Photo by bjh photography

Big news from across the Anacostia River — the Washington Business Journal reported late last night that Clark Realty Capital LLC is pulling out of their extensive plans for Poplar Point, which they won the rights to develop a little less than one year ago. The Bethesda based company had won the much-sought-after PUD bidding with a grand $2.5 billion plan, featuring a complex of offices, residences, retail, and hotels — and, of course, pipe dreams about a new soccer specific stadium for D.C. United — all centered around keeping the rest of Ward 8 connected via a large walkway over Interstate 295. The Post reports that the deal completely fell apart after Clark clashed with the District over the project’s strict deliverable schedule. The city says that they’ll pick up some of the pre-development and planning work in an attempt to maintain some semblance of timeliness while they locate a new developer.

So how are locals taking it? Well, D.C. Council member Marion Barry’s sour comments in the Post story seem to indicate that he’s forgotten about the current economic climate. But local blog And Now, Anacostia — while obviously disappointed — strikes an optimistic tone. Hopefully, the energy devoted to the future of the project will adopt more of the latter’s attitude.

Around the horn this morning:

>> I’m not trying to bring Washington sports fans down, but: Mr. Irrelevant crunches the numbers and decisively concludes that the District’s suffering at the moment as the country’s worst major sports city.

>> Virginia legislators have the revelation that open-end loans — which currently have zero legal limits after the first 25 days on interest rates and fees — are probably not that great for poor people. Of course, they’ve only proposed an interest cap of 36 percent on said loans to rectify matters. Well, geez, usury peddlers gotta eat too!

>> Also in this morning’s Post: Inaugural ball horror stories! One highlight: “Instead, Byrd said, his party of 10 people was denied entry to the event…and ended the evening munching on food from a Wendy’s drive-through in the back of his rented Lincoln Town Car.” Classy.