A Couple Quick Items: Candidate Forums, New Stadium Renderings

It's election season!  There will be a mayoral forum this Saturday, focusing on issues affecting ANC 6D. The forum will start at 10am at Arena Stage and The Southwester's Editor-in-Chief Shannon Vaughn will serve as moderator. In addition, there will be a Ward 6 Council Election Forum on Tuesday, March 4 at Westminster Presbyterian Church between the two Democratic candidates running - Charles Allen and Darrel Thompson. This forum will be from 7pm to 9pm. Andrew Lightman, Managing Editor of Capital Community News, will moderate. The Primary Election will be held on April 1. Early voting begins on March 17 (go vote right after having some Guinness) and ends on March 29. No voting will occur on Sunday, March 23. Find your polling place here.

DC United unveiled new renderings of the proposed Buzzard Point stadium at a fan event over the weekend. No news has come out lately about progress with negotiations to build a new stadium for DC United at 2nd and R streets. The DC Council has yet to vote on it although it was expected to do so months ago.

Catching Up on a Few Quick Items: Micro-Units, Constitution Center, DC United, Green Bike Lanes, Retail, Early Voting

- Micro-units are planned for a portion of one of the rental apartment buildings in phase one of The Wharf, according to DCmud.  The micro-units are planned for parcel 2, which also includes the Wharf Center performance space and the co-gen plant. These units will range from 330 - 380 square feet and will have space-saving features such as built-in furniture and cabinets, Murphy beds, and small appliances. Large windows will offer views of the Washington Channel and some units will have small French balconies. The theory behind having smaller units is that the lifestyle of people in cities has changed - many renters spend less time in their living space and more time at restaurants, bars and other entertainment venues, which will all be present at The Wharf.  Smaller units are also more affordable for renters (and more profitable for developers).

Rendering courtesy of Hoffman-Madison Waterfront

- Constitution Center, the massive office building on top of the L'Enfant Plaza Metro station at 400 7th Street, will be occupied by the Federal Trade Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, according to an article in the Washington Business Journal. These tenants will fill the 1.4 million square-foot complex since the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Housing Finance Agency already committed to the bulk of the space after the SEC backed out of their lease in 2010.

- Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans mentioned in an interview with The Washington Post earlier this month that he hopes a framework of a deal for DC United to build a stadium at Buzzard Point will be in place by the end of the year.  From the article:

United would cover the costs of constructing the stadium but also seek to keep a share of the tax revenue. The D.C. Council would have to approve such a request. The city would also pay for infrastructure improvements at Buzzard Point, an undeveloped area next to Fort McNair near the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers. 

- More green bikes lanes have started to pop-up – the latest has appeared at the intersection of 4th and I Streets. Earlier this month, lanes were painted green at the intersection of South Capitol and I Streets. At the 4th & I intersection, the green bike lane was painted on 4th Street southbound leading to the intersection. In addition, a green bike box was painted at the intersection, a buffer area where cars are not supposed to cross when stopped at the intersection.

- A Caseys Coffee is coming to 355 E Street, the Phase 3 building of Patriots Plaza, according to DCmud. Construction of the 2,245 SF space is supposed to begin in November. The downtown location on L Street, NW is open Monday - Friday from 6:30am - 4:30 pm, so the new SW location will probably have similar hours. They serve coffee, soups, sandwiches, and salads.

- Early voting began this week at One Judiciary Square, but starting tomorrow, each ward will have a polling place open for early voting. The Ward 6 polling station is King Greenleaf Recreation Center at 201 N Street. The polls will be open each day (except Sunday) from October 27 - November 4 from 8:30am - 7pm.

General Election Unofficial Results

Southwest Waterfront Unofficial Election Results (Precincts 127, 128, 142)

Voter participation in the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood was higher than the District average, with margins of victory mostly similar to those District-wide or within Ward 6 (save for Ward 6 State Board of Education member candidate Monica Warren-Jones, who was up against Southwester Melissa Rohan).

• Registered Voter Participation Rate: 30.1% (27.8% District-wide)
• Delegate to U.S. House of Representatives: Eleanor Holmes Norton* with 88.3% of the vote (89.0% District-wide)
• Mayor: Vincent Gray with 76.8% of the vote (73.9% District-wide)
• DC Council Chair: Kwame Brown with 88.3% of the vote (87.8% District-wide)
• DC Council At-Large members: Phil Mendelson* & David Catania* with 56.8% and 30.6% of the vote, respectively (56.3% and 30.9% District-wide, respectively)
• DC Council Ward 6: Tommy Wells* with 88.1% of the vote (85.4% Ward-wide)
• US Representative: Mike Panetta* with 81.6% of the vote (82.4% District-wide)
• State Board of Education Ward 6: Monica Warren-Jones with 58.2% of the vote (66.7% Ward-wide)
• Proposed Charter Amendment IV to elect DC’s Attorney General: Passed with 74.1% of the vote (75.6% District-wide)
• ANC 6D 01: Bob Craycraft with 94.5% of the vote
• ANC 6D 02: Cara Lea Shockley with 40.2% of the vote
• ANC 6D 03: Ron McBee* with 54.5% of the vote
• ANC 6D 04: Andy Litsky* with 95.7% of the vote
• ANC 6D 05: Roger Moffatt* with 66.4% of the vote
• ANC 6D 06: Rhonda Hamilton* with 70.7% of the vote

Bellevue Unofficial Election Results (Precincts 124, 126)

Voter participation in Bellevue was lower than the District as a whole, but the margins of victory for most of the candidates (save At-Large incumbent David Catania), was wider than the District totals. Some of the voters in precinct 124 live in SE, but their polling station is located in Bellevue.

• Registered Voter Participation Rate: 21.3% (27.8% District-wide)
• Delegate to U.S. House of Representatives: Eleanor Holmes Norton* with 96.0% of the vote (89.0% District-wide)
• Mayor: Vincent Gray with 95.6% of the vote (73.9% District-wide)
• DC Council Chair: Kwame Brown with 96.4% of the vote (87.8% District-wide)
• DC Council At-Large members: Phil Mendelson* & David Catania* with 70.4% and 19.5% of the vote, respectively (56.3% and 30.9% District-wide, respectively)
• US Representative: Mike Panetta* with 89.7% of the vote (82.4% District-wide)
• Proposed Charter Amendment IV to elect DC’s Attorney General: Passed with 88.6% of the vote (75.6% District-wide)
• ANC 8D 04: Thea Dyson with 92.9% of the vote
• ANC 8D 05: Write-in with 100.0% of the vote
• ANC 8D 06: Write-in with 100.0% of the vote
• ANC 8D 07: Dionne Brown with 44.4% of the vote

* Incumbent

Visit the DC Board of Elections and Ethics website for more information on the general election results. Congratulations to all the winners!

It's Primary Day...Don't Forget to Vote!

Today is Primary Day, where Southwesters get to vote for Mayor, Council Chair, At-Large Council, Ward 6 (for those living on the west side of the Anacostia), U.S. Representative, and Delegate to the House of U.S. Representatives. While I am not endorsing any candidate for any of the offices on the ballot, here is a link to a post from the Gangplank Slipholders Association blog describing the Ward 6 debate between Council member Tommy Wells and challenger Kelvin Robinson. Polls are open from 7am to 8pm. Vote early and vote once!

Don't Forget to Vote!

Vote for your favorite proposal for the Engine 13 parcels by using the poll on the top left hand side of this blog. Here is a link to my post from last week with a description of each of the proposals as well as a link to DMPED's website with PDFs of the proposals that were presented at last Wednesday's meeting. The poll will remain open until Friday at 5pm. The results are non-binding, since DMPED has final say over who will be awarded the parcels, but they will be shared with the project director at DMPED in charge of the Engine 13 RFP. (The Google Earth map shows the location of the two parcels up for bid by DMPED)

It's Election Day!

I got back from England in time to vote, which I did this morning. If you haven't done so yet, PLEASE VOTE! I'll start posting again about SW by tomorrow.