Ed's Slideshow of the Courtyard Marriott Washington Capitol Hill / Navy Yard

Monday afternoon Ed and I headed out to where he was going to stay for the next couple of days. He was in town to do an interview with someone from the Department of Homeland Security for the journal he works for. The pictures show the area where he stayed.



Here's his commentary on the pictures he took:

I spent a few days at the Courtyard by Marriott Washington Capitol Hill / Navy Yard and was intrigued by the bizarre landscape of office and condo cubes rising 10-15 stories from scorched earth. The remnants of what used to be there slink in the shadows of the spotty presences of the steel and glass tumors in various stages of growth. [By the way, I edited out of the presentation a photo of Onyx Apartments with its huge banner proclaiming units for rent. I understand that the rent is rather high.] Weird that the Capitol and the Washington Monument are readily visible from certain spots. The baseball stadium, with its mural of vigorous athletes, also pops into view here and there. Furthermore, underneath the New Jersey Avenue overpass above some huge highway, there's a stable that supports a white horse and friends.

To say that it is an are in transition would be an understatement. This is the area where the new baseball stadium was built. Some government office were already there before the baseball stadium. But the stadium was supposed to bring in all sorts of development. Then the economy tanked and the development was stalled or slowed down. In some cases it has come to a complete halt. Some of the development projects are now back on track.

So the area is very hit and miss. Some very nice and impressive buildings. Some vacant lots. Some lots under construction. Some lots still have the buildings from before any development started. There are some impressive apartment buildings going up. One is the Onyx Apartments. Here's a link to their site. Take a look at the floor plans and the cost of rent.

The horses Ed mentions in his narrative are for the Capitol Hill police.

It was promised by the proponents of the baseball stadium that this area would be one of the go to places in Washington. As of yet, as Ed's pictures show, it has yet to measure up to that promise.