The National Capital Planning Commission has announced the agenda for its August 4 meeting--included is a request for approval of the text amendment to the Capitol Gateway Overview District for the baseball stadium area that was given first approval by the DC Zoning Commission on July 11. The wording of the request for the text amendment: ".... to define 'Ballpark' and Ballpark Area,' to allow a ballpark in Square 702, 703, 704, 705 and 706 and on Reservation 247, between South Capitol Street, 1st Street, N Street, and Potomac Place, SE, Washington, D.C., and to establish a Zoning Commission review and approval process and design guidelines for a ballpark and associated uses." Also on the agenda are two items pertaining to the coming redevelopment of Capper / Carrollsburg: the "dedication of land to establish 2nd and 3rd Places, SE, and to reopen and dedicate a portion of L Street, SE, in Squares 767, 768, 798, 799 and Reservations 17-B, 17-C and 17-D, between I, M, 3rd, and 4th Streets, SE"; plus proposing the closure of "public alleys in Squares 798, 799 and 824, between I, K, 3rd and 4th Streets, SE." This step happens before the requests for closures go to the DC City Council (per DC Code 9-202.02).

I've been told by staffers that the relocation of all residents of Capper/Carrollsburg is now complete, and the remaining seven blocks of buildings are empty. I don't know of any date yet for demolition of these buildings; the structures between 4th and 5th Street stood empty for at least a year before they were demolished (and the apartment building at 5th and Virginia was empty for more than four years!).

Eakin-Youngentob has announced that pre-construction sales at its Capper/Carrollsburg mixed-income project will begin in Spring 2006. Eventually the project will include 1,562 rental & ownership units, including 707 public housing units, 525 affordable rental units, 330 market rate homes, and 855 additional moderate/market rate units.

Landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Ltd is to discuss her firm's projects, including the recent winning competition design for Washington Canal Park, Thursday, May 26 at 8 pm, at the National Building Museum. The lecture is worth 1.5 continuing-education units. Admission is $17, $10 for students; registration is required. Also at the NBM, there will be a black-tie gala presenting the 2005 honor award to Forest City Enterprises, developer of Capper/Carrollsburg and the Southeast Federal Center, at a black-tie gala on June 1 at 6:30 pm. Tickets are a steal at $500. Call 202-272-2448 or visit http://www.nbm.org for information.

The cover story of DC's alt-weekly City Paper is "The Cost of Leaving", about the slow shutting down of the Capper/Carrollsburg public housing units, and how the former residents are being relocated. (UPDATED link for article)

On May 16, a building permit request was filed with DCRA for 400 M Street, SE. This would appear to be for the planned major addition to the Carroll Apartments low-income seniors housing (scroll halfway down my Seniors Housing page for renderings and details). This is the second of the two seniors housing buildings slated to replace the huge Capper Seniors building at 7th and M; the other is in the early digging-the-hole stage, at 5th and Virginia. (All can be seen on my Seniors Housing page.) For those of you who don't maintain your own Requested Building Permit Toteboard, right now there are initial permits pending approval for 400 M, 20 M, and 1015 Half Street.

I note here that on Jan. 21 a building permit was approved for the new Capper Seniors project, described as a $17.3 million 160-unit apartment building for seniors at 900 5th Street, SE, and fences have now gone up around its lot at 5th and Virginia. Could they finally be about to start construction?

Big news! Real Estate company Eakin Youngentob has added the Capper/ Carrollsburg redevelopment project to its web site, marked as "Coming in 2006." Not much information there, but you can add yourself to the preview list to get first crack at the market-rate for-sale homes in the project. (I don't know exactly how the market-rate versus affordable units will be doled out, nor do I know how the public housing units fit into all of this; I'm sure more information will become available, and I'll bring it to you as I find out. Read my own Capper/ Carrollsburg Revitalization page for background and details.) The first offerings would be in the area of Capper/Carrollsburg that has just been demolished, between 4th and 5th and Virginia and M. The project will move slowly westward, to 2nd Street/Canal Park, over the next few years.

Don't know when construction would start, don't know when homes would be available, don't know nuthin' except that you probably shouldn't pack your bags just yet. :-) But this is a big deal that the project is now being advertised, and another great step forward for Near Southeast.

Demolition at Capper/Carrollsburg has moved over to the block bounded by 2nd, 3rd, L, and M streets, the last location of demolishment in this first phase. My guess is that this spot is being cleared to help pave the way for the construction of an office building at 250 M Street, although I have no news on a timetable for that. (250 M will not actually take up that entire block, it should be noted--it will front M Street, with its footprint being pretty much the parking lot that's currently there.) The 4th/5th Street demolition is in the clean-up phase (taking away the piles and smoothing the lots). And within the past few days fence stakes have appeared around the Capper buildings in the 4th/I/3rd/K block. I don't think demolition will begin there anytime soon, but those buildings are probably now cleared of tenants, and so can now be fenced off.

News continues to pick up:

More posts: 20 M, Capper, Nationals Park