DC Metrocentric

Each week we are going to turn the site over to a different neighborhood blogger from the metro area and let them loose on a series of topics about what makes their neighborhood great. This week we are focusing on Near Southeast… or is it the Ballpark District?

Neighborhood: Near Southeast/Ballpark District/Navy Yard/Capitol Riverfront (Near Southeast is the official neighborhood name, though all sorts of rebranding attempts are underway)

Site Name: JDLand (or Ballpark and Beyond, or Near Southeast DC)

Neighborhoods Best Kept Secret?

That it exists at all? Most of the city didn’t even know about it until it was decided in 2004 to put the new Nationals baseball stadium here.

Favorite Neighborhood Building?

Nationals Park, The Boilermaker Shop at The Yards, due to be turned into a 46,000-sq-ft retail space by the end of 2009. Of course, there aren’t actually all that many buildings in the neighborhood right now. More than 150 of them have been demolished since 2003. Until there’s more buildings, you can see my favorite before-and-after views from all over the neighborhood to see how much it’s changing.

Least Favorite Building?

I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings…..

Biggest Current Issue for Residents?

Well, there aren’t really all that many residents yet (though 1,000 rental units are opening by the end of this year). Now that the ballpark is open and the predicted traffic/Metro/parking catastrophe never came to be, the lack of retail in the area is probably the biggest issue. But given that it’s a neighborhood being rebuilt from scratch, it’s still in the early stages of what it can offer. 2009 should be a pivotal year.

New Development you are looking forward to?

I try not to play favorites or impose my personal preferences too much, but I must admit to being interested in seeing how the 5.8-acre Waterfront Park at the Yards turns out. (First phase scheduled to open in 2009.) I’d also love for Canal Park to open, so that people will stop asking me about it. I know there’s also a lot of interest in the RiverFront project, that sits between the southern side of the ballpark and the Anacostia River, where it’s possible that the first phase (an office building and a public plaza) could get underway late next year.

Baseball fans are hoping that when the first phase of Monument Realty’s Half Street project opens in Spring 2009 (55 M Street, the office building on top of the Navy Yard Metro station entrance by the ballpark) that there will be some restaurants or bars so that people can have a place to go before or after games.

Anything you would like to ask the DCMetrocentric readers?

Have you been to Near Southeast yet? Can you find it on a map?