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Near Southeast DC Past News Items: square 697
In the Pipeline
25 M
Yards/Parcel I
Chiller Site Condos
Yards/Parcel A
1333 M St.
More Capper Apts.
Yards/DC Water site
New Marine Barracks
Nat'l Community Church
Factory 202/Yards
SC1100
Completed
Thompson Hotel ('20)
West Half ('19)
Novel South Capitol ('19)
Yards/Guild Apts. ('19)
Capper/The Harlow ('19)
New DC Water HQ ('19)
Yards/Bower Condos ('19)
Virginia Ave. Tunnel ('19)
99 M ('18)
Agora ('18)
1221 Van ('18)
District Winery ('17)
Insignia on M ('17)
F1rst/Residence Inn ('17)
One Hill South ('17)
Homewood Suites ('16)
ORE 82 ('16)
The Bixby ('16)
Dock 79 ('16)
Community Center ('16)
The Brig ('16)
Park Chelsea ('16)
Yards/Arris ('16)
Hampton Inn ('15)
Southeast Blvd. ('15)
11th St. Bridges ('15)
Parc Riverside ('14)
Twelve12/Yards ('14)
Lumber Shed ('13)
Boilermaker Shops ('13)
Camden South Cap. ('13)
Canal Park ('12)
Capitol Quarter ('12)
225 Virginia/200 I ('12)
Foundry Lofts ('12)
1015 Half Street ('10)
Yards Park ('10)
Velocity Condos ('09)
Teague Park ('09)
909 New Jersey Ave. ('09)
55 M ('09)
100 M ('08)
Onyx ('08)
70/100 I ('08)
Nationals Park ('08)
Seniors Bldg Demo ('07)
400 M ('07)
Douglass Bridge Fix ('07)
US DOT HQ ('07)
20 M ('07)
Capper Seniors 1 ('06)
Capitol Hill Tower ('06)
Courtyard/Marriott ('06)
Marine Barracks ('04)
 
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88 Blog Posts Since 2003
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Updated Skyline Photos (And Street-Level, Too)
Before the front blew in on Monday I made a rooftop visit to get some new shots of the changing skyline west of New Jersey Avenue and north of M Street. You can see the new shots paired with their "befores" in my Overhead Photos Archive; hard to believe that less than three years ago we didn't have Onyx, or Velocity, or 70/100 I, or 909 New Jersey. (And the next time I take these shots, 1015 Half will be visible, too.) I also made the rounds and took street-level photos from the usual spots, which you can see on those project pages or all in one group; I'll also note that the new Half Street photos show the first floor of 1015 Half now underway. As always, click the for all photos in the archive at a specific location.
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More posts: 1015 Half, square 697
 

Exxon Fences, Diamond Teague Event, Debates, and Register to Vote, Dangit!
* I've had a couple people write in to note that construction fences have been put up in the past few days around both the closed Exxons at South Capitol and I and 11th and M. I haven't heard anything about what might be happening at these sites--as of mid-September, neither lot had been sold, and with the public space and building permits data feeds still offline, there's no hint available from that end of things. (The underground storage tanks were removed from both locations right when they closed.) If anyone's heard anything, drop me a line.
* The mayor's schedule today has a "Diamond Teague Press Conference" scheduled for 3:15 pm at First and Potomac, on the grand staircase at Nationals Park. Alas, I can't be there, but perhaps it's some sort of status update on the construction of the park, which is supposed to get underway this fall.
* A little off-topic, but on Tuesday night (Oct. 7) there is a debate between the city's seven candidates for the two at-large council seats, at Tyler Elementary at 10th and G streets, SE. Then, after the forum, there's a Second Presidential Debate Watch Party being held at Finn Maccool's on Eighth Street.
* And, today (Oct. 6) is the last day to register to vote in DC for the general election. The DC Board of Elections office will be open until midnight. No excuses!
 

JPI East Lays Off Staff; Says I Street Projects Okay
From today's print edition of the Washington Business Journal (subscribers only): "In response to the burgeoning credit crisis, local multifamily developer JPI East has reduced its development and production capacity, laying off half its development divisions. The company would not say how many people were involved, but insiders say it was fewer than 10."
As for JPI's projects in Near Southeast, including the almost-completed 70 and 100 I, the under-construction 909 New Jersey, and the in-development 23 I? "The company still has 10 deals under construction in the region, including three luxury apartment projects in the Capitol Riverfront district near Nationals Park. All three have the debt and equity to go forward, [JPI East's president] says." It might be worth noting, however, that the previously announced September 2008 start date for 23 I has come and gone; and the Wendy's building is still standing, and I haven't so far seen any raze permits coming through the pipeline for it.
 

Hit-or-Miss Batch of New Photos
Before the storm clouds arrived yesterday (literally and figuratively), I got out and took an incomplete smattering of pictures along Second, New Jersey, First, Cushing, and Half. (Use those links to see all the before-and-nows of these latest shots.) These new photos are mainly of 909 New Jersey, Velocity, 55 M, the empty skyline where 1015 Half is just about to reach ground level, and the final "after" photos from the demolition of the Merritt Cab building at First and K on Square 696. The sun disappeared before I could get over to Capitol Quarter, so new photos from there will have to wait a few days, and since the afternoon remained cloudy (and busy), I didn't take an afternoon batch (i.e., no photos looking east).
And, if you haven't wandered through them for a while, the gallery of my favorite before-and-afters is a striking walk through the past few years, as the memories of the old Near Southeast start to get just a wee bit hazy.
 

Updated Photos: First Frames at Capitol Quarter, Vertical Construction in the 1015 Half Street Hole
I took a lot of photos today, but let's start with the ones showing new construction phases underway. First off, we have the first framing at Capitol Quarter (top), where the wood outlines of the first four houses east of the Fourth and L intersection are now up. (At least the photos are more exciting than the ones a few weeks ago of the concrete block foundations.)
Then there's 1015 Half Street, the 410,000-sq-ft office building under construction on the old Nation nightclub site. The crane arrived within the past week or so, and I finally got to a spot where I could see down into the hole to confirm that the first pillars are underway. So, by Thanksgiving, there should be the beginnings of yet another new addition to the skyline.
More photos in the next few days.
 

Late Night Update on Hood Happenings
* As I mentioned below, the garage that housed both the Merritt and Four Star cab companies started getting brought down today. They didn't get it all on Thursday, but I imagine by sundown Friday the rest will be gone. (See pictures from midmorning, though it's hard to see much in the way of a difference from First and K, since they took out the back of the building and only a smidgen of the K Street facade.)
* Only a few hours after I said that Capitol Quarter framing would start "in the next few days," lumber went up on the first house on the south side of L east of Fourth. (No pictures yet--this weekend!)
* Sometime this week the crane was put up at 1015 Half Street, so we should be seeing vertical construction before too long.
* Building permits for the external renovations to 900 M Street are now winding their way through the bureaucracy. No word yet on any retail tenants.
 

Wendy's Now Closed
Not sure exactly when this happened, but sometime within the past few days the Wendy's on I Street between South Capitol and Half streets, SE, has finally closed down, after being rumored to be coming Any Minute Now since May. JPI has announced plans for its fourth Capitol Yards residential building on the site, a 420-unit "loft-style" building called 23 Eye that would also have ground-floor retail. Previous statements from JPI had pegged the start of 23 I's construction this fall--I haven't heard whether that's still the plan.
 

Dept. of Agriculture Looking at Near Southeast
From today's Washington Business Journal print edition (subscribers only): "The Department of Agriculture, in search of 330,000 square feet, has been poking around the ballpark district. Michael Stevens, executive director of the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District, says the government has heard proposals from Opus East LLC, planning 411,000 square feet of offices at 1015 Half St. SE, and the mixed-use project planned for First and M streets SE by Potomac-based Willco Cos., which will have 350,000 square feet of offices. The agency is looking to relocate 1,255 employees from seven other locations, at a max rate of $47 per square foot." The Willco space is the current location of Nats parking lot F, on the southwest corner of First and M; and of course Opus isn't *planning* office space at 1015 Half, they're already digging the hole. The blurb also says that the FBI is looking for 180,000 square feet of new space, and that Akridge pitched their as-yet-untapped three-block space on Second Street SW in Buzzard Point.
Also in the WBJ, a story on two small investors who spent 18 years amassing a batch of 23 small properties in Southwest, who are finding that the new ballpark still hasn't brought anyone calling to meet their $12 million asking price for the lots, which are encircled by the Syphax Gardens and James Creek public housing developments. They apparently are hoping that the city would decide to redo the two projects (a la Capper), but the DC Housing Authority says that they don't currently have the funding, and that the residents would have to be really supportive of any redevelopment plans as well.
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More posts: 1015 Half, square 697, Square 701
 

Wendy's Not Dead Yet - Now End of July?
The fine folks working the Wendy's drive-through window this evening at South Capitol and I tell me that their closing date is now the end of July. At this point (this is the third date I've now heard, starting with end-of-May, then end-of-June), I'm just going to not say anything more about it until I see locks on the doors. The property is part of the footprint for JPI's fourth Capitol Yards apartment building, 23 I at Capitol Yards, which JPI has said would be starting constuction this fall. We shall see....
 

New Photos from On Top of 20 M
Since it's such a rotten day, I'll go back to when the sun was shining (Tuesday), and give you my first-ever photos from the roof of 20 M Street. (I've taken a few photos from inside the 10th floor going back to April of last year, but from the roof I don't have deal with the pesky glass reflections.) Here are these new photos matched with the oldest ones from the same angle, so you can compare 13 months' worth of changes easily; you can also look at all the photos if you want to watch the progression of changes. There's views to the north (above), showing the digging now underway at 1015 Half Street along with the construction progress at 70/100 I, 909 New Jersey, and Velocity (plus the site-clearing at 23 I). To the south is the increasingly-shiny 55 M, as well as the ballpark, of course. I also tossed in some photos toward the west, showing the skyline of Southwest.
 
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