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Ballpark Is Ready, but the Neighborhood Isn't
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Monument is developing the building on M Street that houses the Metro station closest to the ballpark, as well as the land behind the building and other parcels. The company wants to develop offices, stores, a hotel and housing, and it had a plan for slower development if the ballpark didn't come. But baseball "puts a stamp of approval on the neighborhood," company Executive Vice President Russell Hines said.
Still, the blocks closest to the ballpark -- the place developers, city officials and Nationals executives hope will become the hub of pre- and postgame activity at bars and restaurants -- may face the biggest delays.
Only in recent weeks did Metro agree to move out of its bus garage just north of the ballpark. Monument is engaged in a legal battle with Metro over who will develop the site.
After nearly 10 years of development proposals, the Florida Rock cement factory just south of the ballpark, a gritty industrial site crowded with dump trucks, received preliminary approval from the Zoning Commission last week for new offices, residences and stores along the Anacostia. It is not expected to break ground until next year.
To the east sits the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority O Street pumping station, occupying four choice acres with no development plans.
Still, as the Verizon Center experience showed, it takes time for shops and restaurants and bars to spring up between office towers and condo buildings.
D.C. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) said it took about eight years for now-bustling Gallery Place to become built up. "You're looking at a decade before you really see the effects of the baseball stadium. But it will happen."
Staff writer Jacqueline Dupree contributed to this report.
