed.

Let's start at 2nd and Virginia, which in the pre-project days was a weird intersection between 2nd and the functional Virginia Avenue to the east along with the incomplete H Street and closed-off Virginia Avenue to the east. It never saw much traffic but was large and oddly configured for a spot with so little use. These are two before-and-after sets, first looking north-northwestward, and then eastward (sorry for the crappy current shots):

Remembering that you can click to enlarge these photos and then page through them, you'll see how this 2nd-H-Virginia intersection was extremely wide and mainly focused on the flow of traffic along Virginia Avenue, which became superfluous when in the early 2000s it was decided to close Virginia from this spot out to South Capitol (because of security concerns with its location right by the Capitol Power Plant). In the new version, there are big sidewalk bulb-outs, shinking the amount of asphalt and making it easier for pedestrians to cross the street, which comes in handy for the hordes marching toward Whole Foods in the next block.

As we continue east on Virginia, there isn't much of a change in the 300 block's footprint, other than the creation of bulb-outs to narrow the sidewalk width while still allowing mid-block parking on both sides.

But there's definitely a few changes where Virginia heads east across 4th Street:

The street is now closer to the freeway, and on a straight line toward the intersection with 5th Street. The wide bend from 4th Street is gone, meaning that hopefully cars turning left from 4th onto Virginia will now have to slow down to navigate the intersection. There's also now parking on the south side of the street, which mainly serves to add back in the few parking spaces that disappeared now that I Street no longer bends into Virginia east of 4th. I don't have an "after" photo, but you can see what it used to do here, and also see how Virginia had to bend northward to get to the intersection with 5th.

The intersection at 5th (which becomes 6th as you go north under the freeway) has always been ugly, so ugly that I never came up with a good standard way of photographing it, which means my before pictures aren't always helpful. But in this comparison shot looking west, you can see how Virginia is now a straight shot coming from 4th to 5th. You can also see that the street and ramp from 695 are much closer, and the grading has been changed as well,

Turning around and looking eastward on Virginia at 5th, you can see how much the traffic flow has been altered:

Before, the freeway traffic used to continue on Virginia via the lanes to the left, and the traffic from Virginia and those turning onto Virginia from 5th used the merging lanes to the right. And there was a lovely median separating them, making it a long trek for pedestrians from the north side of Virginia to the south side. Now, as you can mostly see (sorry about the shadows), it's more like a regular intersection, except that from what I can tell the drivers in the middle lanes from Virginia and the ramp will have a wide middle lane to handle their merging as they go east. Will have to see how the ramp lanes are striped--will the left ramp lane be left-turn only? Or left/straight, and the right ramp lane straight, as it used to be? We Shall See.

Now we get to 7th Street, which doesn't really look that different except that the diagonal stub of K Street just to the south is now gone, again making it easier for pedestrians on the east side of 7th to get north of Virginia.

Now we have reached 8th Street, the end of my little tour. First turning back to look westward, you'll see that the lanes no longer split, once again making it easier for pedestrians to get across:

When you look eastward across 8th, you'll see a big change (the departure of the on-ramp to 695), but that happened in 2013. As I'm sure you remember.

I imagine the blocks east of 4th Street will open Any Minute Now, since they are all now striped and lamped and lighted and curbed. Then we can find out how it all works when actual pedestrians, drivers, bicyclists, scooterists, and the like get a hold of it.

It was a long 3 1/2 years to get to this point, but these photos indicate--even more than I realized--that CSX did not just tear Virginia Avenue up, dig a tunnel, and plop the old street right back down on top of the new tunnel.

* CHURCH OF THE BLUE CASTLE: It's been four years since the National Community Church purchased the Navy Yard Car Barn, aka the "Blue Castle," at 8th and M, and with all tenant leases now expired, an interior building permit application has been filed for creating a "worship space" for the church, along with support spaces "such as green rooms, production studio, and a kids room." Back in September, Capitol Hill Corner reported that these Phase I plans are for a 900-plus seat auditorium "which will be used for Sunday church services but will be available for rent to the community during days and nights." And, to answer the inevitable question, when I interviewed Mark Batterson about the purchase of the building, he said that he hopes "that someday the Blue Castle will just be the Castle."

* CHURCH OF THE A-1 TIRES: While developers have been trying to pitch a sliver of a residential building on the northeast corner of 1st and K since the lot changed hands in 2017, the only current movement at the site is an apparent plan to renovate the former A-1 Tires garage for a church assembly space, including a new roof and windows. Is perhaps the Waterfront Church looking to move from their Capitol Hill Tower space? We Shall See. UPDATE: I've been told that this is an expansion by the Waterfront Church, not a move.

* HARNESSING THE SUN MONSTER: If you've seen some construction activities on top of the Nats Park garages along N Street, it is the installation of "solar canopies" containing 4080 modules. (The only question remaining is, will the Sun Monster's number one victim be back this season to see these new additions?)

* WALLS COME TUMBLIN' DOWN?: After the Lerner Companies initially received approval to take the roof off of the old warehouse at 49 L but keep the lower 4 feet of brick walls, there is now a request to revise that permit to remove the wall completely "due to failing structural integrity," and to replace it with a new 8-foot chain link fence. There have been no development plans announced for this site, but one wonders if the Lerners might be thinking about some temporary parking options if indeed their 1000 South Capitol residential building is soon to get underway, which would necessitate the closure/move of Nats Parking Lot K.

Note that when the news first broke, it was said that this building would be at New Jersey and M, but that's incorrect--it is planned for the northwest corner of New Jersey and N and/or Tingey and/or the proposed Tingey Square, as seen in this rendering, which helpfully provides Nats Park and the DC Water headquarters building as reference points. (And directly across N from Chemonics HQ is the planned residential building on Parcel I, which you can read about here.)

This would be a 290,000-square-foot, 11-story-plus-penthouse building, with about 14,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and about 165 below-grade parking spaces. The zoning filing says that approximately 1,200 employees would be expected to move to the building when it opens. There will also be an at-grade bicycle lobby for building users.

This building's west side will face 1 1/2 Street, Yards West's planned pedestrian-oriented-but-not-pedestrian-only "spine," and to the north it will be bounded by the planned Quander Street that is to be (re-)built at the spot where the currently huge empty block is bisected by an east-west sidewalk.

Here's a trip around three of the building's corners, starting at its northwest corner where 1 1/2 and Quander Streets will meet, then at Quander and New Jersey, and then at New Jersey and N/Tingey/Tingey Square:

For those of you concerned for the fate of the trapezers, the zoning filing says that the school would be moved to Parcel E, which is the site of Building 202, and which apparently will soon be its own design review application. (Hmmmmm.....)

I threw together a quick Parcel G page, which will jog longtime residents' memories of Spooky Building 213, which occupied this parcel along with Parcels A and F for 50 years or so.

The zoning design review hearing is scheduled for April.

UPDATE: Forgot to include that Chemonics received a $5.2 million property tax break for its decision to relocate to the Yards. Specifically, it is an eight-year tax abatement running from FY 2023 to FY 2030.

(See, I do still know how to blog. I may found out this weekend if I still know how to take pictures.)

Hopefully I'll get a little bit of blogging mojo back after the new year--but really, there isn't that much going on right now, anyway. Unless you guys can tell me all sorts of stuff in the comments.

Happy New Year to all...