Former SEU Campus Building Under Contract

It was reported in Capital Business today that The Shakespeare Theatre Co. has the former Southeastern University (SEU) campus at 6th and I streets under contract.  The campus has been vacant since The Graduate School USA absorbed SEU and the university lost its accreditation in 2009. At first, it was thought that The Graduate School USA would expand its L’Enfant Plaza campus to 6th and I streets, then it was announced in 2011 that the school would be the anchor tenant at The Wharf. Afterwards, the campus was put on the market. There were some suitors for the campus, including Apple Tree Early Learning Public Charter School, who wanted to renovate the building for a school, but that proposal never resulted in the sale of the building. It was announced publicly last week that The Graduate School USA had backed out of The Wharf deal due to federal government budget issues. 

The Capital Business article states that the Shakespeare Theatre Co. proposes an actors’ campus for the site, which would include actors’ housing, rehearsal space, and storage for costumes and set equipment.  It would not just serve as a campus for Shakespeare, but it could also serve other theater companies who have similar space challenges. From the article:

Neither Shakespeare nor Graduate School USA officials released the terms of the contract. [Chris] Jennings said he is in the early stages of determining how to finance his idea. Shakespeare could partner with a developer on a mixed-use project in which some of the market-rate housing helps pay for the artist and theater space. He also plans to approach D.C. officials about support the government may be able to provide.

The campus is slightly under one acre in size and is currently zoned as R-3, which allows matter-of-right development of single-family residential uses (detached, semi-detached, and row dwellings), churches, and public schools. Depending on what Shakespeare has planned, the campus may need to be rezoned. Next door to the campus is Amidon-Bowen Elementary school and row homes. Across the street is the SW Duck Pond. It is located two blocks north of Arena Stage and three blocks from the Waterfront Metro station.

A Few Quick Items: SW Waterfront House Legislation Advances, Fish Market is Location of the Month, SEU to be Removed from Metro Name, Maine Ave Road Work Delayed

- Last week, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee passed DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton's bill to allow the development of the Southwest Waterfront as currently planned to proceed. H.R. 2297 clears up some legal issues regarding the transfer of the Southwest Waterfront that occurred between the Federal government and the District back in the 1960s which will allow the construction of piers that extend out to the Washington Channel. The bill will also ensure the Maine Lobsterman statue and Titanic Memorial will be maintained, although the Lobsterman statue may be moved to another area of The Wharf. An affirmative vote in the full House and Senate will allow the development to proceed. Rendering courtesy of Hoffman-Madison Waterfront

- DC's Office of Motion Picture and Television Development has designated the Maine Avenue Fish Market as the One City Location of the Month for the month of November. Back in March, the MPTD began the monthly designation to help bring attention to sights in the city that can be used as filming locations. The fish market was most recently featured in the film "State of Play". Arena Stage was designated back in April.

- WMATA decided in a meeting last week to make some changes to Metro station names ahead of a reworking of the Metrorail map needed to reflect service changes as well as the introduction of the Silver Line. In Southwest, the Waterfront-SEU station will revert back to its original name - Waterfront. Since Southeastern University is no longer in existence, that appendage has been dropped. A bid to add Arena Stage to the station name, which was supported by ANC 6D, was rejected by the Metro board. Also, a proposal to add National Mall to the Smithsonian Metro station name was rejected. The Navy Yard station in Near SE will become Navy Yard-Ballpark. These changes will be implemented in the fall of 2012.

- ANC 6D 01 Commissioner Bob Craycraft reports on his Facebook page that DDOT has pushed back the completion date of the road work on Maine Avenue near the fish market to the end of November. The road work was originally scheduled to be complete back in mid-October. Below is a description from DDOT about what is being done to the road:

The project will replace the existing 4-foot-wide sidewalk with a new 14-foot-wide trail, accommodating both bicyclists and pedestrians, and replace the existing road surface. Installation of new storm water drainage elements, bio-retention areas, trees, lighting, signs, curb, gutter and fencing is also included in the project. To accommodate these amenities, on-street parking in this area will be eliminated. The number of vehicular lanes will be reduced from two to one and some driveway entrances to businesses will be realigned. 

A Few Quick Items: Proposed ANC 6D Map, Waterfront-SEU Station Name Change, Z-Burger Getting Closer to Opening

- At last week's ANC 6D meeting, a new ANC single-member district map was adopted by the commissioners, contrary to the map approved by the Ward 6 Redistricting Task Force. In the new map, 6D01 loses its portion of The Wharf to 6D04, while 6D05 gains the block bounded by M Street, I Street, 4th Street and 3rd Street (including the eastern portion of Waterfront Station and the Southwest Library). 6D06 remains largely unchanged - it gains a block currently covered by 6D03. However, the biggest changes come to 6D03, 6D02, and 6D07. 6D03 loses the large block mentioned previously to 6D05, gains more of Capitol Park from 6D02 and crosses South Capitol Street to cover portions of Near SE. 6D02 gains Potomac Place, while 6D07 gets a single block in Southwest, which happens to be the block where former ANC 6D03 commissioner Mary Williams lives. She made a plea to be moved out of 6D03 during one of the redistricting meetings in July. The Ward 6 Redistricting Task Force will vote on the proposed change to the map tomorrow. 

- Also at last week's ANC meeting, the commissioners voted to recommend changing the name of the Waterfront-SEU Metro station to Waterfront-Arena Stage and alternatively SW Waterfront if the first name is rejected by WMATA due to the length of the name. A proposal to add Banneker Park to the L'Enfant Plaza Metro station did not come up for a vote due to the length of the proposed name. (via JDLand)

- "One month from today" is the latest news I received from the proprietor of Z-Burger on Sunday for when the restaurant would bring its burgers, shakes and malts to Waterfront Station. I saw some workers inside the restaurant earlier this week, so we'll see if it opens by mid-October next to Station 4. TD Bank has signed a lease to open a branch in the vacant space to the north of Station 4, but an opening date is unknown at this time.

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.

AppleTree Exploring Bid to Buy Southeastern U. Building

A couple agenda items at last night's ANC 6D meeting dealt with Southeastern University, which closed its doors in August 2009. The first item was a resolution by Commissioner Sobelsohn to remove -SEU from the name of the Waterfront-SEU Metro station. The SEU campus and name was purchased by the GS Graduate School earlier this year. GS Graduate School has been mum on their plans for the building at 6th & I Street, but it appears that the school building may now be on the market. As a result, the ANC voted 3-0-1 to remove SEU from the Metro station name.

The second SEU-related item was that Jack McCarthy from AppleTree Early Learning Public Charter School mentioned that the school is exploring the option of expanding its presence in Southwest by bidding on the SEU building. Currently, AppleTree does activities at Amidon-Bowen Elementary and Riverside Baptist Church locally, but does not have sufficient space to do all its programming. AppleTree also has a campus in Columbia Heights and Hill East. Cost estimates for renovating the SEU building for use by AppleTree is approximately $150/SF with about a third of the cost needed to upgrade building systems. Under the proposal offered by McCarthy, no floors would be added to the building, but some of the parking lot would be covered with playground equipment. AppleTree hopes to formally place their bid by mid-December and depending on the selection process, if the school is selected by GS Graduate School, McCarthy hopes to have some classrooms available by August 2011 when the new school year begins. After some discussion by the Commissioners and positive audience comments about the SEU building remaining a school under this proposal, the ANC voted 5-0-1 to support AppleTree's bid.

CaBi Arrives at Waterfront Station

A 15-bike Capital Bikeshare station was installed across the street from the Waterfront-SEU Metro station today. Service on the bike sharing program, which spans 110 stations with 1,100 bikes in the District and parts of Arlington County, will begin on Monday, September 20th. There will be a total of five Capital Bikeshare stations located in Southwest - Waterfront Station; 4th Street on the National Mall; 7th & I Street near Jefferson Middle School; 12th & Independence Avenue at USDA headquarters; and 7th & C Street near L'Enfant Plaza. Check out the Capital Bikeshare website for a map of all the stations and how to sign up. I took a couple of nighttime photos of the bike share station - I'll try to get some daytime photos tomorrow. Above is a photo of the station, located at the northwest corner of 4th & M Street.

Here are instructions on how to use the bike share station. Will any of you be using Capital Bikeshare?

Update: Below is a daytime photo of the Waterfront Station Capital Bikeshare station, with bikes now docked.

Bike Share Expansion Announced

The District Government announced on Friday during Bike to Work Day (and has been widely reported in the press) that DC will be teaming up with Arlington County to create an expanded bike share program between the two jurisdictions, which will become the largest bike share program in the U.S. It is likely that the expanded bike share program, which will contain 1,100 bikes at 114 stations, will include portions of Southwest (my guess is one will be located at the Waterfront-SEU Metro station). The current bike share program in DC only has ten stations - all located in Northwest. DC's burgeoning bike lane network includes 4th Street. Bike lanes were installed on the recently reopened portion of 4th Street and will connect to the bike lanes that run on Pennsylvania Avenue, NW later this year, as WashCycle reported last week.

Above is a bike share station used by the National Park Service, located in West Potomac Park at NPS Headquarters.

Safeway and 4th Street Almost Ready for Opening

The new Safeway at Waterfront Station is less than 48 hours away from opening and over the past few days, the final touches have been put in place. As the photo at the top of this post shows, store signage is now up, including signs illuminated with the Safeway logos. Restrictions on vehicle traffic on 4th Street should be lifted by the end of the week as Safeway opens its doors to customers. Below are some photos of the new 4th Street street scape.

Here is a daytime view of part of the Safeway storefront.

There will be some outdoor space at the bistro planned by Med Lahlou.

Large trees have been installed in the Waterfront-SEU Metro station plaza.

Multi-space parking meters have been installed on a landscaped 4th Street.

Update: There will be an official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the reopening of 4th Street on Friday morning at 10:30am. I cannot attend since I've been out of town for the past couple of days and need to be at work. If any of you attend, feel free to send photos of the ribbon-cutting to southwest.tlqtc@gmail.com!

4th Street Close to Completion

Over the past few days, 4th Street has been getting closer to completion, with road crews taking advantage of the warmer weather to lay the final layer of asphalt on the street and repairing intersections. Currently, the road is only open to DC government tenants at Waterfront Station and their guests. That could change soon, as the stretch of road between I Street and M Street now has lane markings and appears to be mostly complete. As of Saturday night, though, when I walked home from the Waterfront-SEU Metro, the new streetlights at the intersection of 4th & I Street haven't been turned on yet. The street has been designed to help calm traffic in an area that will experience high pedestrian traffic. There are bike lanes on both sides of 4th Street and one car lane in each direction. The road has a slight curve to it and sidewalks are wide, with park benches lining the street.

Above is a photo of road crews laying the final layer of asphalt in front of 1100 4th Street.

Fences Come Down!

As of yesterday, pedestrians can now freely walk up and down 4th Street and access the Waterfront-SEU Metro station from north of I Street. Direct pedestrian access to the Metro from the north has been blocked since November 2007, when the Waterside Mall was demolished to make way for Waterfront Station. As I was driving west on M Street this morning, I noticed the traffic light at the corner of 4th & M Street has a green arrow pointing to the right, which gave me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. It’s the little things that make my day better like having a more direct route home by car or by foot. As a matter of fact, I will start using the Waterfront-SEU Metro more often now if I'm travelling to a Green Line destination instead of walking to the L'Enfant Plaza Metro. The actual street surface on 4th is still not complete, so only DC government employees and guests are currently allowed to drive on the street. However, 4th Street is scheduled to open to all vehicular traffic by the end of the month.

Update: Reader Andrew says that park benches are being installed today near the intersection of 4th & I Street.

A Stroll Down 4th Street

This afternoon, I took a stroll down the soon-to-be opened 4th Street and despite the cloudy skies, I took some photos. The roadway has not received the final layer of asphalt yet, so when DCRA opens their office space at Waterfront Station tomorrow, the road will only be open to tenants and guests. Once the sun decides to come back out next week, I'll take some more of the area, but in the meantime, these cloudy images will have to do. Above is a photo of the 4th Street corridor looking south towards M Street and the Waterfront-SEU Metro station.

This is 1100 4th Street (East Tower). The retail space covered in blue is where CVS will be located; the green retail spot hasn't been filled yet and the orange space is where Safeway will open.

Here is a close-up of the CVS space, which is supposed to open in late May or early June.

Workers were busy working inside the new Safeway at the base floor of 1100 4th Street and a quick peek inside shows the neon glow of the Starbucks sign at one of the store entrances.

This is the entrance to Safeway that's closest to the Waterfront-SEU Metro entrance. The shared wall between the new and old Safeway stores is visible.

The parking garage for Safeway is off of 4th Street. With a minimum $8 purchase at Safeway, parking will be validated for 90 minutes.

Here is a view of part of the Metro plaza, which is still under construction.

This is 1101 4th Street (West Tower). The lobbies of each of the office buildings have a large map showing Pierre L'Enfant's plan for the city, which seems appropriate since the reopening of 4th Street restores part of the vision L'Enfant had for the Southwest quadrant of the District.

This corner retail spot at 1101 4th Street will most likely be where the 4,000 square foot restaurant planned by Med Lahlou will be located. There is space for outdoor seating and will be a good spot for people-watching right across from the Metro entrance.

The parking garage for the West Tower tenants is located in the rear of the building.

Metro Plaza Work Begins

The pathway to the Waterfront-SEU Metro station entrance has been shifted to "4th Street" - I put 4th Street in quotes because the top layer of asphalt has not been laid yet on the street. The temporary shift in placement of the pathway will allow the construction of the Metro plaza located to the east of the metro entrance. A construction worker told me the DC government tenants have already started the process of moving furniture to their office space. Representatives from Waterfront Associates, the developers of Waterfront Station, will be at Monday's ANC 6D meeting (see agenda here). Hopefully, they will have a definitive date when 4th Street will reopen, whether they have been able to secure leases with retailers, and how they will dress up those unsightly EPA towers flanking their brand new development. Below is a photo of the 4th Street corridor looking north towards I Street as it curves through Waterfront Station.

What Should Waterfront-SEU Metro be Renamed?

With construction set to start on the new Waterfront-SEU Metro station plaza before the end of the year, perhaps it’s a good time to bring up the subject (as readers have done in the past) of the name of the Metro station itself. Southeastern University shuttered its doors back in September, so its future is in doubt. Perhaps WMATA should consider dropping SEU from the station name and add the name of a major historic institution in the area like Fort McNair? Waterfront-Fort McNair would give a good description of the neighborhood the Metro station covers. Fort Lesley J. McNair has been at Buzzard Point since 1794 and is the third oldest military installation in the nation (according to Wikipedia), so I doubt it will be going anywhere soon, unless a future BRAC Act closes the fort. Another alternative could be to rename the station Waterfront-Buzzard Point. Using Buzzard Point in the Metro station name would give attention to a neglected neighborhood that will be undergoing dramatic changes over the next couple of decades. Instead of replacing SEU with another local destination, WMATA could simplify the name by renaming the station Waterfront or Southwest Waterfront. In most cases, the way a station name change happens is the local government (in this case the DC Government) makes a request to WMATA to change the name of a station and will also pay for any expenses related to the name change. We'll see if the DC Government will opt to have the name changed, but at any event, what would you rename the Metro station? Vote in December’s poll on the upper left corner of the sidebar and feel free to leave a comment after this post.

SWNA Forum Tomorrow

SWNA will be hosting a community forum on Monday night with Council members Tommy Wells, Kwame Brown, and Michael Brown at St. Augustine's Church @ 7pm. The first 15 minutes of the forum will be an informal "meet & greet" session, followed by a five minute speech from each Council member on their vision for the SW-Near SE neighborhood. Afterwards, there will be a question & answer period. Those of you who want the Waterfront-SEU Metro name changed, for instance, or want to know what's going on with the Consolidated Forensics Lab, should attend the forum and ask your elected officials.

Road & Metro Station Closures

- DDOT announced streetcar tracks are being installed on parts of South Capitol Street on the east side of the Anacostia River. As a result, traffic at the intersection of South Capitol Street and Firth Sterling Avenue, SE will be reduced to one lane on each side, which began on September 16th and will last until September 30th. The Anacostia segment of the streetcar network is supposed to be operational in late 2012.

- DDOT is scheduled to close a lane on the Southeast-Southwest Freeway (I-395) this Sunday to conduct a field survey in the roadway. The far right lane on the eastbound side of I-395, west of the Francis Case Memorial Bridge, will be closed from 8 am to approximately 2pm. Additional work will be conducted next weekend on the opposite side of I-395. On Sunday, September 27, the right westbound lane will be closed from 8am to 2pm.

- Fox 5 News reports that some Metro stations will be closed during Columbus Day weekend, including L'Enfant Plaza and Waterfront-SEU. Metro is replacing four rail switches at L'Enfant Plaza. The stations will be closed October 9th starting at 9:30pm and re-open Tuesday October 13.

Waterfront Metro Station Plaza Renderings

Construction moves along at Waterfront Station, including the Waterfront-SEU Metro plaza, which was designed by Oculus, a DC-based landscape architecture firm. To the right is a rendering of an aerial view of what the plaza will look like, from Oculus' website. It will be nice to see all of those trees lining the newly reopened 4th Street, as well as the plaza itself! From the rendering, it appears that the plaza will have pavers of varying size. The building to the right of the five poles isn't a part of phase one of Waterfront Station. The current Safeway is located at that site and will be demolished after the new store opens in the East Tower building in 2010. Below is a street-level rendering of the plaza, looking north from M Street.

The white rectangle on the right side of the image is the Metro elevator. What do you think of the Metro plaza design?

What's Next for SEU's Campus?

With Southeastern University set to lose its accreditation with the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools at the end of this month, it’s more than likely that the University will close or merge with the GS Graduate School. If SEU moves out of its current home at 501 I Street, what will happen to its campus? Would a charter school move in, or would DCPS expand Amidon-Bowen, which is next door? Perhaps UDC would open up a satellite community college campus as a part of their reorganization effort? Since some of the facilities at SEU have recently been upgraded as a part of The Campaign for Southeastern, all of these scenarios are somewhat plausible. Why wouldn’t a school or college want to move into recently remodeled classroom space, despite the unaesthetic “historic” exterior of the building IMHO? The campus is nestled in a residential neighborhood with row homes on one side, an elementary school on another side, across the street from Town Center Park, and is within walking distance of the Waterfront-SEU Metro, so a variety of uses could potentially work well at the site. If the future owner of the SEU campus decides to tear down the building for a non-educational use, what should be built in its place? (Above is a photo of SEU, taken today)