The parade of alley closings and street closings/realignments this year in Near Southeast continues, as the National Capital Planning Commission has on its September meeting agenda the proposed closing of a public alley in Square 701 (the square bounded by 1st, M, N and Half Streets, SE--see my cruddy tax parcel map for assistance on where the squares are). I figured that this was going to be the alleys in the footprint of the Monument/WMATA properties, since Monument has made clear it's plans to move forward with developing the land along Half Street, but instead I find out that the alley closings being requested are on the east side of the Square, between Cushing Place and 1st Street, where the land is owned by the Cohen and Camalier families, who have said little about their plans for these properties. Does this mean we'll be seeing development coming to 1st Street south of M soon, too? And believe it or not, as I was writing this very entry, I received word that Monument has now filed it's application for alley closings on the west side of Square 701 as well as one small alley on Square 700 (behind the Amoco Station). Note that neither of these applications request closings of Van or Cushing. These applications follow successful alley closing requests already this year for Square 0743N as part of the 100 M and 1100 1st Street projects, the street/alley closings for the new ballpark, and the closed alleys and new streets for Capper/Carrollsburg--plus there are the still-pending requests to realign the streets in Square 737 in preparation for William C. Smith's big mixed-use project at 2nd and H and the Lerners' request to close a small portion of an alley in Square 697 as part of their 1000 South Capitol office project (no bills for these yet appearing in the DC Council legislation database).

I've been told by Opus East, the developer of 100 M Street, that the work being done along 1st and along M this past week or so has been the capping of the utilities in preparation for demolition, which should be starting next week (the week of Aug. 28).

It appears that the work being done at 1st and M (wrapping back toward L Street) is plumbing/pipe work of some sort under the street and sidewalks, not any-second-now demolition of On Luck and the other buildings (although I imagine that's not far behind, given that construction on 100 M Street is supposed to start "late summer 2006" according to Opus East). And the Sunoco station at 50 M Street is indeed now being dismantled. But still no announcement of any big deal for that lot.

Eagle-eyed boots on the ground report seeing the appearance today of No Parking signs along M Street between New Jersey and 1st Street--in front of On Luck, Zohery Bus Tours, and the Metro entrance--marked as lasting from Aug. 12 to Aug. 30. Dovetailing with what I've heard elsewhere, this may well mean that demolition on that corner is about to start. (I would guess that it will happen the same time along the rest of that block of 1st Street, back to L Street.) This is to clear the way for the 100 M Street office building and the 1100 First Street residential tower, which will be built concurrently. Some folks have also mentioned the fence that has gone up today around the Sunoco station at 50 M--there's still been no word on the sale of that property, so I don't know if demolition is imminent there or not. UPDATE: I went and took a look myself, and there are also No Parking signs along the eastern side of 1st Street between L and M, marked as starting August 8 through December 8. Also, the Sunoco fences also have signs on them indicating that it is a Sunoco construction zone. Perhaps Sunoco is demolishing the station themselves--but to make way for what, we all want to know? Is it the rumored hotel? Will the hotel folks be buying the land, or is Sunoco keeping the land and handling the development themselves? We shall see....

Opus East has launched a project page (and posted a press release) for 100 M Street, its 240,000-sq-ft office building planned for the current site of the On Luck Cafeteria at 1st and M, SE. The site says that construction is expected to begin in "late summer 2006", with delivery in late 2008. 100 M's construction will run concurrently with Faison Enterprises's 254-unit residential tower at 1st and L. (Now if Faison would post information and a rendering about it's project!) You can of course see photos (and the 100 M rendering) on my 100 M/1st and L page.

In news from last night's Zoning Commission meeting (and thank the heavens that DCOZ has gotten its live webcast up and running again), the commission gave final approval to the office building proposed for 100 M Street, a 263,000-sq-ft tower being developed by Opus East. Opus is planning to do its construction contemporaneously with the Faison residential project just to its north, and indications are that they plan to start work by the end of this year. A side note--Opus was unable to procure lot 0800, a 1,485-sq-ft empty triangular lot that runs along the southeast portion of Opus's land, abutting the north-south alley at New Jersey Avenue. It makes no real difference in Opus's plans, but is another interesting example of people not selling to developers, which is a fine-enough stand except for when you have a lot that will then be unable to ever have anything built on it....

Also at the ANC meeting, I found out a bit more about some of the new projects in the Near Southeast pipeline: the JPI residential project at 901 New Jersey (which was called "Jefferson at New Jersey and K" on the display boards) will have 237ish units, a pool, fitness room, conference center, etc. The Preston Partnership is the architect (fun web site, guys!). This project was before the ANC to ask for support in advance of its BZA hearing on May 16; however, its requests for a special exception for roof requirements and also a lessening of the residential recreation space were referred to the ANC's development subcommittee, and the ANC voiced its concern about the lack of an affordable housing component within the project, which will probably be something that developers coming to Near Southeast will need to address. As for the Square 743N Faison/Opus East projects along 1st Street, the alley closings brouhaha over the past few months has been settled (the city council approved the bill on its final reading April 4), the developers were back again, now asking for the ANC's support in its hearing before the Zoning Commission on May 25 for approval of the plans for the office building portion of the project, at 100 M Street. The commission voted 4-0-1 to give its support. Finally, a request for closing a portion of an alley on Square 0697 as part of Lerner Enterprises's 1000 South Capitol Street project came before the commission, and after the requisite squabbling over payments to the community for the loss of "public space", this too was referred to the development subcommittee.

It's not posted yet, but I've gotten a peek at the agenda for the April ANC 6D meeting, this Monday the 10th, and it's chock full of Near Southeast goodness. There will be a presentation by the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission on the immediate plans for the baseball stadium; then there are presentations on three projects in the pipeline: the Opus East 250,000-sq-ft office building at 100 M Street (the fractious debate at previous meetings over a request to close two alleys on the block for this project has really been jaw-dropping); the JPI project at New Jersey and I; and another request for alley closings (have fun with that, fellas!) for 1000 South Capitol Street. This project is a 320,000-sq-ft office building that Lerner Enterprises has had on the boards for a number of years, and so they appear to now be beginning to move forward with it. It's on the same block--and backs up to--Nation, where Potomac Investment Properties is also now moving on its long-planned 250,000-sq-ft office building at 1015 Half Street. UPDATE: The agenda is now posted.

The On Luck Cafeteria on the northeast corner of 1st and M Street is the latest longtime small business to cash out in the Near Southeast Land Rush, having been bought in February for $4.5 million by Opus East, which is developing the 240,000-sq-ft 100 M Street office building. Today's Post has more about the sale, and also says that Opus East plans to start construction later this year.

While at the Courtyard by Marriott today, I got some great overhead photos of Near Southeast; as I worked to put them on the site, I realized that it was also now time to launch separate pages for three developments that are in the pipeline: JPI's two residential projects on I Street, the mixed-use development project on Square 699N at 1st, Half, K, and L streets; and the Faison and Opus East 1st Street office and residential towers between L and M. Right now the pages are kind of short on specifics, and I don't have renderings of any of the projects, but with JPI and Square 699N looking to start construction later this year, I figured it was time to break them out into their own pages. Also, I added overhead shots to my Capper/Carrollsburg and North of M pages. (And, in looking at my 2006 pictures, have you all figured out yet that I got a new camera?)