* ICE CREAM SOCIAL/MEET AND GREET: On Thursday, May 30, the Capitol Riverfront BID is kicking off its summer lineup of events with an Ice Cream Social at Canal Park, starting at 6 pm. In addition to having free scoops from Altani Gelato and live acoustic music, the event will celebrate the Then and Now photo exhibits, and I'll be on hand to say hello and point at the photo displays and say "I did that!" Hope to see everyone there! And if you haven't been to the Yards Park in the past few days, that portion of the photo exhibit has now been moved down to the boardwalk, which is a pretty cool spot.

* NATS PARK RETAIL SPACES: For 11-plus years now, readers have been asking me when the empty retail spaces along Nats Park's 1st Street facade would get any tenants. Now, WBJ is reporting that the Nats have a deal for a year-round 35,000-square-foot "restaurant and entertainment venue." Given that a similar announcement about Capital One Arena quickly morphed into confirmation of a sportsbook there, it's being assumed that this Nats Park venue will be a sportsbook as well. More as it becomes available.

* WELCOME TO WALTERS AND DACHA: If you haven't heard yet, Walters Sports Bar is now open at South Capitol and N in the ground floor of 1221 Van (as previewed by Washingtonian), and Dacha has now opened its interior space in Dock 79 at 1st and Potomac across from the Nats Park grand staircase (as also previewed by Washingtonian). Its 800-person beer garden on the plaza is expected to open later this month.

* MEDSTAR PRIMARY CARE: On the heels of the news that CVS will be coming to the corner of Half and I in the ground floor of One Hill South, I've received confirmation that Medstar has signed a lease to open a primary care facility in the building.

* SALON?: A recently approved building permit indicates that a hair salon will be coming to the Harlow, the new apartment building at 2nd and L facing Canal Park. That's all I know for now.

* SUMMER SERIES-ES: The lineup has been announced for the Friday Night Concert Series at Yards Park for the Friday Night Concert Series at Yards Park, which will run from June 7 through Aug. 30. And, if I didn't already share it, here's the lineup for the Thursday Outdoor Movie Series at Canal Park, which runs from June 13 to Aug. 22.

* CONSTRUCTION AT 1ST AND K: For those wondering about the new construction happening at the old A-1 Tires garage at 1st and K, it's becoming additional space for the Waterfront Church. (The wrangling over whether developers can build a "sliver" residential building on that site is as-yet unresolved.)

(A new post also means a fresh thread for the JDLand commentariat. If you don't read or participate in the comments, you should--it's a great place to talk about neighborhood goings-on.)

Let's start with what has opened since the end of last season:

(I know, one of these things is not like the others, but it still might be of interest.)

Circa and El Bebe are centrally located at 1st and M (kitty corner from Biersch), and will no doubt be big draws before and after games, with Circa offering a wide-ranging menu and Bebe going the tacos-and-tequila route. Both will have lots of outdoor seating, too. Wiseguy Pizza opened in October at Canal Park at 2nd and M, offering both slices and pies (and brews), while its Altani Gelato and Coffee offering is supposed to gear up soon. As for Whole Foods, well, you never know what organic offerings you might need before or after a game. It's at New Jersey and H, just south of the freeway. Not pictured is Bluestone Lane, a coffee shop next to Circa on M Street west of 1st.

We'll start with what will be of most interest to stadium-goers, Walters and Dacha:

It looks like fairly soon (April?) we'll see the opening of these two new offerings within steps of the ballpark, albeit on completely different sides of the stadium. Walters Sports Bar will be at South Capitol and N (on the ground floor below Mission and across from the Geico Garage), offering, well, sports bar-y stuff.

Meanwhile, across from the "grand staircase" at 1st and Potomac (and next to the Salt Line), Dacha is prepping to open its second location, serving comfort food inside and offering a large beer garden on the plaza by the Anacostia River.

Sit down restaurants Albi (and wine bar-sibling Maxwell) and the Shilling Canning Company should be coming to the Yards later this year, as well as ramen shop Hatoba.

However, mark your calendars for 2020, when all of the retail space in all of the current construction projects starts to come on line. Of most interest of course will be Half Street just north of the ballpark, where JBG Smith's West Half residential building is expected to welcome two highly anticipated ground-floor offerings: a second location for Ivy City's Atlas Brew Works and The Commons (or is it the Gatsby?), a two-story 300-seat "contemporary with an upscale diner feel" restaurant. And, before I could even get this post published, news arrived that West Half will also be home in 2020 to Compass Coffee, Union Kitchen Grocery, and Cold Stone Creamery.

Meanwhile, across the street, the 1250 Half Street apartment building will house Punch Bowl Social, the "eatertainment" venue that pairs a "scratch-made menu and craft beverage program" with pinball, skee-ball, karaoke, video games, bocce, bowling, and more, will occupy two floors facing Half Street, likely early in 2020.

Check out my Food Options map for what's still around and for a fuller look at the coming attractions into 2020.

I know nobody is still reading, but I can't bear to not talk about the construction that continues on all around the ballpark, starting with the vastly changed streetscape that stadium-goers will be met with on Half Street (as seen here).

On the west side of the street, the aforementioned West Half project (the funnel-y building) will have 420 rental units along with its scads of retail offerings. Then, across the street on the east side, there are two residential projects in one, the 1250 Half Street apartments facing Half and the "eNvy" (don't @ me) condo building facing N, both of which should see move-ins starting in 2020.

What about all of the other buildings that are under construction? Let me give you a brief summary:

* That beige building with the curved glass right at South Capitol and M? That's the new headquarters for the National Association of Broadcasters.

* That brown-brick sliver of a building at 3rd and Tingey behind USDOT? That's going to be a Thompson Hotel, a boutique offering that is also expected to have a full-service restaurant and rooftop bar by Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group, the people behind Shake Shack and a whole lot more, probably in 2020.

* That hole in the ground at 2nd and M? It'll be the new HQ of the District Department of Transportation.

* Every other building under construction? Apartments. Take a look at my map at the top of every page of my site for details on each one.

There. That was easy.

(Check back for a link to DDOT's press release on How to Get to the Ballpark, 2019 Edition, which they've e-mailed but not yet posted.)

* ATLAS BREW WORKS: Ivy City's brewery/tap room Atlas Brew Works announced last week that it is coming to JBG's West Half building next year, where it will occupy 4,500 square feet mere steps away from the Nats Park Center Field Gate. The new space, double the size of the Ivy City location, will also have a kitchen and a "limited food program" along side its brewery and 12-draft-line tap room. Atlas is the second announced retail offering at the non-box-like West Half building, along with the previously announced Commons Restaurant and its bakery/breakfast operation Mah-Ze-Dahr.

* DISTRICT DOGS: The neighborhood's second-largest population gets a new retail offering in the coming days, as District Dogs has announced it will officially open its second full-service pet care facility in the ground floor of 1221 Van on Saturday, March 9. In a custom-built space that faces South Capitol Street just north of N, DD will offer daycare (with four separate playrooms), boarding, grooming, walking, sitting, and a "boutique retail shop." There will be an open house on Friday, March 8 from 5 to 9 pm, and services can be booked starting on the 9th.

* EL BEBE: A reminder that Circa's tequila-and-taco sibling El Bebe is opening this Tuesday, Feb. 26, on the southwest corner of 1st and M in the ground floor of the 99 M office building. Here's the menu, should you wish to peruse in advance.

* SHILLING PROGRESS: A reader passed along on Twitter photographic evidence that the Shilling Canning Company seems to at last be inching closer to opening in the ground floor of Arris, on Water Street across from District Winery. The placeholder web site says "Opening Spring 2019," and the restaurant is now hiring.

* WELLS FARGO COMING DOWN THE STREET: If your heart was broken last summer when Wells Fargo closed its branch in the ground floor of 20 M, you can now perk back up, because it was announced last week that a Wells Fargo "Express Center" will be coming to the ground floor of the aforementioned 99 M office building. With this, 99 M's retail space is fully leased.

* CIRCA OPEN, EL BEBE SOON: The neighborhood's newest restaurant opened on Monday, with Circa finally arriving on the southwest corner of 1st and M Streets, SE, not quite 3 1/2 years after it was first announced. As for now, it's open daily at 4 pm. And its sibling El Bebe is coming Any Minute Now.

* MEYER TO THOMPSON: The Thompson Hotel at 3rd and Tingey is still under construction, but the Post's Tom Sietsema reported in his chat last week that uber restaurateur Danny Meyer (he of Shake Shack, Gramercy Tavern, and more) will be opening a "full-service restaurant and rooftop bar" in the hotel sometime in 2020. There aren't many details (not even a chef), but this will be a project that will garner a lot of interest.

* ALBI POPUP: If you are looking forward to Albi, which is bringing a "contemporary vision of Middle Eastern cooking as soon through the lens of Modern American techniques and Mid-Atlantic ingredients" to the Bower at 4th and Tingey in "early summer" 2019, there is a two-day "pop up" of "preview dinners" on March 3 and 4. Reservations now available, with prices set at $85 per person, plus optional wine pairings for $35.

And in non-food news:

* CAPPER SENIORS GONE: The first building I watched be built is now the first building I've watched be both built and demolished, though the concrete stairwells and elevator shafts remain and await the building that will replace the structure destroyed by fire last year. This makes for a sad entry #182 in my Demolished Buildings gallery.

* VOTE FOR MOVIES: Time once again to make your preferences known in the Capitol Riverfront BID's 2019 Outdoor Movie Series poll. Voting ends March 4.

* PILE DRIVING: That pounding you heard in your head on Saturday morning wasn't your hangover, it's the start of Saturday pile driving as part of the new Douglass Bridge construction. The approved hours are from 9 am to 7 pm. (And, while I'm speaking of it, a shout-out to the NFDMB folks, who are doing a nice job of outreach with a very complete web site and social media offerings.)

* LOWER 8TH STREET STUFF: ANC 6B commission Kirsten Oldenburg reported in her latest newsletter about some changes to traffic flow near 8th and Virginia, now that the tunnel is completed: "The 800 block of Virginia Avenue and the 900 block of 9th Street SE are now two-way streets and the 1000 block of 9th Street SE between L and M Streets will join them as a two-way street but awaits adjustments to the traffic signal at 9th and M SE. The 800 block of L Street is to become two-way (instead of one way westbound). Pedestrian crossings markings will be added to the 9th & Potomac Avenue SE and 10th & Potomac Avenue SE intersections. " She also says she is in the process of asking DDOT for a traffic calming study of the 8th and L intersection (i.e., where the Brig is).

And now some of increasingly old tidbits:

* ALBI/MAXWELL: Washingtonian reports news of two restaurants coming to the Yards in 2019: Albi, a "modern American eatery inspired by {chef Michael Lee Rafidi's} Middle Eastern and Mid-Atlantic roots," and another branch of Shaw's "oenophile haven," the wine bar Maxwell. The JDLand commentariat has analyzed the situation and are positing that the new garage door-style panels on the 4th Street side of the Bower might be the home for these ventures.

* CHEMONICS: Not a restaurant, but Washington Business Journal reports behind its paywall that Chemonics, a USAID contractor among other things, is close to a deal to move its 1,200-person headquarters from near Farragut West to Yards Parcel A Yards Parcel G (updated 1/2/19 with the correct location--oops). This northern portion of Spooky Park has long been planned to be Class A office space--as for the rest of the block, I wrote a few weeks ago about the plans for residential along N Street and the new streets coming. This new office building would be north of the hotly awaited Quander Street. (h/t commenter Westnorth)

* SQUARE 696 UNMASKED? With thanks to commenter CL85, we may have our first look at what is coming to Square 696, the block just about out of the ground on the south side of I Street between Half and 1st. (If Clark pulls it down, here is the rendering.) This is going to be an 818-unit residential project spanning the entire block when both phases are complete in 2022. (It sounds like they are going to build the "structure and skin" of the entire project, but will first complete the eastern tower before moving to the interior work of the western tower.)

* NEW BIKESHARE STATION: If you haven't stumbled across it yet, there is now a 19-dock CaBi station on 4th Street SE just north of M (alongside the new Sprint store and kitty corner from Teeter).

* NEW ANC COMMISSIONERS: In local local local election results, ANC 6D07 (the seat left open by Meredith Fascett's retirement) has been won by Edward Daniels, while in 6D02 Anna Forgie clobbered incumbent Cara Lee Shockley.

(Great. Now I'm hungry.)

A few other items:

* DOUGLASS BRIDGE: WUSA reports on the first of last week's public meetings about the new Douglass Bridge. DDOT's program manager says that they are already about 25 percent done with the project already. "He added in the next six months, locals should expect to see work begin on the construction of two new traffic ovals that will be placed at the base of each side of the new bridge. After that, the formation of the bridge's new arches should begin to form."

* STEADFAST MOVE: Local goods offerer Steadfast Supply is moving this week from its Boilermaker Shops location on Tingey Street to the old EVO Furniture space in the Foundry Lofts building on Water Street, across from Ice Cream Jubilee. It is closed for the move and is expected to open in the new space on Oct. 5.

* CHEESESTEAKS: Washingtonian reports that the mystery fast-casual restaurant inside Whole Foods is going to be Philly Wing Fry, from chef Kwame Onwuachi. Cheesesteaks, crispy chicken, waffle fries, and whatnot. "Unlike Kaz Okochi, who’ll have a quick-grab sushi counter in the prepared foods section of the new shop, Onwuachi’s eatery is more like a full-blown restaurant with its own space and seating. Customers can order the full menu inside the store’s SoCap Wine Bar & Pub, which will pour 16 wines by the glass and a dozen draft beers (the shop itself will have seasonal teas and lemonades)."

And yes, I took a boatload of photos this weekend. They are already up on the site if you want to go hunting, but I'll be posting a status survey soon.

* NEW DOG PARK UNLEASHING: On Thursday, Sept. 6 at 6 pm, the new "Bark and Go Dog Park" on H Street SE east of New Jersey Avenue (across from THAT not-yet-open grocery store) will have its official "Unleashing Ceremony." All are invited.

* DACHA UPDATE: This tweet reports that the latest "Beer Me" podcast says that Dacha Navy Yard is shooting for a "tentative soft opening" this winter, with a grand opening in March of 2019. It will be 4,000 square feet inside and double that outside (because it's, you know, a beer garden.) It will be in the ground floor of the Dock 79 apartment building across from Nats Park, alongside The Salt Line and All-Purpose.

* STREETSCAPES: I have not seen these with my own eyes, while most of you probably have, but it's still worth mentioning that the first section of the new bike path along Virginia Avenue is completed (per @Wash_Cycle), and a new "bulb-out" on the Teeter corner at 4th and M is or is about to be in place (per @MeredithFascett)

* HATOBA: The neighborhood will finally get a ramen outlet in early 2019, when Hatoba opens in the old 100 Montaditos space in the Boilermaker Shops at the Yards. (You may have caught their pop-up with "Japanese hot dogs.") Washingtonian has more about this fourth venture from the team behind Daikaya, Bantam King, and Haikan. (And apparently "hatoba" means "dock.")

* EL BEBE: There's finally an official replacement for Open Road as Circa's sibling in the ground floor of the 99 M office building at 1st and M, and that's "El Bebe," which is billing itself as "tacos and tequila." Eater DC has more, including that both Bebe and Circa are shooting for a "late 2019 2018" opening. {fixed my own typo}

* WALTERS: The sports bar in the ground floor of 1221 Van isn't coming until next year, but they tweeted out this rendering of the planned interior.

* ALL-PURPOSE: Their rooftop is now open.

* DEEP DIVES: The Post had a long piece this weekend on the neighborhood 10 years after the ballpark's arrival (with some photos that will look familiar), and Washington Monthly has a long and interesting look at Business Improvement Districts, with a focus on the Capitol Riverfront BID.

* CAPPER MEETING: The DC Housing Authority is having a public meeting to give an update on the status of the Capper/Carrollsburg redevelopment on Wednesday, July 25, at 7 pm at the Capper Community Center, 1000 5th St., SE. I imagine this will discuss the remaining three blocks of the redevelopment footprint, which are planned as mixed-income residential buildings, including one condo building, if that is still on the boards. (UPDATE: The 25th is the correct date, but the flyer called it Tuesday instead of Wednesday. Waiting for an updated flyer.)

* BRIDGE SURVEY: Interested in the new Douglass Bridge? DDOT wants to hear from you in this survey.

* ME ME ME: I always feel weird about including these links, but if you want the quick version of how this crazy project came to be, read Urban Turf's look at the "Unofficial Historian of the Ballpark District."

And, as a preview, they will be operating a pop-up bar in the new space for the fast-approaching All-Star hullabaloo, July 13-17.

They will join Mission as the corner spaces in this residential building just north of Nats Park--and Mission will be "opening" for All-Star festivities as well, with a shortened preview menu in advance of its expected full opening later in July.

The focus of ballpark-related retail has always been Half Street, but N Street is going to be hopping as well, with these two places and when West Half and 1250 Half are completed in 2019/2020. (I'll note that the first tenant announced for West Half is The Commons, which will apparently front N Street.)

And, not only will it have lunch and dinner menus with "a sort of contemporary, upscale diner feel," but it is apparently intending to have a bakery and breakfast operation, Mah-Ze-Dahr at The Commons, from the owners of the New York bakery.

The article says that The Commons is aiming for a late 2019 or early 2020 opening.

This is the first retail offering announced for West Half, which will have over 65,000 square feet of retail on two floors.