DC POPULATION GROWING GIVE OR TAKE 30K

The bueraucrats at the Census bureau out in Suitland finally figures out D.C. is growing, reports the WaPo. All those new condos in gentrified H St. NE and Petworth really do have brought new inhabitants to the city.

What does this say about the condo glut? Perhaps the builders have caught on early and it will only be a matter of time before they are filled and prices start going up again. Perhaps in 2008. Perhaps in 2010.

THE OLD RENTAL TO CONDO BACK TO RENTAL TRICK

In D.C. (presumably the whoe area), an estimated 25% to 40% of condos under development or apartments that were converted into condos for sale will be put back on the market as rentals, says Marcus & Millichap, an investment brokerage firm. The trend could put a damper on rising rents, reports USA Today.

If the trent applies to the whole area, the condos in D.C. surely will rent faster than those outside the Beltway.

SENATORS PUT UP SOME CASH FOR NEW DC LIBRARY

In approving the DC Appropriations bill, the Senate Approriations Committee $15M of the requested $30M for a new library downtown. "The Committee believes that a better library system will help the District lower its adult illiteracy rate of 37 percent and help improve lives and opportunities of DC residents," the panel said.

Whether you are for or against replacing the library, you have to hand it to Mayor Tony for his ability to move his pet projects forward.

WHAT'S UP IS DOWN AND WHAT'S DOWN IS UP

The rules for feeling safe in D.C. are changing. No longer can you say don't cross 16th St. or if I'm in Georgetown I don't need to worry about getting mugged or worse.

"This is a big difference from what we've seen in years past," Police Chief Charles Ramsey said in the WaPo, noting that criminals tended to stick within a mile of their homes when setting out for a night of robbery or burglary. "And it's a pattern that we've been tracking."

If this trend holds greater regional cooperation will be needed to fight crime in D.C. Good luck on that one.

Furthermore if you are not safe in Georgetown because its rich and attracts criminals what about Bethesda or Alexandria? Probably not safe either.

SCORE

DC Bubble still can't beleive the Lerners fought the partial below ground parking at the new stadium, which was endorsed yesterday according to the WaPo. We hope this does not get DC's relationship with the Lerners off on the bad foot. Perhaps the below grade parking will hinder construction creating short-term problems, but over the long-term its a win for D.C., for the stadium, for the Nats and the Lerners.

Herb Miller has proposed building 925 parking spots in two parking structures that go one level underground and four stories aboveground. The garages would be surrounded by retail shops on the first floor and condominiums that would make the total height of the structure 13 stories. A hotel, possibly in the Aloft chain, franchised by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., would be added near N and First streets.

Miller should be praised, not cursed.

WHEN BALDUCCI'S SAYS "NO" THEY MEAN...

maybe.

WashBiz is reporting that Balducci's is looking hard again at a store in Gallery Place/Downtown. The company will make more decisions in the next 60 days. Three-months ago, Balducci's backed out a deal, but now they may back-out of the back-out.

Or sublease the space to Magruder's or A&P Fresh Market."We've been promised a grocery store for a long time," says Jo-Ann Neuhaus, executive director of the Penn Quarter Neighborhood Association, who mobilized people to send e-mails.

C'mon Balducci's we need those two-buck tomatoes in Downtown. We really do.

STADIUM DEAL REACHED AGAIN!!!

How many times will we say: "At last a deal!" with respect to the baseball stadium in DC.

Well, we got another one. This time about the parking structure. Settling the above ground, below ground debate, Mayor Williams announced a hybrid above-below grade parking plan.

The plan calls for 900 parking spaces on one level below ground to serve the condo owners, hotel and retailers. Above ground, there would be two different structures.
The first two levels of both structures would be restaurants and shops and on top of those would be four levels of parking -- totaling 925 spots -- wrapped by condominiums. Another eight levels on top of that would be more condos, including 140 units priced below market value for lower-income residents.

Can you believe the Lerner's objected to below grade parking on the grounds it would slow construction. Do they not get why DC wanted the baseball stadium in the first place? Wasting all this valuable space with above-grade parking would have cost DC millions in lost tax revenue.

Ground Breaking In G'Town

National Park Service begins construction Monday on the long-awaited Georgetown Waterfront Park along the Potomac River, reports the AP.

The park will eventually replace a parking lot with a waterfront promenade that will include three overlooks with sculpted granite slabs etched with images of Georgetown's maritime heritage. There also will be trees, flowers, benches and pathways. The first phase of the park will stretch upstream from Wisconsin Avenue toward the Key Bridge.

But no playground, dog run, basketball court or anything that will make the park an active site. A glass half full is better than an empty one, but the redevelopment could be so much more.

ABOVE GROUND, BELOW GROUND

Mayor Tony Williams proposed selling a chunk of land near the new baseball stadium to Western Development, which would build 900 above and below grade spaces for Nats fans too crazy not to take Metro.

What's unfortunate here is that the Lerners, who own the team, are opposing below grade parking. DC Bubble hoped the owners would pitch in for parking, but rather than help make the stadium better, they blocking the effort because they want their new digs ASAP. Short-sighted.

You would have thought it would be the Lerners offering to buy the land not Herb Miller. This does not bode well for the Lerner regime.

FORGEY IN WAPO RAISES RED FLAG ABOUT ST. E'S PLANS

"For years, politicians, planners and citizens have discussed ways to bring the city's "forgotten half," east of the Anacostia River, into focus. ... [From the Point on the campus] when the leaves of the tall trees are down, the vista expands north to south from the campanile of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception to the Masonic tower on the hill above Alexandria."

Public access to the Point will never be, "if the federal government, which owns the 176-acre west campus, continues with its plans. The basic proposal: to transform the west campus into a headquarters compound for the Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security."

"Carrying out such plans would involve developing 4.5 million square feet -- a Pentagon-size allotment. Although most of the older buildings would be renovated as common facilities for eating and meeting, adding so many buildings would alter the bucolic character of the place -- and not for the better." DC Bubble's view is that the words bucolic and city don't often mix, particularly in a city like ours with so many collars on development."

"But the worst aspects of the federal plans -- from the point of view of public access to the Point and its future as a symbol of Washington's unity -- are the proposed military-style security arrangements. There would be no public access to the Point. Much of the compound would be surrounded by fences (incorporating the historic brick and stone wall along Martin Luther King Avenue), and buildings would be set back a minimum of 100 feet from the borders. (Or, if built within that line, they would be "hardened" to withstand explosives. In other words, they'd be bunkers, designed to look sort of normal.)"