Nationals Stadium

[volboy23]

I heard that a 5 guys is going into the stadium. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I heard the vendors there are getting charged a ton of money to bethere, so they are going to have prices that are pretty high. Can't wait to see the new stadium opening day.

 

[dcshoechick]

From today's Post:


[h1]Ballpark Is Ready, but the Neighborhood Isn't[/h1] [h2]Fans Must Dodge Cement Mixers as D.C.'s Grand Vision for SE Gradually Takes Form[/h2] [table][tr][td]
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By Daniel LeDuc and David Nakamura
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, March 24, 2008; Page A01

Nationals Park opens this weekend and appears nearly complete. But it's surrounded for blocks by a construction zone.

Fans arriving by Metro will emerge from a station housed in a building that is a still a maze of concrete and steel girders. From there, they will walk an unsightly path along a chain-link fence -- protecting a four-story-deep hole, soon to be a hotel basement -- en route to the glitz and game.

By car, it won't look any better. Motorists must navigate streets bounded by Jersey barriers, then find parking lots set among towering cranes and shells of office buildings and condominium high-rises.

Despite appearances, this is just the way District leaders hoped it would be: a ballpark set amid a vast Southeast Washington neighborhood in the middle of one of the biggest overhauls in city history. Some 500 acres are to be transformed, spreading south from Capitol Hill to the Anacostia River, sweeping away an accumulation of old auto body shops, sex clubs and debris-filled lots -- so dramatically that officials want to give the area a new name: Capitol Riverfront.

Roughly $6.1 billion worth of construction is underway, with planners estimating that it will eventually include more than 12 million square feet of office space, 9,000 residential units, 1,200 hotel rooms and 800,000 square feet of shops, restaurants and other entertainment venues.

"It's really going to be the center of a lot of development," said former mayor Anthony A. Williams (D), who championed the ballpark's location in Southeast.

Change in the neighborhood began even before Williams and Major League Baseball selected the 21-acre site along South Capitol Street in 2004. Critics of the city's decision to spend more than $600 million in public money for a new home for the Nationals say that's just the point: The money wasn't needed for economic development since a makeover was already underway.

Supporters said the ballpark provided a welcome jolt. "All those things were already happening. . . . What the baseball stadium did was accelerate it," Williams said. "It's coming faster than I expected it to be."

Unnecessary boondoggle or healthy catalyst, there is no doubt the ballpark will spur the neighborhood's evolution. But as fans will see when they begin arriving next week, the evolution is still in its early stages.

Fans might grumble that there are plenty of cement mixers but virtually no restaurants or bars -- and only one Starbucks -- in the blocks immediately surrounding the ballpark.

Some of the choicest land is caught up in a legal battle over who should develop it, which will probably delay plans for the important block of Half Street between the Navy Yard Metro station and the ballpark. One of the neighborhood's most potentially scenic spots -- between the ballpark and the riverfront -- is still home to an operating concrete plant, marring the view of the Anacostia from the top decks for at least another year.

Construction of the ballpark was completed in 22 months, making it one of the fastest ever built. That pace was dictated, however, by the prolonged political debate between Williams and opponents on the .C. Council over a financing plan. It took nearly two years to reach an agreement -- forcing the compressed construction schedule to get everything in place for the 2008 baseball season. Other projects need time to catch up, city and business leaders said.


One of the loudest voices in the stadium financing debate was Adrian M. Fenty's. As a council member, he questioned the wisdom of such a big investment. Now, as mayor, he must ensure that it pays off by ridingherd on the blossoming development in hopes of boosting the city's tax base.

The city could have gotten a better deal to build the ballpark more cheaply but that what matters now is getting the project done.

"It's going to be a great boon for the city, both for civic pride and from a revitalization perspective. What the stadium has done is to help givea spark and an energy level to projects that were already going to happen and to those that wouldn't have happened," he said.

Putting the ballpark in Southeast was just as important to Williams as bringing baseball back to Washington after a three-decade absence. Three otherlocations were seriously considered, but none, he and other city leaders decided, would have had the ripple effect in the surrounding neighborhoods.

But the choice was not without risks -- and that's why a big payoff is no sure thing. Unlike Verizon Center, which opened in Gallery Place in 1997 and hasbecome a nightlife hub, the baseball stadium location was removed from the downtown core, easily reachable by just one Metro station. As Nationals owners havefound out, parking is hard to come by -- one reason many fans will be shuttling to the games via buses from the Nationals' old home, RFK Stadium.

The idea that a city that was nearly bankrupt in the mid-1990s would shell out the full cost of a stadium for rich Major League Baseball owners outragedresidents in poorer neighborhoods. Even now, many of the project's loudest critics continue to argue that the massive public subsidy was misguided.

"Whether or not a stadium spurs development does not answer the question of whether a city investment of $650 million or $700 million isjustified," said Ed Lazere, executive director of the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, who spearheaded the opposition. "It'snot clear that the development we're getting relative to the cost is a great deal. The city could have spent $650 million lots of ways on lots ofdevelopment."

Business leaders, asked to pay much of the stadium costs through a new "ballpark fee," were divided, with many smaller companies balking. Barbara Lang, president of the .C. Chamber of Commerce, said somemembers remain unhappy.

Lang has adopted a wait-and-see attitude. "We try to say if the city overall benefits from development near the stadium, that will lessen the taxburden on everyone, and that's a good thing," she said.

By comparison, developers eagerly backed Williams's ballpark proposal. And they saw reasons to get excited about the location. The neighborhood hadalready seen its first wave of growth after the Navy Yard's mission expanded in the late 1990s to include the Naval Sea Systems Command, attracting severalnew buildings along M Street to house military contractors.

The new headquarters of the U.S.Transportation Department came next. After that, in 2004, the federal government opened up the Southeast Federal Center for development. Forest City, a nationally known developer, now controls 44 acresjust west of the Navy Yard, from M Street to the river, with plans for offices and condos and a waterfront park.
Other developers took note. Monument Realty, a company formed only in 1999, began to buyland just as talk of the ballpark possibly coming to the neighborhood began to filter


Monument is developing the building on M Street that houses the Metro station closest to the ballpark, as well as the land behind the building and otherparcels. The company wants to develop offices, stores, a hotel and housing, and it had a plan for slower development if the ballpark didn't come. Butbaseball "puts a stamp of approval on the neighborhood," company Executive Vice President Russell Hines said.

Still, the blocks closest to the ballpark -- the place developers, city officials and Nationals executives hope will become the hub of pre- and postgame activity at bars and restaurants -- may face the biggest delays.

Only in recent weeks did Metro agree to move out of its bus garage just north of the ballpark. Monument is engaged in a legal battle with Metro over who will develop the site.

After nearly 10 years of development proposals, the Florida Rock cement factory just south of the ballpark, a gritty industrial site crowded with dump trucks, received preliminary approval from the Zoning Commission last week for new offices, residences and stores along the Anacostia. It is not expected to break ground until next year.

To the east sits the .C. Water and Sewer Authority O Street pumping station, occupying four choice acres with no development plans.

Still, as the Verizon Center experience showed, it takes time for shops and restaurants and bars to spring up between office towers and condo buildings.

D.C. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) said it took about eight years for now-bustling Gallery Place to become built up. "You're looking at a decade before you really see the effects of the baseball stadium. But it will happen."

Staff writer Jacqueline Dupree contributed to this report.

 

[jupeezy]

they moving some folks outta that area but i mean its still the same basically...just got a brand new stadium across the street now...whats the parkingsituation gonna b like down there?

 

[varisoxfan]

Originally Posted by volboy23

I heard that a 5 guys is going into the stadium. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I heard the vendors there are getting charged a ton of money to be there, so they are going to have prices that are pretty high. Can't wait to see the new stadium opening day.

From what Ive heard 5 Guys wont be there, but there will be one outside the stadium, a friend I went to high school is pretty high up in the managementwith 5 guys and thats what he had told me. 5 Guys isnt really made to be stadium food, takes to long to prepare and cook for them to be effective. It wouldtake like an inning to get your food.

Best bet for parking will be parking at RFK and taking the shuttle over to the new stadium, you cant beat that for free, especially since they charged like $15for parking at RFK last year.

 

[rockdeep]

Yeah... sometimes the Lease Management folks don't realize, charging high rent to Vendors makes it a bad experience for the Fans.. and eventually Fanswon't get anything and the Vendors won't survive OR WANT to be there anymore.

 

[renzo289]

they thought it was cool to tear down the projects and put up million dollar condos...gentrification...

 

[baby juice]

Nationals are stupid... they let a highschool team play there this weekend. That's like buying a house and letting your neighbor sleep it it before you.SMH.

 

[ineed23s]

I wonder which is going to happen first...
A) Fools do something IGNORANT or STUPID (or both) to the stadium on an EVERY DAY BASIS... spray paint the walls, try to break in, etc. etc.
B) The area DIRECTLY SURROUNDING the area turns into a hot spot for the pusers/dealers/whatever...
C) The games turn into the new hot spot to show off shoes/clothes/etc. etc. for us "shoe-heads" "j-walkers" whatever...
D) All of the above happens within one week after the stadium hosts its first game...
Sad... but probably true..

 

[dcshoechick]

Yeah, every time I drive by and see those fresh walls I think to myself "That's a graffiti dream right there."

 

[varisoxfan]

Originally Posted by Ineed23s

I wonder which is going to happen first...
A) Fools do something IGNORANT or STUPID (or both) to the stadium on an EVERY DAY BASIS... spray paint the walls, try to break in, etc. etc.
B) The area DIRECTLY SURROUNDING the area turns into a hot spot for the pusers/dealers/whatever...
C) The games turn into the new hot spot to show off shoes/clothes/etc. etc. for us "shoe-heads" "j-walkers" whatever...
D) All of the above happens within one week after the stadium hosts its first game...
Sad... but probably true..

Yea, people are going to be "pushing" outside of a stadium, give me a break, y'all acting like this is the first city to have a stadium in acity.

Who is going to get dressed up and try to look like some hypebeast at a baseball game? You would look like a idiot.

 

[ineed23s]

Originally Posted by VARISOXFAN

Originally Posted by Ineed23s

I wonder which is going to happen first...
A) Fools do something IGNORANT or STUPID (or both) to the stadium on an EVERY DAY BASIS... spray paint the walls, try to break in, etc. etc.
B) The area DIRECTLY SURROUNDING the area turns into a hot spot for the pusers/dealers/whatever...
C) The games turn into the new hot spot to show off shoes/clothes/etc. etc. for us "shoe-heads" "j-walkers" whatever...
D) All of the above happens within one week after the stadium hosts its first game...
Sad... but probably true..

Yea, people are going to be "pushing" outside of a stadium, give me a break, y'all acting like this is the first city to have a stadium in a city.

Who is going to get dressed up and try to look like some hypebeast at a baseball game? You would look like a idiot.

I agree this isnt the FIRST city.. obviously.. and HONESTLY I hope all this DOESNT happen here..but are you ignorant to the fact that this stuff MIGHThappen?? All I am saying is all this MIGHT happen.. AND .. I SERIOUSlY believe that people WILL be getting fresh for the game.. DO YOU THINK THEY ARE NOT!?!?lol.. I peronally wont.. but PEOPLE will.. its what?!?! 50,000 people there.. SOMEONE is going to look like an idiot.. lol.. you understand what I am sayingnow.. hope this stuff DOESNT happen.. but pretty sure it MAY

 

[varisoxfan]

Buddy, Ive been to about 20 MLB Stadiums, stadiums in much worse places then where the current one is nobody is "pushing wieght" outside of a goddamn baseball stadium. This is a huge investment in the city and if you think there will be an open area to even think about doing that, you have watched tomany gangster movies or listened to to many Pusha T songs.

Yea, there are always some who go to baseball game to be seen with some new shoes, but your going to look like an idiot because nobody is there to gawk overwhat some idiot paid for a pair of SB's, and if you are, you need to reevaluate your life. Nobody cares whats going on with your feet, people are there tosee a baseball game in a state of the art stadium.

This isnt something that was put together overnight, lots of money and change in the city is riding on this. Are people "pushing weight" outside ofthe MCI Center? Um no. Thats one of the safest parts of the city which will be the same as where the Nationals Stadium is.

 

[phillykid37]

Yankee Stadium is in by far the worst neighborhood among sporting arenas/stadiums.

United Center in Chicago a close 2nd.

I'll be there once I get out of school.

Cubs play Nats weekend of the 25th! Best believe I'm going to atleast 2 out of the 3!

 

[varisoxfan]

Yankee is pretty rough, but once again, its not like dudes are out posted up dealing during game days, give me a break.

 

[baby juice]

Yea lol.. only people youll be seeing outside a stadium posted up is bammas tryna scalp tickets.... and 90% of the people attending games arent from DC andwill be hurrying to get too their cars anyways.

 

[ineed23s]

Alright, that's cool.. I wrote it for simple discussion.. LOL.. that's all.. If I sound stupid (Which most of you seem to think I do) I do apologize..and point taken about the MCI center... you are definitely right about that... hey.. it is what it is.. and I as I said before I never said this is GOING tohappen.. just wondering if it would or even could... it's all good though..

 

[varisoxfan]

looks like I was wrong about 5 Guys, there will be one inside the stadium as well as well as outside.

 

[ScroogeMcBuckz]

I've never been big on eating at ballgames but a slice from Pizzaboli's & and bottled water would make my day.

 

[varisoxfan]

Originally Posted by AceBoogie

I've never been big on eating at ballgames but a slice from Pizzaboli's & and bottled water would make my day.

Word, burger and frys during a 90 degree DC day....

soundsterrible.

 

[baby juice]

plus its prob. $15

 

[teets21]

Pics from the GW game last week.

 

[ican]

this gone be the new date spot. lol.

true story.

 

[teets21]

I'm not sure if you guys know but the area I circled is a bar up top. Seems like that area is gonna be packed all the time

 

[varisoxfan]

Last one is a view from my seats

 

[marleysprotege]

just found out i got tickets for tomorrow night ... im hype