Kastles Stadium at The Wharf

I wasn't able to make it this morning to the press conference announcing the Washington Kastles' move to the Southwest Waterfront (AKA The Wharf), but below is the press release and some images/renderings courtesy of the Kastles:

WASHINGTON – March 7, 2011 – Today, the Washington Kastles announced that they will play the 2011 and 2012 seasons in a new stadium that will be specially constructed for them in Southwest Washington, D.C. The new Kastles Stadium at The Wharf will be located at 800 Water Street, S.W. Fans at the new stadium will watch some of the world’s best known and most iconic players against a backdrop of the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial and the Potomac River. The Kastles, led by Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Sam Querrey, will inaugurate their new home during the 2011 World TeamTennis (WTT) season, which runs from July 4-24. “As a native Washingtonian, I am committed to investing in our community and, through the Kastles, hope to create lifelong memories for people throughout our region,” said team owner Mark Ein. “We are excited to bring the Kastles and lots of other entertaining events to our spectacular new home in Southwest Washington and are thrilled to be part of the rebirth of that part of town. We know our fans will be treated to great summer nights in one of the most unique venues anywhere.” “It has been impressive to see how the Kastles have brought the city together for the past three summers and I am thrilled to welcome them to their new home,” said D.C. Councilman Tommy Wells. “I would like to offer my thanks to Mark for bringing the Kastles to Southwest Washington and the wharf area. I can think of no better way to commemorate the new Kastles Stadium than with another title.” "We are on track to begin our outward process of creating a world class waterfront and we are thrilled that the Kastles will be part of our year-round programming plans for The Wharf, attracting lots of new people to this spectacular part of the city," said Monty Hoffman, CEO of PN Hoffman. "Kastles Stadium at The Wharf will be a great addition to the neighborhood and we look forward to working with Mark and the Kastles to bring world class tennis and community events to the site." Kastles Stadium at The Wharf, located on the site formerly occupied by Hogates Restaurant, will be easily accessible by Metro via the Waterfront-SEU and L’Enfant Plaza stations, both within three blocks of the stadium. In addition, the stadium will feature an underground parking lot and several surface lots adjacent to the site. The stadium will also host other programming throughout the year. Kastles Stadium at The Wharf will host John McEnroe and Anna Kournikova as they return to Washington during the 2011 season, as members of the New York Sportimes and the St. Louis Aces, respectively. The full 2011 Kastles roster will be determined during the March 15 WTT Roster Draft. A core principal of the Kastles franchise and its mission is to give back to those less fortunate in the Washington region and, since inception, the team has donated more than 6,000 match tickets, 3,000 tennis rackets and cash grants and other donations totaling more than $500,000 to local charities, youth groups and armed forces organizations. For the past three seasons, the Kastles and other visiting WTT players – including Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova – have hosted more than 800 local children at tennis clinics. Tickets for all seven home matches go on sale to the general public on Friday, April 15 through the website or Ticketmaster. Season tickets are now available and can be purchased by contacting info@washingtonkastles.com or calling 202-4TENNIS (483-6647). For exclusive Kastles news, ticket information and player updates, follow the Kastles on Facebook and on Twitter.

When the Kastles stadium was located in a parking lot downtown, it would be dismantled at the end of each season. However, the stadium at The Wharf will remain standing throughout the year and will be used for other events, such as concerts, cook-offs, arts festivals, beach volleyball games, and possibly an ice skating rink in the winter. A member of Ward 6 Council Member Tommy Wells' staff tweeted during the press conference that the Kastles announced a partnership with Jefferson Middle School to help bring tennis to students. I imagine this would include refurbishing the tennis courts at Jefferson, which are currently in disrepair.

Washington Kastles Moving to the Southwest Waterfront

There's an article in The Washington Post announcing that the Washington Kastles World Team Tennis organization has made the decision to move to the Southwest Waterfront, and it sounds like the move will be permanent. Back in December, the developers of the Southwest Waterfront mentioned at the ANC 6D meeting that they were in negotiations with the Kastles to move their stadium to the site of the former Hogates building, which was torn down in January by the city. From the article:

Construction is expected to start in coming weeks on a temporary facility, which is expected to cost about $10 million to build and operate for two years, [Kastles owner Mark] Ein said. Like the Kastles' former stadium, the new venue will have grandstands on all four sides, with openings at each corner. The openings will offer views of the waterfront and skyline. The seating capacity will remain roughly the same, 2,700 to 3,000, with a range of ticket prices. The stadium will be available to host other events after the Kastles' season, which runs July 4-24 this year. As existing structures are demolished along the waterfront in coming years, the Kastles could move to a stadium erected a bit farther east, or they might play indoors at a 4,000-seat music hall that Hoffman plans to build...Fans in premium seats will be able to have food and drinks delivered at courtside, and the venue will be ringed with
concession stands. In keeping with the WTT's fan-friendly ethos, the area around the stadium will have family-oriented activities, such as "QuickStart" tennis, in which children play on smaller courts and hit oversized balls; face-painting; a moon bounce; and an autograph zone where fans can collect players' signatures after matches.

Some of the other events planned for the stadium that's mentioned in the article include food cook-offs, arts festivals, beach volleyball games, and concerts.

Get ready for some celebrity sightings along the waterfront this summer, including the Williams sisters, John McEnroe, and Anna Kournikova.

Update: There will be a press conference announcing the move at the former Hogates site on Monday morning at 11am.

CBCC Summit Debrief

This morning, I attended the Near SE-SW Community Summit: Taking Charge of our Future, which was hosted by the Community Benefits Coordinating Council (CBCC) and facilitated by America Speaks. The summit was well attended and contained a diverse audience of community members, local pols, and some developers (I spotted Elinor Bacon from the PN Hoffman-Madison Marquette Waterfront team). A few ANC 6D commissioners were present, including Andy Litsky, Ron McBee, and Roger Moffatt, as well as former commissioners Jane Jorgensen, David Sobelsohn, and Mary Williams. There may have been others, but those were the ones I noticed. Ward 6 Council member Tommy Wells also came in the afternoon. My guesstimate based on the number of tables and the fact that the room was pretty full is there were between 100 and 125 attendees.

The five main issues for discussion at the summit were as follows:

1. Workforce Development/Jobs/Community Centers
2. Neighborhood Oriented Retail and Services
3. Housing Diversity and Affordability
4. Youth-Education and Services
5. Environmental Concerns

Each person got to choose which issue they wanted to focus on for the day and then the room was divided into groups of people who wanted to discuss the same issue. I sat at one of the tables discussing Neighborhood Oriented Retail and Services. Most people chose Youth Education and Services, while the other four issues were pretty evenly distributed. Each group discussed assets and challenges that their issue presented to the community, then brainstormed ideas that could be implemented over the next 1-3 years to help resolve their particular issue. Out of the large lists of ideas for each issue, everyone in the room voted on which top two ideas were most important.

Issue #1

• Incorporate Ward 6 in the SW Waterfront development's workforce program (currently only Wards 5, 7 & 8 are targeted)
• Identify and create a workforce clearing house

Issue #2

• Increase of locally-owned businesses
• Use vacant land at Waterfront Station until new development is completed

Issue #3

• Stronger coalitions to represent all types of residents' interests to developers and policymakers
• Make sure residential developers commit to specific housing preferences for current residences/residents

Issue #4

• Bolster pre-K program
• Utilize Jefferson Middle School for adult vocational education and workforce development

Issue #5

• Develop community gardens using public land and church offered space and transitional dog parks
• Avoid over development: keep height and density restrictions

Once the top two ideas for each issue were voted on, the groups met again to discuss how to implement those ideas. The CBCC will make the results of the brainstorming session available in about a week or so and will use these ideas to come up with suggestions for community benefits agreements between developers and the ANC.

Did any of you attend the summit? What did you think?

Waterfront Tower Almost Sold Out

Urban Turf reports that only seven units remain at the 123-unit Waterfront Tower, the condo conversion next to Waterfront Station at 3rd & M Street. This is the same condo building that was featured on HGTV's House Hunters last fall. Sales began in the fall of 2009. When I toured the project last summer, the sales staff told me that in a few years, the apartment building across the courtyard (1001 @ Waterfront) will likely get renovated like Waterfront Tower and convert to condo. Future phases call for two new residenital towers to be built - one on the parking lot facing M Street (which is why those spaces are leased and not sold) and the other on the parking lot on the north side of 1001 @ Waterfront.

4th & M Intersection Changes Confusing Drivers

The traffic pattern at the intersection of 4th & M Street changed on March 1. DDOT officials were directing traffic on Tuesday morning as crews made adjustments to the traffic lights. Several readers have expressed frustration with the changes over the past couple of days. Reader PostIt described the new traffic cycle in a comment on another post like this:

1. M Street traffic east/west (no left turn arrow in either direction anymore) -- pedestrians cross 4th street East/West

2. Left turn arrow only for 4th street turning left from both directions, while also a right turn arrow for M street west/east bound -- no pedestrian traffic

3. 4th street North/south bound (no left turns) -- pedestrians cross M street North/South

4. Cycle back to step 1.

A representative from DDOT came to the January ANC 6D meeting to discuss some of the changes coming to the intersection, which has been the scene of a few pedestrian collisions since 4th Street reopened last spring. Some of the proposed changes include adjusting walk times depending on the time of day (at around 9:15AM on Wednesday, the pedestrian count was just 20 seconds to cross M Street); enhanced signage; and no right turn on red. There will also be police enforcement of traffic violations. In the brief time I was waiting at the intersection to turn right onto M Street on Wednesday morning, I saw a truck make an illegal U-turn on westbound M Street - no police though at that time. Eventually, the M Street corridor will be studied as a "complete street", as mentioned by former DDOT director Gabe Klein back in November. Anyone notice whether the walk times are different depending on the time of day?

Arena Stage Nominated for 23 Helen Hayes Awards

Nominations were announced for the 2011 Helen Hayes Awards, which honors local theater. Arena Stage received a total of 23 nominations. Here's a snippet about the awards from The Washington Post:

Arena's 23 nominations were matched by the Kennedy Center, which, as usual, dominated the nonresident categories (touring shows, with multiple nods going to "Hair," "Mary Poppins," "Thurgood," "South Pacific" and "Golden Age"). Arena crowded the resident musical categories, with "Sophisticated Ladies" garnering seven noms; Maurice Hines is up for best choreography and leading actor awards, and both of his young tap dance proteges, brothers John and Leo Manzari, found themselves in the supporting actor category. Arena's "The Light in the Piazza" picked up four nominations, and Arena Artistic Director Molly Smith was named for directing that show and for "Oklahoma!," the troupe's new box-office champ. The 10 nominations for "Oklahoma!" were bested, though, by the 12 for "Candide," which came to the Shakespeare by way of Chicago's Goodman Theatre.

The awards program will be held on April 25 at the Warner Theater. Click here for a full list of nominees. Good luck to Arena!

SW Waterfront to Transform Washington

In the spring issue of the Washington Business Journal's Onsite Magazine (subscribers only), five projects in DC and Rosslyn that will transform the region are profiled - one of which is the Southwest Waterfront. There's nothing really new here for those who have been closely watching what has been discussed about the Southwest Waterfront development, but the article mentions how the buildings will be situated to preserve views of the Washington Channel. From the article:

The master planner, Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects, has avoided the mistakes previously made in Southwest by conceiving an urban design at a finer grain than in other parts of the city. According to the plan, the new buildings will be narrow enough to preserve the views from Arena Stage and nearby buildings while allowing for pedestrian access to the water. Parcels within the new development will be no larger than 240 feet by 240 feet, compared with the typical 400-by-325-foot commercial blocks found along K Street NW. “By breaking our site into smaller component blocks, we are increasing the porosity of the design and allowing for significant views out to the water,” says Matthew Steenhoek, development manager of PN Hoffman.

The Hoffman-Madison Marquette Waterfront team submitted their stage one Planned Unit Development application on February 10 to the Zoning Commission and expect to start construction on phase one by the end of 2012.

Rendering courtesy of the Hoffman-Madison Marquette Waterfront team.

Eisenhower Memorial Concepts Go Before NCPC

Earlier this month, the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) met to discuss the latest plans for the Eisenhower Memorial, which is slated for a four-acre rectangular site across the street from the National Air & Space Museum along Independence Avenue between 4th Street and 6th Street. The memorial is being designed by famed architect Frank Gehry, which will be his first design that may actually get built in DC (several years ago, he designed an addition to the Corcoran which never got built due to lack of funding). There are three concepts for the memorial with the third option being the preferred design of the Eisenhower Memorial Commission. This alternative, called the Maryland Park concept, calls for Maryland Avenue to be realigned with the axis of the Capitol building but be closed to vehicular traffic; stone block sculptures with quotes from President Eisenhower surrounding a central grove of sycamore trees; and large woven stainless steel tapestries with scenery from Eisenhower's home town of Abilene, Kansas. The largest tapestry, at 550 feet, would essentially block the view of the U.S. Department of Education headquarters for visitors to the memorial, a building not universally loved for its 1960's architecture. Behind the large tapestry between it and the Department of Education building will be a 50-foot wide promenade, called the LBJ Promenade, which will have benches and landscaping and will serve as an access point to the memorial.

When the NCPC met, there was some concern about the design. In reviewing the memorial plans, the NCPC was using seven design principles created in 2006 to guide the site approval process. Those design principles, from the NCPC's Commission Action, are as follows:

1. Preserve reciprocal views to and from the U.S. Capitol along Maryland Avenue, SW.

2. Enhance the nature of the site as one in a sequence of public spaces embellishing the Maryland Avenue vista.

3. Create a unified memorial site that integrates the disparate parcels into a meaningful and functional public gathering place that also unifies the surrounding precinct.

4. Reflect L’Enfant Plan principles by shaping the memorial site as a separate and distinct public space that complements the Department of Education Headquarters and other surrounding buildings.

5. Respect and complement the architecture of the surrounding precinct.

6. Respect the building lines of the surrounding rights-of-way and the alignment of trees along Maryland Avenue.

7. Incorporate significant green space into the design of the memorial.

According to the NCPC, only design principles #2 and #7 are incorporated in the plans for the Maryland Park option, which means Gehry has a lot of work to do before the NCPC will give site approval.

Images courtesy of the National Capital Planning Commission.

NASA Stays Put

I tweeted about this a couple weeks ago, but here's a link to a story done in the Washington Business Journal about NASA headquarters renewing its lease at Two Independence Square, located at 4th & E Street. From the article:

The General Services Administration said Thursday it has signed a 597,253-square-foot lease for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration at Piedmont Office Realty Trust Inc.’s 300 E St. SW, opting for the space agency to stay in place at its current headquarters. The space agency had been on a closely watched prowl for about 600,000 square feet of District space for just shy of a year. It will stay in the same space under a new 15-year lease at an annual rent of $44.54 per square foot, the GSA said. As part of the succeeding lease, Piedmont will renovate the interior of the building over the next year.

At the neighboring One Independence Square, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) leases space, but that agency is moving down the street to Constitution Center.

Southwest Waterfront PUD Submitted

According to the Washington Business Journal, the developers of the new Southwest Waterfront have submitted the stage one Planned Unit Development (PUD) application. It appears that the number of residential units has increased in the PUD submission from when the PN Hoffman-Madison Marquette Waterfront team met with the community in September to present their plans. From the article:

The application, filed Feb. 10 with the Zoning Commission, proposes roughly 3.2 million square feet of gross floor area, including 1,200 mixed-income residential units, 400,000 square feet of office space, 200,000 square feet of retail, 625 hotel rooms, 100,000 square feet devoted to cultural activities, 25,000 square feet for maritime activities and 12 acres of parks and open space. Those numbers, from the notice of the filing issued Friday by the commission, suggests the project's scope has changed in recent months to go heavier on residential and lighter on office. As recently as September, the development plan featured 560 dwelling units and 840,000 square feet of office.

Back in December, the DC Council passed a bill to change the way affordable units will be divided at the Southwest Waterfront development. Under the new law, 30% of the first 500 units of housing will be set aside as affordable housing (half for those making 60% of Area Median Income, or AMI, which is about $109,000 for a family of four, and the other half for those making 30% of AMI). For the remaining 700 units, at least 20% will be set aside as workforce housing (for households making 80% to 100% of AMI). Construction is supposed to get underway on phase one, from 7th Street to 9th Street, by the end of 2012.

Update: The WBJ got outscooped by our local monthly paper...The Southwester!