Thursday, November 29, 2007; DZ03

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.

Residents are starting to move into 400 M Street, the third residential building to open in Near Southeast in the past two years. The 139-unit building was originally conceived as low-income senior citizen housing as part of the Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg Hope VI redevelopment, but its profile has been expanded to include renters who earn a moderate income of between 50 and 60 percent of the area's median income. This translates to a household income of $33,000 to $38,000 for one person and $38,000 to $45,000 for two people, and up to $54,000 for a family of four. Rents are advertised as starting at $950 a month for a one-bedroom.

But even with the change to allow renters with higher incomes, the building, which planners call Capper Building No. 2, continues to rent to fixed-income seniors and other residents with lower incomes placed through the D.C. Housing Authority.

The building's first floor has a community room with kitchenette and laundry, computer, fitness and conference rooms. A landscaped interior courtyard, which serves as a storm-water management system, is available for use by the low-income seniors residing at the Carroll Apartments building next door. Twenty of the one-bedroom units and one of the two-bedroom units are for those with impaired mobility.

Fifty of the Capper building's units have been rented. Four two-bedroom corner units facing the intersection at Fourth and M, which were quickly snapped up, have nice views of the Anacostia River, at least until an office building across the street at the Yards gets built.

For more information, including the list of requirements for qualification, visit the sales office at the building or the Web site at http://400mdc.com, or call 202-547-6814. This new building and its year-old sibling, Capper Seniors No. 1, two blocks away, have brought 300 new affordable housing units to the Hope VI redevelopment. Another 400 units are still to come, at both the mixed-income Capitol Quarter townhouse development, which is scheduled to begin construction in 2008, and at additional mixed-income apartment buildings planned for Second Street SE.

Although the turf installation at the Nationals ballpark this month was a big moment in the stadium's construction, there's now another milestone showing that the ballpark is getting close to opening -- the liquor license has been applied for. Notice of the application, by "Volume Services, Inc./Washington Nationals Ball Park" was posted Nov. 2; the hearing before the Alcohol Beverage Control Board is scheduled for Jan. 2.

If you park in Near Southeast regularly, you might want to know that a wave of car thefts hit during the second week of November. There were at least eight attempts resulting in six successful thefts, according to preliminary city crime reports, compared with about 19 attempts and 18 thefts in the preceding 45 weeks.

Jacqueline Dupree, a Post staff member and Ward 6 resident, has been tracking changes in the area since 2003. For additional information, photos and updates, go tohttp://www.jdland.com.