Preliminary Approval for Design of Project on Anacostia

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

With a surprise motion, the Zoning Commission gave preliminary approval on March 20 to the design of RiverFront on the Anacostia, the 1.1 million-square-foot, four-building, mixed-use project on the site known for years as Florida Rock, nestled between Nationals Park, the Anacostia River, the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge and the proposed Diamond Teague Park.

It's been about 11 years since FRP Development entered the zoning process for this site that has been home to a concrete plant for many years. And nearly two years have passed since the commission unexpectedly sent architects back to the drawing board for a design that better responded to the changes brought to the neighborhood by the ballpark.

The commissioners all remarked that the design has come a long way and were pleased with the overall plans for two office buildings, a residential building, a hotel, 84,000 square feet of retail and large amounts of open space that include a riverfront esplanade and a civic plaza adjacent to Diamond Teague Park.

There were concerns from commissioners Peter May of the National Park Service and Gregory Jeffries about the facades of the two western buildings that will face a proposed traffic oval on South Capitol Street at the foot of a new Douglass Bridge. The commissioners said that the spaces aren't "animated" enough in terms of retail for such a prominent location.

May had also called the project "too complex," with too many different facades and finishes, but when commissioner Michael Turnbull of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol said that he "liked the complexity," and no other commissioners chimed in to agree with May, it was clear that there weren't going to be requests for large-scale changes to the design.

Jeffries also noted with some surprise that a project of this scope had not brought a single member of the community to the hearing to speak in opposition.

After 2 1/2 hours of presentations and questions, Chairman Anthony Hood brought up the idea of giving initial approval to the designs immediately, which, judging by the wide-eyed glances between the many project representatives and consultants in the audience, was not expected. May was not really in favor of moving forward, and Jeffries initially seemed to be leaning that way but then talked his way back around to agreeing that the proposed action could go forward.

It was decided that the developers need to submit more detailed drawings of the plans for the South Capitol Street facades, and that no final approval would be given to the project until all commissioners approved them. May ended up abstaining on the vote, while the four commissioners voted in favor. Architect Davis Buckley asked for six weeks to prepare the new renderings. The commission could take its final vote at a special public meeting May 22.

This doesn't mean that earthmovers will arrive at Florida Rock on May 23 to start building the public plaza and office building planned across Potomac Avenue from the grand staircase of the ballpark. Construction drawings will have to be completed, as will the trip through the D.C. permitting process, but the fall 2009 start date mentioned at a January ANC 6D meeting for the first phase of this project is looking closer to reality.

As for when the project could be completed, the western two buildings are dependent on the construction of the new Douglass bridge and demolition of the old bridge, so it will probably be 2015 or later before those can be built.

Work at Half Street SE

Word has arrived that excavation work has begun at 1015 Half St. SE, where a 410,000-square-foot office building is being developed by Opus East on the site of the old Nation nightclub. The building is expected to be completed in 2010. Just to its north, the Wendy's restaurant on I Street between South Capitol and Half will be closing by May 1 to make way for 23 Eye at Capitol Yards, a 421-unit apartment building by JPI that could begin construction by early fall.

Dupree, a Post staff member, has been tracking the neighborhood's changes since 2003. For additional information and photos, visithttp://JDLand.com.