This is not something I'm going to continue to track, but I know some readers are interested in knowing if former Near Southeast nightclubs Wet and Edge are going to reopen somewhere else. There is an Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration hearing on Dec. 13 on Wet/Edge's petition to move their operations to a new location at 2046 West Virginia Ave., NE. So if you're wanting to know more, you might want to keep an eye on the ABRA web site and its calendar (which doesn't get updated much in advance of the weekly hearings).

I heard from two people this weekend saying that the Nexus Gold Club (the last night club, and also the last strip club, left in Near Southeast) was either closing immediately or had in fact already closed. Terrified that I had missed a critical piece of news, I marched up to the front door (ignoring the gales of laughter coming from throughout the neighborhood) and made my inquiries, and was told by an unidentified staffer that Nexus is still open, with December still being the rumored closing date. Coming to that location will be 909 New Jersey Avenue, a 238-unit residential project by JPI. (I did notice the last time I drove past the 900 block of 1st that the tire alignment shop right next to the Nexus appeared closed in the middle of a workday. While last I heard the A1 auto shop directly on the corner of 1st and K was not selling to JPI, perhaps it's next-door neighbor has decided to move on; no property sale has been recorded through late August, the most recent records available in the city's online sales database, but perhaps that's changed.)

I've gotten my hands on a rendering of 909 New Jersey Avenue, the 238-unit residential tower being developed by JPI on the block currently occupied by the Nexus Gold Club. No official word yet on when construction will begin, I've heard mentions in the past of early 2007, and I've also heard rumors that Nexus will close by the end of 2006. This is also a good time to mention that in late July JPI paid $1.989 million to the William C. Smith Co. for two lots on this block, totalling a mere 2,873 sq ft of land. (It should also be noted that the official sale of the Nexus land to JPI from current owner Marty Chernoff has not yet happened; in 2005 JPI paid Chernoff $1 million for two lots on the block, and the Post reported in January that the total sale price for all four of Chernoff's lots [incuding Nexus] will be $8.9 million.)

Just one week before they were scheduled to permanently close, the gay nightclubs Wet and Edge at Half and L Streets got hit with a suspension of their liquor license. Capitol Hill Cabaret (the owners of Wet/Edge) were the subjects of a Show Cause Hearing on Wednesday Sept. 13 in front of the ABC Control Board, and I guess the assumption can be made that the proceeding didn't go well. The suspension sign says that it is in effect until Oct. 29, but I don't know whether this is something that can be rectified in time for the clubs to open for what would have been their final nights (Sept. 22 and 23), so the end for these bars might have already arrived.

Following up on Friday's confirmation that Wet and Edge will be closing on Sept. 23 comes unofficial word from a correspondent with connections to Club 55 that it, too, will be closing that same weekend. And the rumor is that the demolition of the entire block will begin almost immediately thereafter. We'll see if official word trickles out in the next week or so. This will leave the Nexus Gold Club as the only nightclub still operating in Near Southeast, although it will most likely close by the end of the year, joining Ziegfield's, Follies, Secrets, Nation, and all the other nightclubs that have closed in 2006.

The Washington Blade reports that Wet and Edge, the nightclubs at Half and L, will be closing on Sept. 23. This is part of the clearing of the tenants on this entire block (Square 699N, bounded by Half, 1st, K, and L), to begin making way for a mixed-use project by Bethesda developer Ron Cohen. It appears all tenants on the block will be out by the end of September (Club 55 is the only other tenant on the block still operating, with rumors a few weeks back that it will be closing Sept. 12). I've been unsuccessful in finding out any more details on what exactly Cohen is planning for the site, beyond what was mentioned when he bought the block for $55 million in Sept. 2005; his company's web site makes no mention of the project (boo!).

This is nothing more than PURE RUMOR at this point, I have no confirmation, but I'm floating it out there to see if anyone can back it up or shoot it down. A source informs me that one of the nightclubs on the block bounded by Half, 1st, K, and L that was purchased in 2005 by developer Ron Cohen, has been given until Sept. 12 to close. Hope to be able to tell you more soon. If you have any scuttlebutt (on this or any other Near Southeast news, for that matter), drop me a line. UPDATE: I haven't been able to get any further confirmation on the above, but I'll note that the Holiday/Aspen cab company, located on this same block (at the corner of 1st and K), has closed up shop within the past week.

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.