Farmers Market Follows DOT to New Home

By Jacqueline Dupree
Thursday, June 7, 2007

Ballpark and Beyond is from Jacqueline Dupree's blog on development in Near Southeast Washington, an area between Capitol Hill and the Anacostia River that is being transformed by the construction of the Nationals baseball stadium.

It was a bit breezy, and a rhythmic soundtrack of pile-driving was provided, thanks to the Nationals ballpark construction one block away, but on Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched a weekly farmers market at the plaza on the southwest corner of the new DOT headquarters, at 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE. It will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays, offering "Farm-Fresh Produce, Baked Goods and More!" You can then sit on the new plaza, by the new "water wall," and munch on your goodies.

This is not technically a new undertaking -- a weekly market was started 10 years ago at the old DOT building in Southwest. DOT is now bringing the tradition along to its new home on M Street SE.

Sidewalks on New Jersey

Work began last week on new sidewalks on portions of New Jersey Avenue between M Street SE and the Southeast Freeway. The D.C. Department of Transportation tells me that this is part of the planned South Capitol Streetscape improvements that we'll be seeing over the next few months, with makeovers planned for the Near Southeast portions of New Jersey and Potomac avenues and First, I, N and South Capitol streets.

These will not be fabulously artsy sidewalks in this phase, but new smooth concrete is better than the old broken concrete walks and dirt pathways -- and as office and residential projects are built, the developers will be responsible for bringing their sidewalks up to the fancier Anacostia Waterfront Initiative standards.

Having new sidewalks all the way north to the freeway will make it easier for people to make the 0.3-mile trek to the south edge of Capitol Hill -- and by extension, to the Capitol South Metro station a few blocks north of the freeway (take note, fans planning on going to the new ballpark in 2008 but looking for an alternative to the Navy Yard station).

Ballpark Update

For those of you not obsessively checking the Nationals stadium construction webcam at five-minute intervals, here are a few recent highlights of the stadium construction's progress:

A 200-foot-tall crane is in place along South Capitol Street near P Street, to help construct the Nationals' new office building on the southwest side of the ballpark.

On the north end of the site, concrete columns are being poured for the two three-level above-ground parking garages.

Inside the stadium itself, along the first-base line, the first area of "cast-on-slope" seating is almost complete; the drilling of what will end up being nearly 100,000 holes for anchoring the seats in the stands has begun; and workers are also installing the cast-in-place aisle steps between the seating sections.

And, away from the camera's glare, drywall framing is in progress in the locker rooms and other service level areas.

But if you decide to drive down there for a visit, beware of dust clouds, massive potholes and heavy construction vehicles. (Actually, right now that description pretty much applies to all of Near Southeast between South Capitol Street and New Jersey Avenue. Enter at your own risk!) To see images from the webcams that update with photos of the construction every few minutes, follow the link from http://www.dcballpark.com.

Square 696 Sold

Thanks to the latest update of the D.C. Property Sales database, I can report that the entire block known as Square 696 (bounded by 1st, I, K, and Half streets) changed hands on April 12. The Pedas family sold its three lots, totaling 55,000 square feet, for more than $49.8 million; and Potomac Development Corp. received more than $19.5 million for the 19,600-square-foot lot on the northeast corner of the block (home to a firewood business for many years).

The database lists the buyer as "99 I Street SE LP." We know from the signs that have gone up that the square is being developed as an office/retail project by DRI Development Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Transwestern. No details yet on exactly what's coming -- or when.

And a hat tip to the Pedas family, which adds this take to the $51.6 million payday it was part of when Square 699N, one block to the south, was sold in September 2005, and the $4.5 million received from the sale of the Domino's lot at South Capitol and M in August 2005. Apparently you can make some money in this real estate biz.

On the Agenda

Today: D.C. Council Committee on Workforce Development and Government Operations public oversight hearing on the proposed relocation of the police department headquarters to a leased facility at 225 Virginia Ave. SE. John A. Wilson Building, Room 412, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 9 a.m. (may also be available on D.C. Cable Channel 13 and via live webcast at http://www.octt.dc.gov).

Tomorrow: D.C. Department of Transportation briefing on the Douglass Bridge's upcoming "Extreme Makeover," Matthew Henson Earth Conservation Center, 2000 Half St., SW, 10 a.m.

Tomorrow: Zoning Commission hearing on Case 02-38A, Waterfront Associates LLC and RLA Revitalization Corp. request for modification to an approved first-stage Planned Unit Development for the Waterside Mall site at Fourth and M streets SW; second-stage review and approval of a Planned Unit Development for the central portion of the site; and a change to the D.C. Zoning Map; Suite 220 South, 441 4th St. NW, 6:30 p.m. (also available via live webcast at http://dcoz.dc.gov).

Tuesday: D.C. Council Committee on Finance and Revenue public hearing on B17-0208, "Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District Amendment Act of 2007," John A. Wilson Building, Room 412, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 11 a.m. (may also be available on D.C. Cable Channel 13 or via live webcast at http://www.octt.dc.gov).

Jacqueline Dupree, a Post staff member and Ward 6 resident, has been tracking changes in the area since 2003. For updates and links to documents and sites mentioned here, go tohttp://www.jdland.com/dc.