Today's WashTimes has "Hotel Industry Gathers Momentum in Near Southeast", keyed to today's "opening" of the Courtyard by Marriott at New Jersey and L. (They're having a grand opening party tonight, but of course the hotel actually opened to customers in March.) The article mentions three other hotel projects on the boards, at Florida Rock (That's "FRP Development" in the story), Herb Miller's garage-wrapper plan just north of the stadium, Half and L (the Ron Cohen project, which I've heard nothing about for quite some time), and Maritime Plaza (east of 11th Street). The project it doesn't mention is the rumored sale at 50 M Street of the Sunoco station to a hotel developer of some sort--still no confirmation of that anywhere.

While at the Courtyard by Marriott today, I got some great overhead photos of Near Southeast; as I worked to put them on the site, I realized that it was also now time to launch separate pages for three developments that are in the pipeline: JPI's two residential projects on I Street, the mixed-use development project on Square 699N at 1st, Half, K, and L streets; and the Faison and Opus East 1st Street office and residential towers between L and M. Right now the pages are kind of short on specifics, and I don't have renderings of any of the projects, but with JPI and Square 699N looking to start construction later this year, I figured it was time to break them out into their own pages. Also, I added overhead shots to my Capper/Carrollsburg and North of M pages. (And, in looking at my 2006 pictures, have you all figured out yet that I got a new camera?)

Near Southeast makes the front page of the Post on Friday with "The Last Handshake Deal", a long feature on colorful real estate investor Marty Chernoff and other men who bought land in the area years back and are now cashing out. (As an example, Chernoff bought the trash transfer station at 70 I Street for $800,000 in 1988, and sold it last year for $35.9 million.) The print version also has a huge fabulous half-page graphic with a map of the neighborhood (centered mainly on the North of M area) with nine stunning and brilliant photos of streetscapes along 1st, K, L, and M streets. (Yes, they're my photos.) The Post's web site has an interactive version of the graphic, which is a nice companion to their interactive map of all of Near Southeast (which has been updated with six months' worth of new information). And if you're visiting here for the first time as a result of the Post story, welcome to Near Southeast, and try not to be too scared by all that this site contains.

The Washington Blade's "D.C. law may block O Street clubs from moving" discusses the current state of affairs for the gay nightclubs in Near Southeast, from the ones in the footprint of the new baseball stadium (like Ziegfield's, Secrets, Follies, Heat, and others) to the ones along K Street (Wet, Edge, plus all-orientation Nation). The ones within the stadium footprint say that a law on the books intended to help them may actually prevent them from moving outside of their current area. Meanwhile, Wet and Edge at Half and K have been told they must vacate this year in order to make way for Ron Cohen's mixed-use project on that block. As for the fate of Nation, I've heard nothing about the existing plans moving forward for a 10-story office building on that site--the building permit was filed more than a year ago, although Potomac Investment Properties indicated at the time that they just wanted to be ready for when the time was right to begin building. However, construction materials and fences have been spotted around the Nation building, and their published events calendar is pretty sparse (plus their concert line hasn't been updated since early November) leading folks to wonder if something is indeed afoot. (If someone wants to whisper about any of this to me, I'll listen!)

Friday's print edition of the Washington Business Journal reports that developer Ron Cohen has purchased the entire block bounded by Half, K, L, and 1st Streets, SE (square 699N), for $55 million, with plans for a mixed-use project that may include 650 condos, a hotel with condos, a stand-alone 250,000 sq ft office building, and possibly retail as well. Tenants on the block--including the nightclubs Wet, Edge, and Club 55--have been told that the buildings will be razed in late spring 2006. Phase I of the project will have 250 condos, and hopes are to begin construction in October 2006, and to have the entire project completed in four years. A few pictures of the block in its current state are on my South Capitol Street Corridor page (you'll have to scroll down a bit for them--this project will eventually get its own page, but not just yet!).