What was I just saying about crime in Near Southeast? The Washington Blade reports: "Two men, one armed with a gun, made off with more than $18,000 in cash after robbing the Wet/Edge nightclub complex, home to D.C.'s only remaining male strip club, on July 16, according to police." The clubs were open at the time; no one was hurt. The police are investigating it as a possible inside job. These clubs are part of the huge 2005 purchase of Square 699N by developer Ron Cohen; at the time of the purchase he announced plans for mixed-use development on the site, starting construction in 2006, but the businesses on the block are still operating and as best I've heard have not been given eviction notices, so I don't know when development is going to proceed.

Nation, the nightclub at Half and K, is closing its doors after Saturday night, and the Washington Blade has a look back at VelvetNation, the Saturday night gay dance party. I've not heard anything on when the building might be demolished, or when construction might start on 1015 Half Street, the 250,000-sq-ft office building planned for that site by Potomac Investment Properties (the people who brought you 300 M Street). Check my North of M page for information and photos about that little slice of Near Southeast.

A Building Permit Application has appeared on the DCRA web site for 909 New Jersey Ave., SE, which would be JPI's residential tower on the current site of the Nexus Gold Club. I've heard nothing recently about when Nexis will close, when demolition will begin, or when construction on this project will begin.

Adrian Washington of the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation gave a preview of the soon-to-be-released Ballpark District plans to the Washington Post last week, as described by Dana Hedgpeth ("Anacostia Group Looks Beyond the Ballpark"). From the article: "Under those plans, about 9 million square feet of residential and commercial buildings and parking garages will be built over the next decade on 50 acres around the stadium, said officials with the Anacostia Waterfront group. They estimate that the new development -- on land that is now mostly auto repair shops, nightclubs and empty lots -- will be worth about $4.5 billion." However, "Washington declined to release any sketches for publication, saying they were not final." Waaaaah!

A teensy bit slow on this, I apologize, but I did want to note that the second of JPI's two residential projects in Near Southeast, at 901 New Jersey Avenue (sometimes better known as the "Nexus Site") received approval last Tuesday from the Board of Zoning Adjustment for its variance and special exception applications. There was one condition put on the application--that any antennas on the roof be hidden from view--and JPI agreed to that. Construction will probably begin on this site late in 2006 (ditto for JPI's other site, on I Street).

The latest stadium demolition news: The big white trash transfer garage at 1st and N is being demolished today, and Ziegfield's at Half and O is now pretty much gone. I added some new shots to the stadium construction gallery, nothing terribly exciting (although I guess the pics of the gaping hole in the middle of the trash transfer building are kind of impressive). I also shot new versions of the overview shots as well, although the differences from last week to this week aren't that astounding.

From the Post: "D.C. Councilmember Marion S. Barry (D-Ward 8) pulled his car out of a parking space into the path of an oncoming vehicle shortly after midnight this morning, police said, in a stretch of Southeast Washington dominated by fast-food restaurants and nightclubs. [..] A camera crew from WRC-TV (Channel 4) arrived at the accident scene, in the 1000 block of 1st Street SE, in time to interview Barry, 70, who said he was coming from meeting a friend. His car was parked about 50 feet south of where 1st Street intersects with K Street, police said. The area is just north of the industrial zone where construction has begun on a new baseball stadium for the Washington Nationals." I would also add that the 1000 block of 1st Street is a block south of the Nexus Gold Club, just as a point of reference....

Here's a slapped-together page of photos I took at the groundbreaking. And washingtonpost.com has posted an extended video report of the ceremony, along with the Post's story in Friday's paper. And here's the Blade's coverage--I'm not sure how many attendees knew that the black building across the street was Ziegfield's.

A correspondent reports that the long-shuttered row homes in the 900 block of New Jersey Avenue started being demolished today. That block will eventually be the site of a 238-unit residential tower by JPI--everything currently on the block except the car repair shop at the corner of 1st and K will be demolished to make way for the construction, although there's still a few months before the Nexus Gold Club will close (I don't know an exact date), so get your ogling of naked chicks in sooner rather than later. You can see "before" photos of the houses being demolished on my JPI Residential Projects page (toward the bottom, so do some scrolling)--I'll add demolition photos as soon as the sun moves to an optimum position.

The Post does the now-ubiquitous story on how the land rush in Near Southeast is forcing out long-time neighborhood nightclubs ("Forced Out by Baseball, Whither the Strip Club?")--this time, the focus is on the Nexus Gold Club, whose landlord sold the property last year to make way for one of JPI's residential projects. The story recounts that the Nexus appears to be having just as much trouble as the now-closed O Street gay clubs in finding a place to move to, even with all the good deeds that the owner has done for the neighborhood over the years. The story says that the club must be out by December 2006, but given the speed with which JPI is moving, and also given some rumors I've heard, I would not be surprised if it's more like early fall.