JPI is not wasting time with their plans for a big residential development at 70 I Street, SE; they're going before ANC6D on Monday, and the Bureau of Zoning Adjustment on March 14, and today they've submitted a building permit application for the project. Plans are for two towers and 700+ units; the company has said in various news articles that they plan to start construction this summer. As soon as I can get my hands on a rendering, I'll create a new page for the project.

Let's see if I can remember how to post an entry that doesn't have to do with the stadium... ANC 6D has posted its February Meeting agenda, which has a number of Near Southeast items. First, there will be a presentation by the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation on their plans. Then there will be a (re?)discussion of the proposed alley closings on Square 743N petitioned for by Faison to allow for the construction of two towers on 1st Street. There will also be presentation on the BZA application for the planned JPI residential project at 70/100 Street SE, which should give us our first peek at what's being planned for that site. Finally, there is a public space permit application by the Courtyard by Marriott hotel at 1st and L streets SE for a sidewalk cafe (which might be just fancy talk for an outdoor seating area connected to any food service the hotel will be having). The ANC meeting is on Monday, Feb. 13 at 7 pm, at 65 I Street SW.

Near Southeast makes the front page of the Post on Friday with "The Last Handshake Deal", a long feature on colorful real estate investor Marty Chernoff and other men who bought land in the area years back and are now cashing out. (As an example, Chernoff bought the trash transfer station at 70 I Street for $800,000 in 1988, and sold it last year for $35.9 million.) The print version also has a huge fabulous half-page graphic with a map of the neighborhood (centered mainly on the North of M area) with nine stunning and brilliant photos of streetscapes along 1st, K, L, and M streets. (Yes, they're my photos.) The Post's web site has an interactive version of the graphic, which is a nice companion to their interactive map of all of Near Southeast (which has been updated with six months' worth of new information). And if you're visiting here for the first time as a result of the Post story, welcome to Near Southeast, and try not to be too scared by all that this site contains.

In zoning news this week... On Monday night the Zoning Commission approved the Capper/Carrollsburg 2nd Stage PUD--PUDs leave me bewildered, so I'm not 100% sure if this means that all systems are go for work to begin at Capper, or if there's still some other post-approval approval that still needs to happen (like with the DC Council). In easier-to-digest news, JPI has a second case ready to go in front of the Board of Zoning Adjustment, this time for the 900 block of New Jersey Avenue, where the Nexus Gold Club is. The application requests "a variance from the residential recreation space requirements under section 773, and a special exception for multiple roof structures with walls of uneven height pursuant to sections 411 and 770.6, to allow the development of a multi-family residential building ... at premises 900 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. " (I hate to tell them that this is going to have to be called 90*1* New Jersey, because it's on the west side of the block!) The lots they list seem to indicate that they plan on developing the entire block except for one lot, on the northeast corner of 1st and K. The hearing will be on May 16--JPI's other variance hearing for 100 I Street is scheduled for March 14. You can see pictures of both sites on my new North of M page.

It appears that JPI is moving forward pretty quickly with its plans for a 700-unit, two-13-story-building residential project at 100 I Street (just west of New Jersey Avenue, and just south of the SE Freeway; I'll add it to my map once there are drawings and a scheduled start date, but for now you can see a few pictures of the site on my South Capitol Street Corridor page). The March 14 agenda for the Bureau of Zoning Adjustment includes an application from JPI Development Services for variances "to allow the development of a multiple family residential building at premises 70 and 100 Eye Street, S.E."

ANC 6D's January meeting is Monday, Jan. 9, and its agenda is now available. It contains mostly items pertaining to SW (including a presentation by Forest City Enterprises on Waterside Mall, which I know is of interest to many of you), but what caught my eye was this: "Presentation: Variance and Special Exception, 900 New Jersey Avenue SE." Whaa? For those of you who don't know the street grid inside out, 900 New Jersey would be on the east side of the street between K and (the nonexistent) I Street, and is currently occupied by a DC Department of Public Works facility (the one with the tall brick chimney). The DPW site is part of the Capper / Carrollsburg PUD, which calls for a mid- to high-rise residential building on that lot. Are they moving forward with this? Is this something else? Or is it some boring little thing about eventually re-opening I Street, and nothing more? I'm doing some digging, and maybe I'll have an answer before Monday's meeting. But it is intriguing....  UPDATE: The agenda has been changed, and the 900 NJ Ave presentation is no longer there; it has been replaced with a presentation on proposed alley closings on the east side of Square 743, the 1100 block of 1st Street, SE. And apparently the "900 NJ Ave" label was an incorrect reference to the zoning adjustment request for the JPI project, which is not on New Jersey Ave (it's at 100 I Street). So for now, the DPW site is not going anywhere. UPDATE II: These JPI projects have driven me crazy since the beginning. To clarify a bit, JPI is also in the process of buying land on the west side of the 900 block of New Jersey (which includes the Nexus Gold Club), so they do plan on giving a presenation to ANC 6D soon about desired variances and exceptions for that project. But nothing for this second JPI project has shown up yet on any of the zoning calendars....

Wednesday's Post reports that apartment developer JPI has contracts for two deals in Near Southeast. Later this month they will close on a two-acre site on the north side of I Street (I believe between 1st and New Jersey, although the article is indicating further west on I), with hopes to begin construction next summer on a 700-unit residential project. Just south of that lot, at First and I, JPI is buying the property that currently houses the Nexus Gold Club (a "gentlemen's club"). Their plans for that block aren't yet firm (because they are still trying to buy some of the neighboring parcels), but more residential space would be a good bet. That transaction won't close until late 2006, to give the Nexus time to find a new location. UPDATE: The article was wrong about the location of the two-acre site, but I was wrong, too--it's at 70 I Street, which is between Half and First streets.