You have to step back from D.C. occasionally to see how significantly the look of the city is changing in a short space of time. Large scale change spans the District, from new construction in the West End north of Foggy Bottom, to the cranes remaking Columbia Heights, to the new buildings stretching east from downtown toward the rising office towers at New York and Florida Avenues. Just outside the city, the massive National Harbor complex is taking shape in Prince George’s County, while Crystal City plans to remake itself as a dense residential hub. The list of major projects taking shape across the Washington area grows ever longer, but it’s possible that no development will change the look and feel of the city more than the complete remaking of lower Southeast D.C.

Cut off from the northern half of the District by the Mall and the Hill, bland office canyons, and freeways, the streets that line what should be a vibrant riverfront instead have been home to empty lots, ugly urban industrial complexes, and a handful of downtrodden businesses isolated far from the bustling core of town. That will change in the next few years, however, and the result could be a shift in the public’s concept of the District’s center of gravity, to the south and to the east.

Today, Washington received news that a compromise position had been negotiated between the Nationals’ new owners and the city on how to place parking in a new development just north of the planned ballpark, but that site — which will be home to above and below ground parking in addition to condos, a hotel, and 50,000 square feet of retail space — is just one small portion of the millions of new square footage planned for the area. On Friday, the Washington Business Journal took a look at the difficulties facing planners as they design structures for the ballpark area. As Ellen McCarthy, Director of Planning for the city put it, “It’s very hard to point to a great neighborhood that was created from scratch.”