The great thing about Artomatic is that it often introduces people to construction-heavy neighborhoods where there's not much going on otherwise.

Last year, the event was held in NoMa. This year, it's in the Capitol Riverfront, home to Nationals Park and...that Five Guys that President Barack Obama visited recently.

Personally, I can't wait for this neighborhood to become more than it currently is. Sometimes, one forgets that there are miles and miles of waterfront in Washington D.C. This neighborhood seems to be our best hope for District residents actually spending time near the water—and not just to wait in traffic to cross a bridge.

But alas, the Capitol Riverfront is far from complete. Here's a short tour.

Ta da! The riverfront. This year, crews broke ground on two parks by the water: Diamond Teague Park at First and Potomac Streets and, very recently, The Park at the Yards to the east around 3rd and Water Streets.

Out this window, we see the Nationals' Bullpen. Judging from this Capitol Riverfront map, it appears this site will be developed into a office/residential/retail building by Akridge.

Alas, I didn't take a good shot of the depths of that big tan thing toward the bottom of the shot.

That's a humongous hole. This lot belongs to Monument Realty's Half Street project slated to become office, retail, a hotel, and housing. Monument has relied on Lehman Brothers heavily in the past, and with this project as well.

Lehman Brothers had a stake in numerous Washington D.C. area projects, investing at least "$620 million in at least 15 Monument [Realty] projects," according to a September Washington Business Journal article. "Among other things, Lehman holds an interest in Monument’s Half Street development near the ballpark, the Watergate Hotel project, the Monument View mixed-use project near Crystal City and two failed condominium projects that are seeking apartment investors.”

So it may come as a shock to some (me, at least) that despite its demise, Lehman is not only still hiring—it's getting "'swamped with résumés,'" its newest CEO tells the Wall Street Journal in a story today.

Here's a sample from the piece (NPR also interviewed author Peter Lattman about the article today):

Lehman, though a shadow of its former self after selling many of its businesses to Barclays PLC and Nomura Holdings Inc., retains a broad patchwork of assets. It has some $7 billion in cash and more than 1,400 private investments valued at $12.3 billion. Then there's a thicket of about 500,000 derivative contracts with 4,000 trading partners worth some $24 billion.

So for now, Lehman is seen as a relatively secure home for throngs of finance professionals thrown out of work in recent months. It's even become a place for former Lehman CEO Richard Fuld to informally hang his hat.

"We're getting swamped with résumés," says Bryan Marsal, a turnaround expert who is now Lehman's chief executive officer. The inquiries, he says, are from people affiliated with marquee names such as Bank of America, Citigroup Inc., and Morgan Stanley.

"It's just a tough, tough time, and there are a lot of good people out there looking for work."

Image by Financial Aid Podcast

*The Washington Business Journal reports the local angle on Lehman Brothers' demise: "Over the past several years, Lehman has invested about $620 million in at least 15 Monument [Realty] projects, according to Monument’s Web site, often acting as an equity partner above and beyond any exposure as a debt provider on Monument projects. Among other things, Lehman holds an interest in Monument’s Half Street development near the ballpark, the Watergate Hotel project, the Monument View mixed-use project near Crystal City and two failed condominium projects that are seeking apartment investors."

*Over at Slate, Jack Shafer provides a rundown of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "villains in boldface" (his wording) and their back-scratching with Washington politicians. Shafer also digs up a six-year-old article from Washingtonian magazine about the same subject.

*People aren't building as many homes as they were a few years ago. Surprise, surprise. But, check out the numbers over at CNN's website, if you want more details. "Construction fell by 14.5% in the Northeast and was down 13.6% in the Midwest and 7.4% in the South. All the declines left construction activity 33.1% below the level of a year ago."