Stop the presses! I have NON-STADIUM news! Hallelujah! Construction has begun on Capper Seniors #2, the wraparound addition to the Carroll Apartments for low-income seniors at 4th and M. This new construction will add four stories and 130+ units to the 64 units in the Carroll building. Scroll to the middle of my Capper Seniors page for a rendering of the new construction, and photos of the current site. As for Capper Seniors #1 at 5th and Virginia, construction is speeding along, and I promise once the Christmas rush is over to post new photos. For more detail than one would ever want on the entire Capper/Carrollsburg project (and Canal Park, too), read the Feb. 2004 Zoning Approval for the Capper PUD.

ANC 6D has released the agenda for its December 12 meeting. Items of Near Southeast interest include: an update from DDOT on traffic and parking and the new baseball stadium; an Office of Planning presentation on the proposed text amendment to the Capitol Gateway Overlay; a Public Space Permit Application for an emergency generator at Capper/Carrollsburg; and a ABC License Renewal for the 3rd and K Market. The meeting is at 65 I Street SW, at 7 pm. UPDATE: Agenda now posted. UPDATE II: You can read a report on ANC 6D's November meeting (with discussions of Capper/Carrollsburg, the stadium, and Florida Rock) in December's Hill Rag (page 5 of this PDF).

ANC 6B has posted its December Meeting Agenda, which is scheduled to include reports on two Near Southeast projects from its Planning and Zoning Committee's Dec. 6 meeting: the Capper/Carrollsburg second-stage PUD (which is going before the DC Zoning Commission on Dec. 19), and a new proposed project at 1006-1010 7th Street, SE, which plans to combine 3 [currently empty] lots and construct 4-story building with offices on 1st floor and 3 residential floors above (9 apts.). This would be on the east side of 7th Street, across from the Marine BEQ and next to the five rowhouses that are being renovated (just north of the 7th and L Market). This project is also on the agenda for the Dec. 15 Historic Preservation Review Board Meeting. On a similar front, the proposed mixed-use project at 801 Virginia Ave. is also on the HPRB agenda (again), it appears the original proposal (see the July ANC 6B minutes for details) has been revised. My 8th Street Historic District page has a photo or two of these 7th and 8th Street locations.

"Company Invests in Capital to Redevelop Blighted Areas" is a nice profile of Forest City Enterprises, developer of Capper/Carrollsburg and the Southeast Federal Center, in its hometown paper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The article says that ground will be broken on the first part of the huge Federal Center redevelopment in 2007. (The article is part of a series detailing FCE's projects around the country.) For those of you interested in Southwest and the Waterside Mall redevelopment, the article mentions it as well....  [Full disclosure: I'm quoted deep down in the article.]

Blech, after all this stadium stuff recently, I feel the need to clense my digital palate, so I've returned to my original Near Southeast mission for a moment and have posted some new photos. My latest Capper Seniors #1 photos show that construction is moving along, and I've added a cool comparison to my New Jersey Avenue page from the SE Freeway (don't ask how I took them) showing the impact of Capitol Hill Tower and the DOT HQ on the Near SE skyline in the past 11 months. And I've documented some minor changes in the landscape of the Ballpark District (with the demolition of a few small buildings along Half Street) and the 8th Street Historic District. I also tossed in a few updated shots on my M Street, Capitol Hill Tower, and DOT HQ pages, too. (As always, scroll the pages and look for the  icon.) Speaking of the Ballpark District, Stephen Green of the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development said today at the stadium hearing that the four finalists for the "master developer" gig were interviewed by the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation today, and that a team should be named by the first or second week in December.

(UPDATED to fix address for Nov. 28 meeting) ANC 6D and the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly are holding a Baseball Stadium Update meeting on Monday, Nov. 28 at 7 pm at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, 222 M Street SW. They are working to get city officials, Sports Commission officials, and others to attend to discuss "traffic, construction, zoning and other important issues." This was announced at the ANC 6D meeting on Nov. 14. Also at that meeting, the ANC voted to support the Florida Rock project; as for Capper / Carrollsburg, while the ANC voted to support the alley closings/street openings portion of the zoning application, they are for now opposed to the second-stage PUD. ANC Commissioner Williams is trying to organize a special meeting to hear more from the community so that another vote can be taken by the commission before the zoning deadline (former residents are complaining they are having problems with the developers about their potential return to the development).

This is news from this summer, but I only just now came across it: a story in the September Capitol Hill Restoration Society newsletter (bottom of page 1) describes how the CHRS helped to prevent the demolition of 15 of the 19 existing private homes in the Capper/Carrollsburg footprint as the project goes forward.

ANC 6D has posted the agenda for its November meeting, at 7 pm on Monday Nov. 14., at 65 I Street SW. Agenda items include votes on Capper/Carrollsburg and Florida Rock PUDs, plus an update by the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission on baseball stadium zoning and construction issues.

It's Photo Updates day, and I've added a pile of them--look for the   icon to see my latest photos on these pages: DOT HQ, Capper Seniors, Capitol Hill Tower, Canal Park, 20 M Street, East End, M Street, Marine B.E.Q., and New Jersey Avenue, and even one if you dig enough on South Capitol Street. Whew!

New page alert! I've added a page on the New Capper Community Center that will be built at 5th and K Streets, with some great renderings of the design of the new building (thanks go to architects Torti Gallas CHK for passing them along). The 28,500 sq ft facility will include daycare for 66 children, a rec center, a computer lab, a gym, a game room, and meeting/classrooms. This building is included in the vote on Capper/Carrollsburg planned by ANC 6D on Nov. 14 as well as the zoning hearing on Dec. 19.