Developers of CityMarket at O — the long-awaited, multi-million dollar development project that will rise at the intersection of 8th and O Streets in Shaw — released some renderings on the project’s blog yesterday afternoon. The blog post also notes that construction on the building’s facade will begin in earnest shortly:

Yes, it’s true. Activity is starting soon on CityMarket at O. Roadside [Development] picked up the permit for the facade support and Clark has ordered the steel and is planning to start the facade support of the O Street Market building at the end of February. The facade support project is estimated to take up to three months.

In the meantime, Roadside will be finishing its construction drawings for HUD on March 1 and completing the permit process for a project construction start in late summer 2011 if all goes as planned with HUD closing.

The project, which broke ground last September, features plans for a 72,000-square-foot Giant grocery store, as well as more than 600 condos, apartments and affordable housing for seniors, as well as a boutique hotel. On the CityMarket blog, there are also renderings of a swimming pool on the development’s west roofdeck and of the courtyard which will run through the development’s eastern side.

Of course, all this new development will come at a high cost to residents: demolition on the existing Giant at 1414 8th Street NW to allow room for the construction of CityMarket is expected to leave the immediate neighborhood without a supermarket for a couple of years.