Amid the media attention focusing on last week’s Inauguration, the Congressionally chartered home mortgage loan giant Fannie Mae announced it pulled out of its plans to move some of its staff to Southwest D.C. Hailed as one of the key pieces to spur redevelopment in the vicinity of the Waterside Mall on M Sreeet SW, a Fannie spokesman says “[t]he decision is one of several actions Fannie Mae has taken to reduce future costs in order to accelerate the increase in the company’s capital.”

Fannie, which is headquartered out of Upper Northwest on Wisconsin Avenue next to McLean Gardens, had intended to keep its headquarters in Northwest. Its Southwest building would have added new office space for the growing staff of 3,700 people, but as Reuters reported last week, Fannie’s stewing accounting problems have made the company rethink its expansion decisions. Fannie has told investors “to expect a $9 billion after-tax loss” once it reconciles accounting erros.

The Post reported that the District is disappointed with the news. Fannie’s intended location on M Street SW would have infused the area with daytime activity. The proposed South Capitol Street baseball stadium, just a few blocks away, would not generate the same kind of daytime pedestrian traffic.

We’re sure that the coalition of developers on the Waterside Mall project — Kaempfer Co., Bresler & Reiner and Forest City Enterprises — are peeved. Their next task? Finding a new tenant. Construction to revamp the Waterside Mall will be delayed a year, the Post reports. So it may not be until 2010 when the new Waterside is complete.