JDLand: Near Southeast DC Redevelopment

Making it Official

Tue, 15 Feb 2022 16:54:02 GMT

As has become obvious, my time documenting the redevelopment of {insert preferred neighborhood name here} has come to an end.

At some point I will rebuild the site with more of an eye toward looking-back-at-change compared to watching-change-happen. But the lightbulb on how to do that hasn't turned on yet.

It was an amazing run, and thank you to everyone who read the site, commented on the site (I already miss you guys!), sent tips, and helped me learn the ropes of commercial real estate and zoning and whatnot.

I took my first pictures of the neighborhood in the fall of 1999, so 1999-2020 was a pretty good run.

I still tweet out little tidbits of neighborhood news if they strike my fancy, and am always available on Twitter for questions and general merriment.

Not a bad little hobby, as it turned out.

Tags: JDLand stuff

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Meet the New Year, Same as the Old Year

Sun, 10 Jan 2021 16:38:20 GMT

Hi. You may remember me from such blog posts as "Neighborhood to get Baseball Stadium" and "Oooh, Shake Shack!" I am still here, reading all of your comments, but alas, I remain very deep in tracking the ongoing global catastrophe while now adding in trying and failing to harness my incoherent rage at Wednesday's national catastrophe.

I can however steal a few moments at least to open up a new thread for the JDLand Commentariat to keep passing along news and tidbits while I toil away at retrieving and database-ing cases, hospitalizations, deaths, and now vaccinations, while bracing myself for what the coming weeks will bring, both in COVIDLand and in InsurrectionistLand.

Stay safe, everybody.

Tags: JDLand stuff

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Roundup of Some Recent Retail and Public Space Items

Sat, 18 Jul 2020 17:48:17 GMT

For those who haven't visited the neighborhood since, oh, let's say March, progress has not fully ground to a halt. (Even if blogging about it has.) The JDLand auxiliary backup camera (better known as a Pixel 3) took a long-delayed stroll on Friday evening to capture some changes, and to also see that, with a dining landscape built from the beginning to take advantage of outdoor space, most restaurants were pretty hopping with a young crowd. (Not a lot of masks seen on others wandering the neighborhood, I will say.)

Two of the new offerings along Half Street just north of Nats Park are now open--Atlas Brew Works (with Andy's Pizza) and Cold Stone Creamery--even while Half Street itself is still very much not finished with its streetscape remodel. I also scoped out Toastique, which has moved into the old Juice Laundry space on 4th Street SE between Tingey and Water. (I completely forgot to get a photo of Bammy's, the "Caribbean-inspired" restaurant that replaced Whaley's in the Lumber Shed at Yards Park.)

The rest of the new-storefront news is pretty much in the Personal Care category (how apropos!), with the CVS at Half and I SE looking like it is seconds away from opening, in its spot next door to the new(ish) Medstar Primary Care office. Meanwhile, over at 4th and M, Pivot Physical Therapy has now opened. (And there are those of us who would say that the new Hill Spirits liquor store at Half and K next to BonChon also qualifies as Personal Care.)

And while there's no storefront to take a photo of yet, the news came out this week that Scissors and Scotch, the barbershop-slash-cocktail-bar "grooming experience every man deserves" is coming to the ground floor of the National Broadcasters Association headquarters at One M Street, SE.

Meanwhile, there's also a few public space updates worth including, even if the photos from late in the evening aren't really so fab. As mentioned above, the streetscape work continues on Half Street north of the ballpark, and there are indeed stringed lights being installed across it (old zoning restrictions be damned, I guess). And look, trees!

Over at the Yards, Tingey Square is finished (and you can also see the latest progress on the Chemonics HQ in the background). And the new walkway connecting the Tingey Square area to the Yards Park is now open as well, with rough/uneven stones clearly placed to discourage high-speed biking or scootering (watch your ankles, old folks). It also leads to a new plaza on the northwest corner of the Yards Park.

It should also be mentioned that the recent unpleasantness has not been without casualties, with the aforementioned Juice Laundry and also Peet's Coffee at New Jersey and M and the clothing store Willow at 4th and Water closing for good.

At some point I'll pull together a holes-and-skeletons-and-completions construction update, but not until I can do some daytime wandering with collapsing from heat stroke.

Tags: One Hill South, atlasbrewworks, coldstone, cvs, Restaurants/Nightlife, Nat'l Assoc of Broadcasters HQ, pivot, Retail, tingeysquare , toastique, Yards Park

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Inching from Quarantining to Reopening, Open Thread

Sun, 24 May 2020 21:14:42 GMT

I continue to shirk my duties here, as I am still spending vast amounts of time on the COVID-19 Numbers beat for the Post. But I wanted to post some links if you haven't yet found them on where to keep up with the current status of things, including what's open, what might be open, what could be opening, etc.

The Capitol Riverfront BID has a listing all of the open restaurants and how you can patronize them, and has a similar one for neighborhood retail outlets.

Charles Allen's Twitter feed provides Ward 6 news and guidance (and is also reminding you to return your census questionnaire and also to request your DC vote by mail ballot by May 26).

You can read the daily coronavirus updates from the DC government and look at all of their data viz on case demographics, etc.

You can also read the latest news and dig into current case and death numbers for the DMV with the Post's local tracker, (shameless plug since it's my work that gets the numbers into it)

Plus, you can read the JDLand comments threads, as readers continue on-the-ground reports while I remain deeply involved in my Numbers Racket.

And you can wear masks and avoid indoor gatherings so that we can get a smidge further down the road to whatever the next phase will be.

With that, I return you to your holiday weekend, and I will return to the numbers. Stay safe, everyone.

Tags: Capitol Riverfront BID, Restaurants/Nightlife, Retail

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Checking in From My Bunker, and an Open Thread

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 18:58:09 GMT

When last I put a tidbit up on the site, on March 9, I mentioned a few new retail announcements, then added this: "[B]ut with the current news of the world, I think any forward-looking items now need to be viewed through the edges of an N95 respirator and a collapsing stock market."

I'm sure a few people thought that was a little over the top, but now, nearly seven weeks later, I think the scope of not only the health impact of COVID-19 but the societal and economic impact is becoming clearer, even to those who don't own Prophet of Doom t-shirts like I do.

This site is not only a site that looks backwards, with tens of thousands of photos, but it also spends a whole lot of time looking forward, at not only renderings of new buildings but also rumors and announcements of new restaurants, new bars, and new retail. And new baseball seasons.

I think it's safe to say that anyone trying to predict what this little corner of the city is going to look like in three, six, nine, 12, or 60 months is on an ultimate fool's errand.

We've already seen Willow close at 4th and Water, and the XFL (which looked on its way to being a healthy draw to Audi Field across the way) fold up its tent. How can any of us know how many of the restaurants and bars we have watched arrive over the past 15 years will make it through not only the current #StayatHome world, but also a world that, until there is a vaccine and until that vaccine can be widely deployed, people will be weighing heavily any decision to go anywhere that might be remotely crowded? Will every restaurant or bar that announced its plans to come to the neighborhood actually end up opening? Do we really know when MLB will return, and under what strictures? How many people are going to decide that maybe having a little more personal space back out the 'burbs is a safer environment?

If you think I am too doom-filled, I might pass along this article in the Atlantic that does a very depressingly good job of imaging the sort of scenarios that are coming for American retail.

Construction still continues (essential workers?), and of course I have always been the queen of "We Shall See" when it comes to projects and plans, but I think 'the Hood, and DC, and the U.S., and the world are all one big "We Shall See" right now.

This is of course a big reason why I haven't been posting, and have been scarce around here and social media in general, but I'm also now the Keeper of the Numbers at the Post for US cases and deaths, the numbers that power the big tracking map, plus I've had to build all manner of administration tools and other stuff as part of The Cause. Plus I'm old and so am pretty well bunkered in.

Anyway, the JDLand commentariat continues with its perpetual discussions of tower cranes and movie theaters, and are also some good eyes and ears on the streets (where you'd BETTER BE WEARING MASKS), so check in on the comment threads while you wonder whether the Prophet of Doom will again return. The answer is yes, of course, but only when there starts to be some concrete sense of where this is all heading.

And even then, We Shall See.

Stay safe and well, everybody.

Tags: Restaurants/Nightlife, Retail

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Super Tuesday Tidbits: Hello Maxwell Park, Goodbye Biersch

Tue, 03 Mar 2020 16:16:03 GMT

Albi Opening This Week, Five of the Very Best, and Square Pizza

Tue, 18 Feb 2020 17:26:16 GMT

I imagine news of restaurant arrivals will begin to ramp up as Opening Day nears, especially with the lineup of new places coming to Half Street. In the meantime, here's some preseason tidbits:

* ALBI OPENING FEB. 20: Thursday sees the opening of Albi, the new restaurant from Chef Michael Rafidi promising "a new perspective on traditional Levantine cuisine." City Paper has a preview, and the menu is online. Sibling wine bar Maxwell Park will open in March, according to a press release, and there will also be a daytime cafe space called "Yellow" (I am curious!) nestled in between the two spaces, coming later in the spring. Chef Rafidi was previously executive chef of Arroz and Requin. The address is 1346 4th Street, SE, in the ground floor of the Guild apartment building at the Yards.

* FIVE OF THE VERY BEST: Washingtonian's annual 100 Very Best Restaurants list is out, and the neighborhood clocks in with five entries: All-Purpose at #22, Chloe at #35, Osteria Morini at #59, Hatoba in a joint entry at #65, and ABC Pony at #71.

* EMMY SQUARED? The exact location of the second DC outlet of the trendy Detroit pizza shop from New York has been rumored to be at the Bower at 4th and Tingey, and while there is still no announcement, this week's DC Register includes the announcement of an alcohol beverage license application for an unnamed restaurant at 1300 4th Street SE serving pizza and sandwiches. So...?

Tags: albi, emmysquare d, Restaurants/Nightlife, The Yards, Bower Condos/Guild Apts/Yards

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Retail Roundup: Dryy Opening Today, Hill Spirits Coming Soon, More

Mon, 03 Feb 2020 16:14:16 GMT

Let's run down some retail news that doesn't have to do with restaurants!

According to a sign I saw in the window on Saturday, the cleaners known as Dryy was to be opening today (Feb. 3), in the ground floor of the 55 M office building, on top of the Half Street entrance to the Navy Yard-Ballpark Metro station. According to its web site, the store offers free pickup and delivery valet service, custom tailoring, and "Dryy drop lockers."

Meanwhile, just a few steps to the east, the Wells Fargo Express Center is now open, next to Bluestone Lane in the ground floor of 99 M. And a bit to the northwest, next to BonChon, signage has sprouted for Hill Spirits Unlimited, coming soon to 1015 Half Street SE, for all of your fine wine, spirits, and cee-gar needs. (A peek in the window leads me to believe that Hill Spirits is probably still a couple of weeks away from its debut.)

I also wandered over to 8th Street for the first time in a very long time (oops), and feel the need to officially document Ovation Eye Institute and Navy Nails and Spa, even though they've been open a while (I think the nails place actually was briefly in the space that Ovation is now in). And I admit to knowing nothing about Ti Coffee--no evidence of it anywhere on the Barracks Row or Capitol Riverfront web sites, or Google, for that matter. And I don't know about the barbershop, either--another competitor for Wrenn's and Fuller's?

Finally, in the interest of fulfilling my fiduciary duty, here are photos of Congressional Cleaners 2.0, in its spot in the ground floor of the Park Chelsea on I Street west of 2nd (no signage yet), and because I can't believe I never got a photo of it, here's Steadfast Supply in its not-really-new-anymore location in the ground floor of the Foundry Lofts on Water Street, across from Ice Cream Jubilee. And, along those lines, I'm sneaking in one food-related photo, to officially add the signage of Taco City on 8th Street to my repository.

Tags: 1015 Half, 55 M St., 880 NJ/Park Chelsea, 99m, congressionalcleaners, dryy, Foundry Lofts/Yards, hillspirits, navynails, ovation, parkchelsea, Retail, tacocity, wellsfargo

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Anchovy Social Opens Thursday, For All Your Rooftop Seafood Bar Needs

Wed, 29 Jan 2020 14:09:25 GMT

Washingtonian is reporting that Thursday, Jan. 30, is the day that brings the opening of Anchovy Social, the second Danny Meyer venture at the new Thompson Hotel at 2nd and Tingey in the Yards.

While the "snacky, seafood-heavy menu" (which you can peruse on the web site) is separate from Maialino Mare downstairs, it does "carry over the restaurant's Italian flare and nautical theme." And, like all Danny Meyer offerings, service is included in the check.

There is indoor space with two bars (handy for a January opening), but Washingtonian says that "the main attraction will undoubtedly be its huge wraparound patio with views of the Anacostia River."

Initial hours will be from 5 to 11 pm Tuesday-Thursday and 4 pm to midnight on Friday and Saturday. It's also available for private events.

Perhaps there will be a JDLand happy hour there, once the weather becomes a bit more hospitable (and before it gets too dang hot).

Tags: anchovysocial, Restaurants/Nightlife, thompson, The Yards, Thompson Hotel/Estate Apts./Yards

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Friday Tidbits: Stop! A Light!, Hood Numbers, Bridge News, Slideshows

Fri, 24 Jan 2020 19:05:19 GMT

A few morsels:

* NJ & I: ANC 6D07 commissioner Edward Daniels put out the word on Facebook this week that "after numerous emails, walk-throughs, and (personal) hours spent watching the intersection from Slipstream, DDOT has finally responded and are working on a design and construction plan to install a traffic light at the intersection of New Jersey Ave & I Street SE." It's still a ways off, but there's no doubt that this intersection is a busy one and in need of some containment. (Wish I had a better picture to illustrate, but I usually try my best to let roads clear before I click the shutter. Which is not easy at New Jersey and I.)

* BID ANNUAL REPORT: It's time once again for the Capitol Riverfront BID's annual report, which has all sorts of information about the neighborhood's progress, but I think it's worth highlighting some of the numbers. The BID estimates there are now 11,200 residents in 7,100 residential units, 78 restaurants, 44 shops and services, two grocery stores, and two professional sports stadiums (alas, the BID mucks with my statistics by also having Buzzard Point in its boundaries). I'm so old I remember a brief period when the resident count was about 300, if that.

* BRIDGE LATEST: The progress on the arches keeps right on going, and if you want to know more about the new Douglass Bridge, the winter newsletter is available for your perusal.

* SLIDESHOWS: I got on a bit of a tear and finally figured out how to more easily create a "representative" photo slideshow for projects, using larger photos to illustrate a project's progress from before to after, without completely rebuilding the existing small-image'd photo archive. (Not much space in my brain for this level of creativity for, oh, the past 10 years or so.) You can see these on pages for active projects, like Capper Seniors 2.0 (which is a good example, since the slideshow captures the rise and fall and rise) and others on the homepage map. I'm going to work my way through older projects, which will take some time. This also means that it's going to be much quicker to update the project pages when I take new photos, since I've been manually adding the large photos each time I go out. Kind of wish I had figured this out a few years ago, when this crazy stretch of new construction was getting started, but, like I said, I've had a lot on my mind. You'll also note that there are mini-slideshows showing up randomly on the JDLand home page, as well as the sliders (which remain a very labor-intensive activity). I imagine some day I will redo the photo archive in larger versions, but not this week.

Tags: Capitol Riverfront BID, photos, JDLand stuff, Douglass Bridge, Traffic Issues

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Hallo, Douglass Bridge Arches!

Mon, 13 Jan 2020 01:45:52 GMT

The new Frederick Douglass Bridge has been under construction for not quite 11 months, but the showy phase of the project has now arrived, as the beginnings of what will be its signature arches sprouted up within the past few weeks.

Anyone who walks along the Anacostia, or spends time across the way at Buzzard Point, or drives on South Capitol Street south of P, has been watching the progress of the three sets of arches, but of course the JDLand camera wanted to officially document this new stage.

For the record, it's not just from the Riverwalk that these arches will be visible--I caught of glimpse of them from the intersection of at 3rd and I Streets, SE, and I wouldn't be surprised to have the bridge be visible from multiple other locations as it is completed, since the bridge crosses the Anacostia at a southwesterly angle.

As 2020 marches on, the work on the two traffic ovals will get underway, and in fact there is a fence up across the First Base Gate promenade that I think bears some resemblance to where the northeast edge of the oval will eventually be.

Completion is expected in 2021.

Tags: Douglass Bridge, Traffic Issues

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Wednesday Tidbits: Maialino Mare, Thompson Hotel, UPS Store Now Open

Wed, 08 Jan 2020 14:29:09 GMT

It's 2020, the holiday lull is over, we've been plunged back into the real world, and we've got some tidbits to catch up on:

* MAIALINO MARE OPENING: Tuesday night saw the swank pre-opening party, but today is the official arrival of Maialino Mare, the Roman seafood restaurant from the Danny Meyer Restaurant Group. Eater DC got a preview, and it looks like quite an operation. (Hopefully before too long I will learn to spell it, though I might go with MMare.) To start it will be open every day at 5 pm for dinner, though breakfast, lunch, and brunch service are said to be coming. Note that, like all Danny Meyer restaurants, there is no tipping, with menu prices adjusted accordingly. And, with this opening, it is also a safe assumption that....:

* THOMPSON HOTEL OPENING: The first hotel in the Yards, which also happens to be the home of MMare, is officially open as of today as well, Both the hotel and MMare are located at 221 Tingey Street, SE on the north end of what we once called Yards Parcel L. (Anchovy Social, the rooftop bar also from Mr. Meyer, is "expected to open by the end of the winter." Which kind of makes sense.)

As has become a tradition when a new building opens, here's a before-and-after, with the "before" being from May 2004, back before 3rd Street even existed south of Tingey. The "after" picture is alas from a few weeks back. You get the idea, though.

* ESTATE NOW LEASING: As for the Thompson's next-door neighbor, the apartment building known as The Estate is now leasing, and it looks like move-ins might be starting at the end of this month. No announcements of any retail tenants as of yet.

* UPS STORE NOW OPEN: This is probably old news for most residents, but it's still incumbent upon me to mention that The UPS Store opened in mid-December on New Jersey Avenue between L and M (the old Capital One bank space).

* FLOOD ZONE: The District Department of the Environment is looking at amending its Flood Hazard Rules to cover the city's 500-year floodplain rather than just the 100-year, which could include restricting new constructions in those areas. See the city's floodplain map at Urban Turf, and imagine snorkeling to Harris Teeter.

* MONTHLY MEETUPS: The Capitol Riverfront BID has posted its planned monthly Neighborhood Meetups in 2020, starting with a "Skate Through the 80s" event at Canal Park on Thursday, Jan. 23.

* CRIME REPORTS: Yahoo's shutting down of its Groups messed with my running list of crime reports from the neighborhood, but I've now fixed that and gotten caught up. (They are on the home page in the right margin, after you scroll down a bit.) One recent incident that has caused some concern was an armed robbery in one of the parking lots along N Street east of 1st, when two victims were set upon by four men, all in black clothing, who assaulted them before producing a handgun and taking two cell phones. If you want to get more involved in neighborhood safety, the next MPD PSA 106 meeting is on January 28 at 6:30 pm at the Capper Community Center at 5th and K, SE.

Tags: thompson, 1100nj, Capitol Riverfront BID, crime, estate, Events, Restaurants/Nightlife, maialinomare, Retail, upsstore, Thompson Hotel/Estate Apts./Yards

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I'm Dreaming of Some Nice Tidbits (Just Like the Ones I Used to Know)

Wed, 04 Dec 2019 13:32:30 GMT

Tis the season....:

* TREE LIGHTING: Friday (Dec. 6) brings the neighborhood's annual tree lighting festivities at Canal Park, starting at 6 pm. The ice rink will be appropriately decked (and there's free skating), and there will be a life-sized snow globe available for your selfie-snapping pleasure. The tree lighting itself will be at 7.

* LIGHT YARDS: Also on Dec. 6, the Yards' interactive holiday light installation returns for its fifth year, running through Dec. 23. This year's illuminated adventure is "Airship Orchestra" by ENESS. It is free and family friendly.

* ENCHANT: And of course the big holiday shindig continues at Nats Park, through Dec. 29.

And, in non-holiday news:

* ABC PONY NOW OPEN: Erik Bruner-Yang's combination coffee bar/all-day restaurant/co-working space/bar officially opened on Dec. 3 in the ground floor of Novel South Capitol, at 2 I St. SE, on the northeast corner of South Capitol and I. Here's the restaurant menu, which "explores the intersectionality between Italian and Asian cuisines."

* 41 L MOVING FORWARD: The long-gestating residential project by MRP Realty on the site of the Navy Yard-Ballpark Metro station's chiller plant on the southwest corner of Half and L has secured its construction financing, and should probably get underway before too much longer. It will feature 161 rental units, 3,500 sq ft of retail, and 59 underground parking spaces. Targeted completion date is late 2021.

* SNEAK A PEEK AT DC WATER: If you've been wanting to get inside the DC Water headquarters--that curvy building with the blue-green windows you see from the Riverwalk--but haven't gotten an invitation to get through security, you can go to ANC 6D's next business meeting there, on Dec. 9. It starts at 7 pm, but leave plenty of time to find the pedestrian entrance, which is at New Jersey and N (well, Canal and N, if you read my post on Tingey Square).

Fa la la la la, indeed.

Tags: Novel South Capitol, abcpony, Canal Park, Chiller Site/WMATA, Events, Restaurants/Nightlife, The Yards

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Wednesday Tidbits: Whaley's Closing, Something Opening, Enchant

Wed, 20 Nov 2019 17:40:10 GMT

A few items for people who aren't currently glued to their TVs or Twitter accounts:

* WHALEY'S CLOSING: Tom Sietsema passed along in today's chat that Whaley's will be closing "before next month," 3 1/2 years after it arrived in the Lumber Shed at the Yards between Osteria Morini and Agua 301. (UPDATE: This statement from Whaley's says that their last day is Nov. 24 except for private events through the end of the year.) But...

* NEW RESTAURANT COMING: Whaley's will be replaced by the new restaurant by Maydan chefs Gerald Addison and Chris Morgan, which Sietsema teased a few weeks ago. No hints yet on what the "concept" will be. The new operation gets the keys to the space on Jan. 1, Sietsema says, and are aiming for a spring launch.

* ENCHANT: As if Nationals Park hasn't been enchanting enough this year, the huge Enchant Christmas experience begins its run on Thursday, Nov. 22, all the way through Dec. 29. It includes "the world's largest light maze," an ice skating trail, a Christmas market, and "seasonal" food and drink offerings. And Santa. Who I'm sure will be getting a lot of requests for stocking stuffers named Rendon and Strasburg. Tickets are on sale, with prices varying based on the time and date of your choosing.

Tags: enchant, Restaurants/Nightlife, Lumber Shed/Yards, Stadium Events, whaleys, The Yards

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Slider-Palooza 2019: New Locations, Lots of Updates

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 21:39:50 GMT

It's Slider Time once again!

Not only have I updated more than *30* locations, I've added a number of new ones, including this one, looking east on Potomac at South Capitol (which will change pretty substantially once again when the new traffic oval arrives).

So go browse through the Slider Gallery to spend untold hours controlling the slide line yourself, going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth.... (and don't miss the "Browse Older Sliders" link to see the others that didn't get updated this time around.)

Working on these has really gotten me thinking about doing more with them, like allowing you to choose which photos of that view you want to slide between, etc. But these aren't auto-generated--every time I update them, I have to go find a new photo that at least sort of matches the original one, then crop it so they align as much as possible. So I might keep thinking on this for a while longer.

(In the meantime, try not to be mesmerized by the animated GIF. Watch the smokestacks at the far end of the street.)

PS: I've now created one additional slider, thanks to a reader request. If you scroll down a smidge on the Douglass Bridge project page, you can slide between a satellite view of the existing roadway and the overlay of the new oval.

Tags: Development News, photos

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Catching Up on Digging and Skeletoning, Fall 2019 Edition

Thu, 07 Nov 2019 22:47:43 GMT

First, summer was hot, then it was really hot, then the Nationals were hot, then the Nationals were REALLY hot, and suddenly it's November and the JDLand camera has been crying out from neglect. But I took care of that this weekend (oh boy, did I), and wanted to catch up on the latest downward digging and upward construction.

Let's start by peeking through some fences to look at the digging portion, where excavation is now underway at New Jersey/Canal and N/Tingey on the first office building to come to the Yards, which will be the headquarters for Chemonics International. (Yes, it's the project that chased the Trapeze School down to 5th Street.) The other two digging locations are Lerner's residential building at 1000 South Capitol and the CSX East site on New Jersey Avenue just south of the freeway, where a hotel and 800 units of residential will be coming. In order:

Next, we have three buildings that are above ground but not yet topped out. We'll start with the reconstruction of the Capper Seniors building at 5th and Virginia, which started just a smidge more than one year after the fire. With the pad not needing to be redone and the concrete-encased stairwells still standing, it isn't taking long for the wood-based construction to look familiar. (It is an odd thing to be watching the same building go up twice, 14 years apart--the first photo below was taken on Nov. 28, 2005, then after the fire in Sept. 2018 and March 2019, and now ).

The other skeletons are the new headquarters of the District Department of Transportation at 3rd and M Streets, which at this time of year can only been seen in sunlight for about one hour, from the west.. A few blocks away, on L Street between South Capitol and Half, the neighborhood's first "sliver" residential building (condos!) at 37 L is now a few floors away from its roof.

Beyond that we have a mere, oh, 12 additional projects that are topped out but not finished. Three of them are getting their faces put on (DC Crossing, Meridian on First, and One Hill South Two):

The rest have long since stopped looking particularly different while they plod toward completion, but there are updated photos on their project pages if you wish to see some. And yes, I'm looking at you, Thompson hotel and Estate apartments, Parc Riverside Phase 2, NAB HQ, Avidian, The Kelvin, Envy, the Garrett, and the Maren.

Now I'll turn my attention finally getting caught up on sliders. Wheeeee!

Tags: 10001st, 1000 South Capitol, 1250 Half St., 250 M/New DDOT HQ, 37l, Capper Senior Apt Bldgs, csxeast, Development News, envy, Florida Rock, Maren Apts., onehillsouth, Nat'l Assoc of Broadcasters HQ, Square 696 Residential, Parc Riverside Apts, The Yards, yardsparcelg, Thompson Hotel/Estate Apts./Yards

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Taking a Look at Tingey Square. And Canal Street. And 2nd Street.

Wed, 06 Nov 2019 20:01:10 GMT

My last post talked about a new oval coming to South Capitol Street, and now the geometric tour of the neighborhood moves onto a new square, specifically Tingey Square, which is part of the reconstruction of the intersection(s) of New Jersey and Tingey and N Streets. Oh, and now there's Canal Street, too. And a new 2nd Street. (And a new Quander Street, but we're not talking about that right now.)

Tingey Square will be a green space/park-like outpost in the midst of what is becoming a lot of concrete, especially with the Chemonics HQ now underway on the west side of the intersection, and a residential building on the south side of N in the near-term pipeline as well.

And of course I had to dig through my archives to find on-high photos from multiple angles showing the progression of the intersection of New Jersey and Tingey, starting in 2004, before there even was an intersection (it arrived in early 2007), then in 2012, and then 2015. You can see how N flowing into Tingey was originally only slightly off-center, before becoming the double-curve once New Jersey Avenue was completed.

For more visualization assistance, here are two graphics from various zoning filings, with the first one overlaying the new design on top of existing roadways.

Most traffic will rarely go around the square, as both Tingey Street and the west side of the square (now Canal Street) will remain two-way. But it will allow traffic to arrive at the entrances of the new Thompson Hotel and Estate apartment buildings on the new stub of 2nd Street (which turns into a pedestrian walk down to the Yards Park). I of course can provide illustrations of the nearly completed south side of the square, and the new east side by the Thompson/Estate duo:

As for the new Canal Street, it is really only a one-block public street, as it heads behind the fences of DC Water once it crosses N Street. But a new sidewalk has been completed and given streetlights outside the fences, and the walk should eventually be open for the non-DC Water public.

If you've wandered through this sizable intersection lately (like, say, to go to the WORLD SERIES), you've seen a lot of work underway, some of which you may not really even realize is all that different. But New Jersey has been narrowed and given a bend westward, and the traffic flow from N Street to Tingey is no longer via a curve, but an actual intersection. Here you can compare the wide wide pedestrian crossing in 2013 with the new building-out of the northeast corner to straighten the road.

And I have to admit that these new rights-of-way sent me waaaaaay down the photo archive rabbit hole, to reclassify a lot photos taken over the years, some of which you can now see in the archive pages for Canal and Tingey or Canal and N. Here's a few, though even when you pop them up they'll still be small:

Tags: Development News, tingeysquare , Traffic Issues, The Yards, yardsparcelg

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The New Douglass Bridge: A Look Ahead to the West Traffic Oval

Sun, 03 Nov 2019 23:42:21 GMT

Let's talk ovals. Well, one oval in particular, which is the oval that is going to be built on the western side of the new Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, that big construction project you're seeing immediately downriver of the existing bridge.

As I've been taking pictures of the intersection of South Capitol and Potomac as it is currently configured, I've been having a hard time visualizing how it will change when the bridge and traffic oval are completed, and so even though I'm sure at some point DDOT has created an overlay exactly like this one, I decided to make one myself that's a little larger. (If you want a clean version of the current satellite view to better compare with, here's Google Maps.)

As you can see, the new bridge will not be arriving at the exact southern end of the oval, but instead more on the south-southeast edge. And the South Capitol-Potomac "intersection" does not split the oval in half. The northeastern part of the oval will chop off a bit of the large plaza at the approach to the Nats Park Home Plate Gate, and you can also see why some buildings near the current intersection have been demolished in the past year.

Here are some renderings showing what the view could look like up South Capitol from the oval, and also how the Anacostia Riverwalk will run under the bridge to allow for pedestrian/cyclist movement to and from Southeast and Southwest without having to navigate the oval's traffic crossings.

This oval (and also the one on the bridge's eastern side, which is outside the JDLand Coverage Area) are going to be a big deal when they arrive, and my guess is that there will be considerable squawking from all sides at first. But they are coming--and I'm almost as fascinated with this part of the project as I am with the new bridge itself.

Speaking of which, I went up there and took some pictures today.

If you want to know more, there's my project page, or the voluminous official site, NewFrederickDouglassBridge.com. It's all supposed to be completed by the end of 2021, but We Shall See. (And if you want to know more about the changes that are on the boards for the rest of South Capitol Street north of P, try my South Capitol Street page.)

Tags: Pedestrian/Cycling Issues, riverwalk, South Capitol St., Douglass Bridge, Traffic Issues

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Tuesday Tidbits: Avoiding Thoughts of Houston for a Moment

Tue, 29 Oct 2019 20:39:28 GMT

With a few hours to go until Nats fans spend three-plus hours watching baseball on TV through their hands, some items to catch on. (I don't think I'm the only one who found that, as amazing as the playoff run has been, it has totally sapped my energy. Recovery begins soon, one way or the other.)

* 80 M TO GROW: It's a surprising piece of news, but it's now officially being reported that the 80 M Street office building, on the northwest corner of 1st and M, is looking to add two stories using "mass timber." Bisnow has more, and the architecture firm's web site has some renderings as well. (It was originally built in 1999-2000, aka Before My Time, so I don't have a project page, but you can see it under construction in these two grainy film photos I took in the fall of 2000.) It does have to get past the Zoning Commission first, though.

* ANCHOVY SOCIAL: We already knew that Danny Meyer is going to be opening Maialino Mare in the ground floor of the new Thompson Hotel at 3rd and Tingey, and now it's being reported that the rooftop bar will be a separate operation named Anchovy Social, which Food and Wine describes as being "all about chilling out over a martini, seafood towers, and taking in the view."

* THOMPSON GETTING CLOSE: Speaking of the Thompson, its web site is now accepting reservations for the swank hotel at the Yards for February 1st and beyond. (Last week it was March 1 and beyond, so they must be feeling better about their opening date.)

* CHILLER SITE SOLD: This evergreen subhead returns with the news that Metro has finally sold the "Chiller" site on the southwest corner of Half and L to MRP Realty for $10.24 million, as was preliminarily announced back in, oh, 2014. A 161-unit 11-story apartment building with ground-floor retail is already in the Permit Pipeline, and a raze permit for the existing structures is in process as well.

* LA FAMOSA COMING IN 2020: Puerto Rican food is coming to the southeast corner of 4th and Tingey next year, as La Famosa will open as a "fast-fine" restaurant in the ground floor of the Bower. According to City Paper, it will serve all-day coffee, lunch, and dinner. And it will have a bar.

* HATOBA NOW OPEN: In case you haven't already wandered by, the neighborhood's first ramen shop is now open, in the old 100 Montaditos space on Tingey Street, SE, near 4th Street.

Tags: 80m, anchovy, Boilermaker Shops/Yards, Chiller Site/WMATA, Development News, famosa, Restaurants/Nightlife, hatoba, square 698, thompson, The Yards, Thompson Hotel/Estate Apts./Yards

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The Neighborhood's Latest Milestone: A World Series

Fri, 25 Oct 2019 00:02:41 GMT

Would any of us who came to Nats Park in the spring of 2008 have believed it would take "only" 12 seasons for the World Series to come to South Capitol Street? And yet, here we are, mere hours away from what is probably the most historic happening in the annals of {insert preferred neighborhood name here}.

And, much more so than other "big" sporting events at the ballpark, like the All-Star Game in 2018 or the NHL Winter Classic in 2015, it is likely that the neighborhood will be a big destination for people even if they have little chance of getting through the gates. There are watch parties planned at the Yards Park on for Game 3, moving to "The Yards Lot" (aka Spooky Park) at New Jersey and M SE for Games 4 and 5IfNecessary. There are also a boatload of specials at the neighborhood's various food and drink establishments (scroll down this page to see the list). Be prepared for the influx--and watch out for the road closures and Emergency No Parking Signs.

It will be an exhilarating and exasperating next few days, but hopefully by the end of the weekend the World Series trophy will be hoisted in this little neck of the woods. Who'd a thunk it.

(And the JDLand camera is going to be there. Which is also pretty cool.)

Tags: Nationals Park

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