Your morning linkage:
* The Washington Times has "
Parking a National Crisis", detailing what it considers to be the daunting challenges of getting to
Nationals Park this year: "[The Nationals reported] that there barely will be enough parking spots (5,000) to accommodate season-ticket holders and that holders of single-game tickets probably won't find any spots in the neighborhood at all. That leaves walk-up fans and holders of single-game tickets with two choices: take the Metro or park at RFK Stadium and hop on the free shuttle. Now, neither of those options sounds all that terrible. But it's easy to envision thousands of stubborn (or clueless) fans driving to Southeast in their cars only to end up circulating around like Chevy Chase in 'National Lampoon's European Vacation.' "
You might want to read my
detailed post on Friday's hearing as well as my
Stadium FAQ's sections on transit and parking, for more information on the current state of ballpark-related transportation and parking issues. Also, I've posted a
shiny new map showing the four zones where the Nationals are offering season-ticket-holder parking, along with the lots that
may or may not end up being ones that the team has contracted with. Not an official map, just showing what's out there.
And, two items outside my purview from the past few days, but big enough to worth noting:
* Financing plans to move the redevelopment of the
Southwest Waterfront have emerged, with the mayor seeking to provide up to $200 million in TIF and PILOT financing; the city also has agreed to lease 15 acres of land along the waterfront to developers (Hoffman-Struever Waterfront LLC). Here's
the Post on the news and concerns about so much public financing as the real estate market appears to be teetering, as well as article by the
Washington Business Journal and the
city's press release.
* Last week the city dropped the group led by Mid-City Urban from the short list of developers who could be awarded
Poplar Point, leaving three teams in the running, two of which include a soccer stadium as an optional part of their designs. (Mid-City's design was the one that included the "aerial tram" across the Anacostia to carry passengers to Near Southeast.) The city issued a press release about the
narrowing of the short list last week, and Post wrote about
the status of the competition on Monday. The city could name the development partner next week. Near Southeast behemoth Forest City (of
The Yards and the
Capper redevelopment, as well as the Waterside Mall project in SW) is one of the remaining three teams. You can see more about the proposals at
And Now, Anacostia (which also got mentioned in the Post article).