Portions of The Wharf are Ahead of Schedule

 

Demolition continues apace over at The Wharf development. Phillips Flagship is now gone and the only building left along the waterfront from 7th Street to the Maine Avenue Fish Market is the Capital Yacht Club/Jenny’s Asian Fusion (both establishments have been relocated to the former Channel Inn).  Utility work along Maine Avenue should last until sometime in December.
 

Over at 6th and M streets (also known as Parcel 11), demolition began last Thursday at St. Augustine’s Church. Prior to the demolition, the copper beech tree on site was moved to the site of the future Waterfront Park near where the Maine Lobsterman statue used to be located (it has been put in storage and will be reinstalled near the Maine Avenue Fish Market). In the demolished church’s place will be a new St. Augustine’s, as well as 108 mixed-income condo units, which should be complete in 2016.

Even more progress has been made on the water side of The Wharf development as crews are months ahead of schedule. New docks and slips have been installed for the Capital Yacht Club to the east of 7th Street and piles are being driven for the massive District Pier that will extend from Maine Avenue at 9th Street out into the Washington Channel. Work on the seawall will also soon be underway. 

Meanwhile, renovations have been made to the former Channel Inn at 7th and Water streets and will contain several offices, including Perkins Eastman DC, Clark Construction, Capital Yacht Club, Jenny’s, Madison Marquette, E.R. Bacon Development, Hoffman-Madison Waterfront, and PN Hoffman & Associates (PN Hoffman’s corporate headquarters will remain at the Wharf – either at Parcel 3A or at Pier 4). Jenny's may re-open at the Channel Inn by next moth in a cafe format serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Houseboat Shuffle

In another sign that the transformation of the Southwest Waterfront to The Wharf will soon begin, houseboats at the Gangplank Marina have started to be relocated to temporary quarters. For instance, some houseboat owners at F Dock near 7th Street are being shifted south to C Dock. The houseboats are being moved so construction can begin on phase one of The Wharf. During this phase, the Capital Yacht Club will be moved from its current location next to Jenny’s Asian Fusion at 1000 Water Street and rebuilt between 7th and 9th streets. Back in August, Kastles Stadium at The Wharf was dismantled. No financing agreement has been publicly announced yet for the project and therefore no official construction start date has been set.

ANC to Vote on Stage 2 Wharf PUD

ANC 6D will vote tonight at their monthly meeting on the Stage 2 PUD application for phase one of The Wharf, the redevelopment of the Southwest Waterfront.  Phase One includes the area roughly from 7th Street to the Capital Yacht Club, as well as St. Augustine's Church and the cruise ship parking lot.  Highlights include three mixed income rental apartment buildings, one condo building, The 3,000-seat Wharf Center multipurpose cultural space, a co-generation plant, an office building for The Graduate School USA, an InterContinental Hotel, ground floor retail in all buildings and public spaces such as the Wharf promenade, District Pier, Transit Pier, 7th Street Park, Waterfront Park, and a series of Mews and Alleys.  Tonight's meeting will be held at 1100 4th Street, Second Floor, starting at 7pm. After the ANC vote, the Zoning Commission will hold four meetings to discuss various portions of the development:

• June 28 - General comments, Parcel 2A, and 2B, Co-Gen Plant, Parcel 1 temporary uses, Transit Pier
• July 2 - Parcels 3A, 3B, District Pier, Pier and Avenue Mews
• July 12 - Parcels 4A, 4B, Capital Yacht Club, CYC Plaza, Piazza Mews, Jazz Alley, 7th Street Park
• July 23 - Parcels 11A, 11B, Waterfront Park

If the PUD receives approval, construction on infrastructure will commence in the first half of 2013 with delivery in 2016.

Rendering courtesy of Hoffman-Madison Waterfront

Live-Aboards in Peril on the Waterfront?

The Washington Post follows up their coverage of Arena Stage and development in Southwest with a story about the live-aboard community at the Gangplank Marina, whose future is uncertain as the Southwest Waterfront is getting ready to be redeveloped. According to the article, the houseboat owners at the Gangplank Marina, which is the only live-aboard community in the District - about 150 people live there, haven't received a transition plan yet from the Hoffman-Madison Marquette team, who will be undertaking the redevelopment of the Southwest Waterfront. However, next door at the Capital Yacht Club, a transition plan is already in place. Despite the lack of a transition plan, the developers claim that Gangplank Marina will not disappear. From the article:

Shawn Seaman, PN Hoffman's project director for the Southwest waterfront project, said that once the project is completed, both Gangplank and the Capital Yacht Club will have the same number of slips and that the "bulkhead, promenade and marina slips will be reconstructed and improved as part of the project."

The first phase of development is supposed to take place from 7th Street to 9th Street, where the Gangplank Marina is located. Find out what other plans the developers have for the waterfront at Wednesday's Community Forum. Check the Upcoming Events page for details.

Emelina Back in DC

She’s BAAAACK. This morning, I noticed the yacht Emelina was docked at the Capital Yacht Club along the Southwest Waterfront. She was last in DC in June, but since then, readers from DC to Maine have been tracking her progress along the Eastern seaboard. As of Sunday, she was in Philadelphia, making her way back south from spending the summer in New England. When I saw the yacht today, there were five MPD vehicles lined up along the shoreline at East Potomac Park near where she was docked and I found that to be strange. Later, I checked out DCist and they reported that a body has been found on a boat at the Capital Yacht Club. More details to come.

Update: The AP is reporting a man's body was found under a dock this morning around 9am near the Capital Yacht Club and police are investigating.

Update #2: I heard on WTOP radio that the body was that of a 50-year old woman whose father owns a yacht at the Captial Yacht Club. So far, no foul play is suspected.