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Near Southeast DC Past News Items: Teague Park
See JDLand's Teague Park Project Page
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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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89 Blog Posts Since 2003
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Planning Commission 'Comments Favorably' on Diamond Teague Park Design
At Thursday's meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission, the Commission on its consent agenda "commented favorably" on concept designs presented to it by the city or Diamond Teague Park, the new public plaza planned for the foot of First Street along the Anacostia River (across from the ballpark).
The NCPC staff recommendation provides some good detail about the plans for the park, including a not-too-pretty site map, which I've added to my Earth Conservation Corps/Diamond Teague Park page. Yes, a water-taxi pier is still part of the plan, along with piers for fire, police, and EMS services. There will also be "educational piers" along the waterfront to allow visitors to walk out past the riverline--the NCPC calls this one of the few portions of the Anacostia's shoreline that hasn't had a concrete bulkhead built on it, which "represents a unique opportunity to showcase the diverse environmental restoration challenges faced with the Anacostia River."
This concept design is a revised version, after the Commission of Fine Arts suggested some changes in September, and so presumably the city will be returning to the CFA with this updated design sometime soon. There are also many more steps to go before this park will become a reality, including things like permits from the Army Corps of Engineers and the National Park Service. (You might want to read this story from today's Washington Business Journal about the needs for river dredging to keep up with all the planned uses of the city's rivers.)
In the meantime, you can see on my ECC/Teague page a photo of the park footprint as seen from the viewing platform across the street at Nationals Park to see how having a inviting public space could help draw stadium-goers the short distance to the river.
More posts: Teague Park, Water Taxis/Riverboats
 

Diamond Teague at CFA Delayed to November
In this entry on Friday I noted that the agenda for the next meeting of the Commission on Fine Arts included a design review for Diamond Teague Park--but I've been told that the city is going to hold off presenting their revised design for the park until probably the November meeting. (The Commission had asked for some changes to the design shown to them in September.) Approval of the park's conceptual design is also on the just-released tentative November agenda for the National Capital Planning Commission, but that review should happen as planned.
More posts: Teague Park
 

Commission of Fine Arts Reviewing Diamond Teague Park Design
I don't know how I missed this (I'm going to blame my RSS reader), but back in September the Commission on Fine Arts was shown a design for Diamond Teague Park, the new public space being planned for the foot of First Street across from the ballpark. Just posted on the CFA web site is a letter from the commission to Deputy Mayor Neil Albert, whose office is now handling the park's creation, laying out some problems that the commission had with the initial design. The letter led me to the web site of Landscape Architecture Bureau, which is designing the park, and I found deep in it some sitemaps and renderings of the park that look to be of the initial design shown to the CFA. (What is it with architecture and design firms and their insistence on building Flash sites that make it impossible to link directly to anything? Aaaaargh! Stop it! Stop it!!!!)
I've added one of these drawings to my Diamond Teague page so that you don't have to spend a bunch of time digging to find it, and on it you can see "the small triangular subdivisions and narrow walkways to the floating docks" that the CFA described as "fussy and timid and not in scale with the stadium and its visual connection to the river."
The city seems to have responded quickly, because a revised design for the park is now on the CFA agenda for its Thursday, October 18 meeting. (A pretty speedy turnaround--does this mean they are trying to get something done with the park to coincide with Opening Day 2008?)
Even if the specifics of the design change, I'm guessing the general layout will remain the same. The map shows a water taxi pier to be built near the Earth Conservation Corps pumphouse, and the floating bridge connecting this part of the riverfront with the waterfront park at The Yards. I'm also interested to see on this site map that apparently Potomac Avenue is going to be extended east of First Street, to then turn north on a line with a new "1 1/2 Street" that will eventually run parallel to First Street in The Yards.
(As for Florida Rock next door, there had originally been rumors that it was going to have a setdown hearing at this month's Zoning Commission public meeting, but it's not on the agenda, and appears to have been delayed at least until November.)
UPDATE: I've removed the sitemap of the park, after having heard that it's an older design that doesn't show what the proper boundaries of the park will be, especially on the western side that abuts the Florida Rock property. Hopefully we'll be able to see a copy of the newer design they're working on soon.
 

A Blogger is a Person In Your Neighborhood....
Capitol Hill's Voice of the Hill newspaper has a co-profile of two local bloggers in its new issue--Elise Bernard of Frozen Tropics (covering H Street NE) and yours truly. Descriptions of me and JDLand include "fastidiously issue-neutral" and "almost aggressive in its lack of color"--but those are actually compliments. And there's a photo that perfectly captures my perpetually bemused state, but that might just be because I was suffering through the replay of the 225 Virginia hearing when the photographer arrived (those with x-ray vision can see Phil Mendelson on one of my computer screens). It's kind of a sequel to the piece they did in 2005.
So, since I'm already self-promoting, I'll mention my Ballpark and Beyond column in today's Post, which talks about the possible sale of the Southeastern Bus Garage to Akridge (we'll find out today--the WMATA board meeting is at 11), the new funding for the waterfront parks, and the Garfield Park-Canal Park connector project.
 

Today's Oversight Hearing on AWC/NCRC Transition
This morning the DC Council Committee on Economic Development is having a public oversight hearing on "Projects Managed by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development" (it's being broadcast live on DC Cable 13 and live webcast, if you're interested). The hearing is still ongoing, and is addressing many projects around the city, but there were two Near Southeast-related items in Deputy Mayor Neil Albert's opening statement that I thought were worth passing along now.
First, it's been decided to not continue to use the old Anacostia Waterfront Corporation space at 1100 New Jersey Avenue after all, and so the expanded Deputy Mayor's office will be split between the Wilson Building and the old National Capital Revitalization Corporation office space at 2020 M Street, NW, and the office moves should happen this week.
Second, Deputy Mayor Albert mentioned Canal Park, saying that "coordination of the site survey, and various site management plans including erosion and stormwater management are scheduled to begin in the next month." He also said that his office is in discussions with the Office of Property Management to relocate the school buses currently occupying two of the park's three blocks to other sites in the city, and that he "expects to have a solution soon." Canal Park is one of the items specifically on the agenda for an Oct. 1 oversight hearing, so hopefully there will be more concrete news then.
If there's additional news from today's hearing, I'll update this entry.
UPDATE: Nothing earthshattering from the rest of the hearing (which, admittedly, I've been listening to with one ear, since the vast majority of it has been on topics outside of Near Southeast). In answering council member Wells's concerns about who will be in charge of the upkeep of the new parks being planned, Deputy Mayor Albert mentioned possible public-private partnerships with the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District for Canal Park and the Earth Conservation Corps for Diamond Teague Park, though he stressed that neither of these have been officially decided on. Wells also asked about whether there's thoughts of creating a Water Authority to help streamline decisions that will have to be made that effect the rivers (such as water taxis, ferry piers, possible new boathouses, etc.); Deputy Mayor Albert said that they've hired a consultant to help them decide how to handle these issues. And, one last tidbit--Albert mentioned that there will be a groundbreaking at The Yards in mid-October.
(If you're interested in Poplar Point or the Southwest Waterfront or the West End library deal, you might want watch for a replay of the hearing broadcast, because those subjects were much discussed. Marion Barry made clear he was not pleased with how the city has handled Poplar Point, and said that he and the Ward 8 community "will oppose any Poplar Point proposal that doesn't include a stadium.")
UPDATE II: Here's a Washington Business Journal blurb on today's hearing, focusing on the savings to the city from the consolidation of the AWC and NCRC functions in the Deputy Mayor's office.
 

DOT Payments to Fund Waterfront Parks
On Thursday the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development announced that a $111.5 million bond financing package has been finalized that will use payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) by the developer of the new US Department of Transportation HQ on M Street to "significantly" fund four parks along the Anacostia River. Two of the parks are in Near Southeast: the 5.5-acre waterfront park at The Yards, scheduled to be opened in 2010, and Diamond Teague Park, at the foot of First Street across from the new baseball stadium. (Kingman Island and Marvin Gaye Park are also on the list, and the press release notes that this funding could also be used "to finance parks and infrastructure at Poplar Point, the Southwest Waterfront, the Southwest Waterfront Fish Market, along South Capitol Street and a pedestrian bridge connecting the Parkside neighborhood to the Minnesota Avenue Metrorail Station.") The announcement also mentions how the city never received any sort of tax income from the old DOT HQ in Southwest, since the federal government doesn't pay taxes on land it controls in DC. I wrote more about this PILOT package when the bill passed the city council in July.
More posts: Teague Park, The Yards
 

Maybe Motoring to the Stadium by Water Taxi
The Post's Courtland Milloy joins the legions of area residents thinking "Wouldn't it be nice to get to the stadium by water taxi?" As I've written in the past, various AWC-related documents have mentioned the desire to build a water taxi or ferry pier at the foot of First Street, at what will be Diamond Teague Park (next to the old Capitol Pumphouse), but no word has been made public on the current status of these plans.

More posts: Nationals Park, Teague Park, Water Taxis/Riverboats
 

Ballpark and Beyond This Week
My Ballpark and Beyond column in this week's District Extra of the Post covers the NCPC votes on the surface parking lots and The Yards design, the water and sewer special assessment on the blocks north of the stadium, and the $140 million in bonds that will help finance various projects along the Anacostia River, including Diamond Teague Park and its rumored ferry pier. The links above will take you to the news items originally posted here or to the pages I maintain on the various projects; in particular, check out The Yards First-Phase page for many of the renderings that were shown to the NCPC.
More posts: Canal Park, parking, Teague Park, The Yards
 

No Actual Start Date for Canal Park, and Other News from AWC Hearing
Who could envision a more exciting Friday night than watching the Tivo'ed coverage of today's DC Council Committee on Economic Development Public Hearing on the plans for the transition of the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation and the National Capital Revitalization Corporation into the office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. (Maybe it's time for a new JDLand motto: We bore ourselves to tears so you don't have to.)
What is probably the biggest headline from the hearing for those with Near Southeast interests is that Deputy Mayor Neil Albert called "totally incorrect" the recent reports that construction would begin on Canal Park in August. Valerie Santos Young, now the Chief Operating Officer of the Deputy Mayor's office, said that negotiations are continuing with both the owner of the unused parking lot of the northernmost block of the park (Urban Parking Ventures) and with the group that owns the lease for the school bus parking on the other two blocks, but no agreements have been reached.
With that pleasant news out of the way, there really wasn't much else of note in the hearing that specifically impacts Near Southeast. There will be job cuts as the three organizations are merged into one, and employees should know their status in the new plan by Aug. 15; the number of positions being cut wasn't disclosed. They are planning to expand the DMPED office space in the Wilson Building, but will also be renewing the lease on the AWC offices at 1100 New Jersey Ave. for additional space. (They are working to break the lease for the old NCRC office space on M Street.) Accenture is being paid $320,000 for three months to help with the transition (which got some questioning from Kwame Brown as to why a local firm couldn't have been hired for the job). No documents on the reorganization were given to the committee before the hearing, which Brown wasn't too thrilled about, but Albert says that the new organization chart will be ready by August.
And, as much as I tried to close my ears to any non-Near Southeast discussions, I did hear that the city is not planning to sign the Memorandum of Understanding that the AWC had negotiated with the Southwest Waterfront redevelopment team, because the city's lawyers were concerned about possible exposure (which wasn't elaborated on). Albert said that they feel that an agreement can be reached that covers everything in the MOU without actually having an MOU.
There were also conversations about the management of the marinas, which baffled me until I realized everyone was saying "live-aboards" and not "liverboards."
You can catch a rebroadcast of the hearing on Saturday at 12:30 pm on either DC Cable 13 or via streaming video. If you subscribe to the Washington Business Journal, today's print edition had a short pre-hearing piece on the transition plans.
There will be additional oversight hearings in September and October, and Kwame Brown indicated that he plans to have additional hearings on every development project now in the DMPED portfolio, to make sure that the public is kept abreast of the plans and the timelines.
More posts: Anacostia Waterfront Corp., Canal Park, Teague Park
 

PILOT Financing for Parks - And a Ferry Pier
At Tuesday's council meeting, an emergency resolution was passed to allow the issuance of bonds that will bring $140 million in proceeds to fund various Anacostia waterfront projects, including the waterfront park at The Yards and Diamond Teague Park. The money is coming from a Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes agreement for the Department of Transportation HQ, land that can't be taxed by the city because it's federal property. The original PILOT bill laying out the specifics was passed last October and the city and DOT developer JBG signed the agreement in February. I'm not 100% sure why there's now this new emergency resolution, although my bleary-eyed morning reading of it sees that perhaps the council was required to officially approve which projects were designated to get the funding. And, in order to issue the bonds before the end of this fiscal year, the council needed to act quickly, hence the emergency legislation.
A tidbit from the resolution: one of the projects listed as needing this funding is "a new ferry pier at the foot of First Street, SE"; this is the Diamond Teague Park location that's right across the street from the ballpark. I've been hearing rumors lately that the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation has the building of this pier on a very fast track, with the intention of getting it ready by Opening Day 2008; there's scuttlebutt is that the permit applications have already been filed with the US Army Corps of Engineers, though I don't see evidence of that just yet. Perhaps we'll hear more about this at tomorrow's hearing on the move of the AWC into the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development.
More posts: Nationals Park, Teague Park, The Yards, Yards Park
 
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