For years, the old convention center site has served many purposes: The Washington Kastles, D.C.’s tennis team, played in a temporary stadium erected there this summer. The parking lot was also home to a trapeze school during warmer months. And if my memory serves me correctly, I believe BoltBus once dropped me off there upon arriving back in D.C. from New York City.

But one day, this giant parking lot located at 9th and H Streets downtown will hopefully resemble the image above. I last wrote about CityCenterDC in June. At that time, Kim Jagger, a spokesperson for developer Hines, couldn’t give me a firm date on a groundbreaking. But now, she says the “current objective for construction of CityCenterDC is to commence construction the first half of 2011 with initial occupancy expected in the second half of 2013.”

And that’s a good thing considering the Washington, DC Economic Partnership released its latest annual Development Report saying that 184,700 square feet* of retail space and 674 residential units were expected to be completed by 2013.

*According to the report, this figure could represent “phase 1 or final phase delivery.”