The DC Office of Zoning has posted its agenda for the Sept. 15 meeting, and it includes the stadium text amendment for the Capitol Gateway overlay, as I expected. But they're taking up other Near Southeast items as well, both having to do with Capper/Carrollsburg. I'm not 100% versed in zoning minutiae (I might have made it to the 30% mark by now), so I'll just parrot what the site says, that the Capper/Carrollsburg 2nd Stage Planned Unit Development (PUD) and Modification is on the agenda. I believe that a second-stage PUD means a specific, fully engineered, plan for the site is being submitted for approval. So I hope that's something we can get a look at pretty soon. I would also think that this submittal means that the project may be kicking into a higher gear soon, as also evidenced by 15 building permit requests submitted at the end of August for addresses within the Capper/Carrollsburg boundaries.

There's also an additional agenda item for "Capper/Carrollsburg Venture LLC -- Senior Building," which I believe is a revision of the design of Capper Seniors #2, because the design submitted in 2003 included a blank wall along M Street, which is a zoning no-no in this area. The need for this vote was discussed at the Jan. 12, 2004 meeting, and is probably why the project's building permit application has the zoning section marked "Hold for Correction." (Yes, my head hurts, too.)

Speaking of second-stage PUDs, while wandering around on the web trying to educate myself on this topic, I found this 1999 National Capital Planning Commission document, showing the detailed plans for Florida Rock. However, that was then and this is now, and in December the Zoning Commission will be again taking up Florida Rock's second-stage PUD. So we'll have to wait and see what changes have been brought by six years (and a baseball stadium next door).

A couple of items so small I can't actually believe I'm posting them, but here they are anyway:

Eakin-Youngentob has christened its Capper / Carrollsburg redevelopment "Capitol Quarter." EYA will be building more than 240 market rate, for-sale homes, and also 130 affordable for-sale and rental homes, with pre-construction sales expected to begin in Spring, 2006.  If you're interested in this project, be sure to sign up for their Preview List, as list members usually get the first word on sales.

Also from the July 29 Register.... On July 6, the DC Council approved the issuance of revenue bonds of up to $11 million for construction financing for the Arthur Capper Seniors Building II project. This was done on an emergency basis for reasons that make my eyes glaze over when I try to figure them out, having to do with the DC Council's summer recess butting up against the DC Housing Finance Authority's need to close on the project before September or else be penalized by HUD for not using the Hope VI funds in a "timely manner." The text of the resolution is here (go to page 30 in the PDF). UPDATE: Looks like you need to first visit the main DC Register site before the link to the text of the resolution will work.

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.