This was Bardo's second attempt at a license for this site (having withdrawn the original application before a ruling was made), and a previous similar notion for the site was denied a liquor license for similar reasons back in 2013.

You can read the entire ruling here, but the gist of it is on page 2:

"While Bardo has presented a modified Application, the Board is not convinced that this new business plan alleviates the problems previously identified at this site. Specifically, the Board is still not convinced that an open air tavern has the capability to prevent unreasonable noise disturbances; that the neighborhood has a sufficient amount of parking; that Bardo can coexist or be included in the neighborhood's official traffic plan; that encouraging stadium attendees to cross Potomac Avenue, S.E., is safe; and that Bardo can exist without delaying or interfering with people and vehicles attempting to the leave Nationals Park after games or other events. Consequently, Board finds itself compelled to once again deny an application at this location."

However, this afternoon, there was this tweet:

In the meantime, construction continues on the Dock 79 apartment building just to the east of the Bardo footprint, with leasing about to start and move-ins coming later in 2016.

Is the writing now perhaps on the wall/bulkhead for the notion of an outdoor drinking/congregation establishment on this site?

UPDATE: The full transcript of the Feb. 10, 2016 hearing may be illuminating, as might be the first Bardo hearing in April of 2015, and perhaps the ruling rejecting the pre-Bardo venture back in 2013.

Brian Leventhal, one of the owners of both Brooklyn Winery and the coming DC venture, told the commission that this will be a full commercial winery, processing fresh grapes brought in from various US locations (including Virginia).

And since "you can't have wine without food," there will also be a 90-seat interior restaurant open seven days a week, which will also have outdoor seating.

In addition, the 2nd floor will be an events space, which the winery hopes will become a "very coveted wedding space," as well as a location for corporate and political events. There will also be tours of the winery, and bottles will be available for purchase (with "Bottled in the District of Columbia" on the labels).

Leventhal also showed some slides of Brooklyn Winery's operations to the commission, which you can see here.

Forest City's Jonathan Gertman testified that the company is targeting June 1 for the start of construction, and Leventhal said that they are hoping to be open by September of 2017. A liquor license is already in hand.

I posted a few weeks ago the early designs for the building, which will be a sibling of sorts for the Lumber Shed (and eventually there will be a third retail pavilion nestled between the two). The image at the top of this post is a slightly more realized version, though note that the red dots and lines aren't actually part of the design (I grabbed it from the zoning filings). The entrances will be on the wall facing west toward the Lumber Shed, and the restaurant will be on the south end of the building, where outdoor seating will look toward the Anacostia River.

Other than concerns about whether a winery would be a permitted use or an associated use under the zoning overlay, and some small frustrations about not being exactly sure what the differences were between the original approvals back in 2009 and the new case, all the zoning commissioners were enthusiastic about the project and the design. Michael Turnbull said that "I think this is going to be such a cute little building, and I think it'll be a fun place to go," while Robert Miller called it a "very exciting project, a very attractive building, a unique activating use in this Yards area," and that he looks forward to sampling it.

The commissioners felt no need to request additional information or changes, and with the Office of Planning recommending approval, and with ANC 6D's unanimous vote in support earlier this month, the commission took final action and approved the case 5-0-0.

It will have a 40-seat dining room and a 20-seat bar, and "will offer shellfish towers, crudos and seafood dishes," but won't focus exclusively on Mid-Atlantic seafood--but "will serve only sustainable seafood, wherever it may be found."

The timeline sounds surprisingly fast--"this spring"--and there's already a placeholder web site at whaleysdc.com.

This is not the first seafood raw bar attempted in this space--it was announced in the summer of 2014 that the Navy Yard Oyster Company would be opening there, but by July 2015 that venture fell by the wayside.

In the WaPo article, Whaley's owner Nick Wiseman speaks of Crisfield's in Silver Spring and its "personal neighborhood feel" as a model for Whaley's--but also is "not naive" about the "seasonal nature" of the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood:

"'It's a place that, in the summer, it's booming, and we have to be special enough that people want to come in the winter,' he says. 'We're trying to design a restaurant that can do that.'"

And, just as I hit the button to post this, I received the press release from Forest City confirming the lease. It adds that the name "honors the Revolutionary War hero Zedechiah Whaley, commander of the tiny Maryland Navy. History holds that Commander Whaley was a casualty during a storied Chesapeake Bay battle while single-handedly confronting a small squadron of British ships in an effort to protect the local watermen."

The Forest City press release also has these details on other Yards projects, for those itching to know:

As described in the filings, the winery "will produce premium small batch wines served on the premises and occasionally sold in bottles for patrons to consume elsewhere. Guests will be able to tour the winery, taste wines at the wine bar, have dinner at the restaurant and reserve the second floor venue for a private event, such as a wedding receptions, corporate event or private function." It will have a capacity of 750 persons, with 450 seats.

The filing goes on to say that the winery, the "first of its kind" in DC, is expected to open in the fall of 2017.

The drawing above is the view as seen from the Yards Park, on the southwest side of the building (so, as if you are walking east from Osteria Morini). Here are slightly less impressionistic but still early drawings of the elevations from all four sides (click to enlarge):

There will eventually be a third pavilion positioned between the winery and the Lumber Shed--the filing says that Forest City is "working on securing a retail tenant(s)" and that it will "most likely be a restaurant."

The zoning hearing for the winery is scheduled for February 18. This plan was supported by ANC 6D in a 7-0-0 vote on Jan. 11, "contingent upon the execution of a mutually agreed construction management plan."

You can check out my previous posts for more details.

The doors are opening around 5:30 pm, with a limited menu being served for just a few hours (or until the pizza dough runs out).

A passerby last night snuck a peek at the newly installed pizza oven, which apparently weighs 7,000 lbs.

Further details on additional "soft" hours, and when the "real" opening will be, etc., to come. (I don't have my own shot of the real sign yet, but here's one.)

* IL PARCO: A reader reports this morning that a sign is being hoisted on the Park Tavern building at Canal Park for "Il Parco," with a pizza slice-type icon. I haven't heard anything about how close it is to opening, but the sign should be a good, um, sign. (I expect to have a photo as soon as the official JDLand stringer gets moving.)

UPDATE: And now the stringer has come through!

* WEEKEND HOURS: According to Twitter, Scarlet Oak will be open all weekend, while TaKorean will be open today (Friday) from 11 to 2 and then closed Saturday. Osteria Morini is closing tonight at 8 pm, then will be closed Saturday but is expecting to reopen on Sunday. The Big Stick is closing its kitchen at 5 pm tonight until Monday, but expects the bar to operate on normal hours. Justin's will be offering an "extremely limited menu" from tonight at 5 pm through Sunday. Ice Cream Jubilee is closed today and Saturday but expects to be open on Sunday. I will update if other restaurants announce hours.

UPDATES: Bluejacket is "currently open with a limited menu". Due South is open all weekend (see down in the comments for the list of their Snow Daze Drink Specials). Aura Spa is closed for the weekend.

ANOTHER: Nando's is closing all its DC locations at 8 pm tonight, reopening Sunday at noon.

MORE: Everyone will be crushed to hear that the Virginia Avenue Tunnel demolition will be on hold until Monday morning at 5:30 am. Weekend work will be limited to snow removal and "maintenance of traffic controls."

AND: Agua 301 is open tonight, with happy hour drink specials from 3:30 to close. Hugh & Crye is closed until Monday morning.

* BRIDGE PARK DEEP DIVE: WaPo's Jonathan O'Connell takes a long look at the 11th Street Bridge Park and what it might mean for neighborhoods east of the river should it ever be built.

* BILLY JOEL: The Piano Man is going to be "the first artist ever to play Nationals Park three times," with this week's news of a show scheduled for Saturday, July 30.

* RESIDENT SNOW INFO: ANC commissioner Meredith Fascett has this lineup of tidbits about city storm preparations and items residents need to know. And snow.dc.gov is another good resource.

SATURDAY UPDATE: Keep an eye on my Twitter account for retweets of openings and closings. So far, Bluejacket and TaKorean have said they are closed today, while Willie's and Due South are open. I'll keep updating when I can tear my eyes away from my window.

SUNDAY UPDATE:

Bluejacket is open at 1:30, and Morini is open at 2 pm, both with limited menus.

Agua 301 is opening at 3pm.

Due South and Scarlet Oak are open.

Justin's and the Big Stick are open for libations, but the kitchens are closed.

Ice Yards has been moved to Jan. 30.

TaKorean and Ice Cream Jubilee are closed.

The Canal Park Ice Rink is closed, too.

New Restaurants

I think the pictures speak for themselves in this section.

Tingey Street saw the opening of Pacers Running, Hugh & Crye Menswear, and Banfield Pet Hospital.

The Hampton Inn at 1st and N and the new Trapeze School space at New Jersey and Tingey snuck in under the wire for 2015. (This section will be considerably larger next year.)

At the Ballpark

Nats Park saw the NHL Winter Classic, new food offerings, and the Taylor Swift invasion. (But not the October games many had been expecting.) Plus, there was the announcement that the 2018 MLB All-Star Game will come to Half Street.

Farewell

The "new neighborhood" is now old enough that some establishments are exiting. We said goodbye to Sizzlin' Express and Buzz Bakery, and await the Italian-themed retooling of the Park Tavern. Plus the Hill Country gameday BBQ pop-up at South Capitol and N will be no more, with development now underway in that spot.

Underway

A mere seven development projects (four residential, two hotel, one office) broke ground in 2015, to go with the mere seven development projects already under construction. (Need a map to keep them all straight? You're in luck!)

Coming soon, an equally speedy summary of what's on tap for 2016.

The Barracks Row mainstay restaurant left its longtime home further north on 8th Street a few months ago, opting to relocate in the former Chicken Tortilla space at 1100 8th St., SE.

It's open for lunch from 11 am to 2 pm, then opens again for dinner at 5 pm. (At least, that's what they told me on the phone, though the maybe it's just open straight through from 11 am to 10 pm, as the sign says.)

(The photo also shows that what appears to be its original blue-and-white sign made the trip down 8th Street as well.)

This makes two restaurants that have opened in this spot recently, with the Ziaafat Grill having arrived next door back in September.

Ward 6 council member Charles Allen was on hand to cut the ribbon for the restaurant, which is employing about 130 DC residents, including many whom live very close by in Southwest or Southeast.

It opens daily at 11 am, and stays open until 1 am Fridays and Saturdays and midnight the rest of the week.

Here's a few quick photos of the festivities, with the full batch in this gallery.

With construction underway on the Canal Park ice rink, scheduled to officially open for the season on Nov. 14, this would seem to be a good time frame for a retooling.

In the meantime, over on Half Street just south of the Metro entrance at M Street, Buffalo Wild Wings is looking close to opening. A worker told me that staff training is expected to start this week, with November 17 being the *targeted* opening date. Though, of course (all together now), We Shall See.

UPDATE: It actually looks like Nov. 16 will be the grand opening (the date I heard many moons ago), with this mailing providing the big hint but also according to sources In the Know.

(PS: There are tentative thoughts about a JDLand happy hour in the coming weeks, probably at BWW. More as the schedule becomes clear.)