Due South owner Bo Blair tells me that there will be a "streamlined menu of Due South's best items," along with frozen drinks, beers, and wines and a kids menu (presumably not including beers and wines).

An April 2017 opening date is being targeted. But I will note that there is apparently not yet a completed agreement with Forest City, as an inquiry to them about the plans was greeted with the standard statement about the company not commenting on any potential deals until a lease is signed.

The early plans were presented to ANC 6D's ABC committee earlier this week, and my understanding is that the committee voted to support a liquor license for the project.

First, there's Philz Coffee on Tingey Street, which already looks to be a popular addition to the neighborhood. (I'll leave it to folks who actually partake of this particular beverage to speak to the coffee itself.) The Conte's Bike Shop pop-up is next door through this weekend, though its permanent space will be around the corner on 4th Street when it opens in 2017.

Next I pressed my camera up against the windows at Whaley's, in advance of what I hope is a visit that involves actual eating before too much longer. (There's also this shot that better shows the high ceiling of the space.)

The Yards Park Marina is said to be opening in June, and the entrance to the slips is looking pretty close to ready. These three shots are a pseudo-panorama, showing the view from the entrance to the east (with a big hole in the horizon where the Barry should be), straight ahead down the ramp where vessels such as water taxis will be able to dock, and to the west. (The large gates will lock.) There will be 50 slips all told.

I did not take any photos of the other "news" in the Yards today, of some initial site work underway at the Parcel O site on the southeast corner of 4th and Tingey. Don't look for a big hole to open up just yet, though.

I also took what might be a final "before" shot of the lot at 4th and Water where construction is expected to start in coming weeks on the District Winery building.

But, dang it! I forgot to wander over to Spooky Park to check out the final landscaping touches! This mission was a failure!

UPDATED II: And here's a peek inside, from Washingtonian.

Original post:

It was a little circuitous, but this evening on Instagram Whaley's announced that it will be opening its doors on Saturday, May 14th.

(The folks on the Yards Instagram account "got too excited" and announced an earlier date, which the Whaley's Instagram account corrected in the comments, as seen in the screen shot.)

The official web site still says "Opening Soon," but the dinner and drinks menus are now posted and the menus are "coming soon" as well (UPDATED because I'm an idjit). The hours (which I'm guessing are not the permanent ones) are listed as 5 to 10 pm Sunday through Wednesday and 5 to midnight Thursday through Saturday, with the kitchen closing at 11 pm.

The seafood and raw bar is located in the Lumber Shed at the Yards Park, in the ground-floor space between Osteria Morini and Agua 301, facing the park's overlook and the Anacostia River.

The web site's About page gives the lowdown on the Whaley's theme, and that "there was indeed a man named Whaley," who was the commodore of the Maryland Navy early in the Revolutionary War, and then became the first casualty in the Maryland Navy in the Revolutionary War.

Full operating hours for Philz haven't yet been posted on either the corporate web site or the Yards location Facebook page, but I imagine they will open at the crack of dawn as they do at their other locations. While waiting for that information, you can check out the menu of coffee and tea offerings.

(h/t to commenter RMP)

Those who read the JDLand comments got a sense a few weeks ago that something along these lines was coming when I posted this 99 M floor plan showing "new bar concept by Circa," but good to now have Open Road officially named.

According to WBJ, it's expected that the building will be finished in late 2017 (though it better start coming out of the ground pretty soon to meet that) and that the restaurants would open in mid-2018.

Open Road's Merrifield location has a pretty standard American Bar Food menu, plus lots of beer options.

And the 99 M location already has a placeholder web site!

This is the third restaurant announcement in recent days, joining news of Chix coming to Half Street this summer and The Salt Line coming to Dock 79 in 2017, and it occurred to me that people might be starting to lose track of what's in the pipeline. So, of course, I built a map.

And while it's neat to see 11 food options in the pipeline (and I didn't even include Nicoletta, because, well, they will need to re-earn my trust), it's also time to start thinking about the incredible amount of retail space in the pipeline.

Arris has about 17,000 square feet of space left to lease, Insignia on M has 11,000 sf, ORE 82 has 5,800 sf, 909 Half has "significant" ground-floor retail space, Homewood Suites has 4,800 sf, F1rst has about 21,000 sf left in not only its ground floor but the cute little two-story building it's planning at 1st and N, Dock 79 has about 12,000 sf remaining, and 1244 South Capitol will have about 26,000 sf. And even 99 M still has another 2,300 sf of space remaining.

That's well over 100,000 square feet of as-yet-unspoken-for space that will be available just within the next two years, in addition to the smattering of space still available in existing buildings.

And adding in just the JBG and Lynch Half Street projects north of Nats Park would double that number by, say, 2019, as each are billing about 60,000 sf of retail and could be getting underway late this year or early next year. Which is why I left a lot of room on my Future Food map--and I bet it'll become a Future Food and Retail map before long.

One would think there is a whole lot of competition behind the scenes for all of this space. It will be interesting to watch.

It's the restaurant's third location, and will be serving the same chicken and vegetarian dishes as at the other spots. Chix describes itself as "a green eatery that is committed to providing natural, healthy, delicious, affordable, quick, Latin-flavored meals in a casual environment." The press release says that all of Chix's chicken is "naturally raised, certified antibiotic free, hormone free, halal and locally sourced from Shenandoah Valley Organic Farms in Harrisonburg, Virginia." And their motto is "Eat Responsibly."

It will be open seven days a week, with dine-in, takeout, and delivery service for lunch and dinner.

The neighborhood is becoming quite the poultry destination, with Chix joining B-Dubs next door, Bonchon up the street, and Nando's Peri-Peri a few blocks away.

With its location immediately north of Nats Park, and with a view of (most of) the field, it will probably be a destination of interest--and a few occupants were caught on camera during MASN's broadcasts this weekend, and I captured MASN capturing them on camera, as you see above.

The menu (scroll down on the official site) features burgers and hot dog-type offerings along with "snacks and shareables." According to the Post's Going Out Guide, the beer lineup is Budweiser-ish, with Bud, Shock Top, and Goose Island. The space will also be available to rent for private events.

I took some photos up on the roof back in December, right when the hotel opened, so the area wasn't quite finished yet, and the low winter sun made for less-than-optimal peeking into the ballpark, but here are some of those images, until I get up there to replace them. (Note that there are also lovely views of the rest of the neighborhood--see more photos here.)

I also hear tell that the Hampton is looking to open a sidewalk cafe where alcohol would be served.

I've now added this to my What's New Outside the Ballpark page (if you need to catch up) and also my Food Map.

Featuring a "New England-inspired menu in a casual and relaxed 3,500-square-foot space with ample outdoor dining and an outdoor riverfront bar," the menu from Chef Kyle Bailey will have seafood and a raw bar at its heart, with "a selection of straightforward New England classics, along with Bailey's own intepretations on the regional fare, and a few Chesapeake Bay-influenced specials."

The restaurant will also have a lineup of regional craft beers and a "creative cocktail program."

The Salt Line will join Whaley's, coming this spring, up river at the Lumber Shed, as seafood restaurants along the west bank of the Anacostia River. The name "Salt Line" apparently "pays homage to the delicate nature of DC's waterways, referring to the point in an estuary in which the water salinity transitions from salt to fresh water."

Dock 79 will have 305 rental units, and is expected to be finished later this year. It's on the site known in these parts as "Florida Rock," the old concrete plant footprint on the river just south of Nationals Park. It has 19,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space overall, facing both the Anacostia and the new plaza that is being built between it and Diamond Teague Park.

"the brig is on track to open in 30-60 days.

"Pavers are going in as are the 40 taps.

"More info and probably a big story after JD reads this.

"Bring your well behaved dogs here too.

"1007 8th Street SE at the corner of 8th and L."

And lo and behold, as my pictures from mere minutes ago attest, pavers are indeed going in, and temporary signage has appeared, and a new iron fence (currently still behind the existing cyclone fence).

There is still work to be done on the inside of the building, and then certificates of occupancy and health department approval, so I wouldn't carve any date in stone just yet, but the homestretch does appear to be in view.

The road to this point began all the way back in late 2010 with plans for a combination restaurant/beer garden in a new building right on the corner. It spent most of 2011 in historic preservation review, then returned in 2013 with a simplified design that eventually was approved, and a building permit was issued in November 2014, with construction getting underway in early 2015. The work proceeded, shall we say, slowly, with the service building's exterior looking complete in November, but by then it was, well, winter.

When it does open, perhaps it will be a good spot for the next JDLand Happy Hour.

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.