Groundbreaking at The Wharf. Photo by Matt Cohen.

Will The Wharf—the 27-acre mixed-use development planned for the Southwest waterfront—be the next great community in D.C.?

That’s certainly what the team behind the $2 billion project and the D.C. government is insisting. At today’s groundbreaking ceremony, Mayor Vince Gray, Councilmembers Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4), Vincent Orange (D-At Large), and Anita Bonds (D-At Large) were present to launch the massive development project, which is scheduled to complete its first phase in 2017.

Heads of the development and architecture firms PN Hoffman, Madison Marquette, and Perkins Eastman—all of whom are spearheading the the development of The Wharf—presented a packed tent of politicos, community members, business types, and others with a glimpse of what the massive project will include. Upon its completion, The Wharf will feature apartments and condos, three hotels, office space, a mile-long promenade, a movie theater, 140,000 square feet of retail space, a music venue (which will be built and run by 9:30 Club/I.M.P. owner Seth Hurwitz), a public park, an expanded marina and more.

David Brainerd of Madison Marquette called the project a “culmination of decades of work in rebuilding D.C.’s neighborhoods.” Brainerd said that the project first began in July of 2006, and, after “numerous Council votes” and many other hurdles, it’s now finally getting underway.

Of the $2 billion projected cost of the entire project, the District is ponying up $198 million, which Gray called an “investment.”

Victor Hoskins, Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, said the project will “be beyond [Baltimore’s] Inner Harbor and the National Harbor,” and joked that “we won’t need a casino to keep it afloat.”

Among The Wharf’s planned housing, which will include 650 apartments and 225 condos, Wells assured people that much of that will be affordable housing, so as to make it an “inclusive” community and not and exclusive one. “We don’t need this to be a country club,” he said.

For years, the Southwest Waterfront area was primarily known for its fish markets, and developers say they don’t plan to put those businesses out with redevelopment of the area. Gray said that The Wharf will hopefully create 2,100 permanent jobs, which he said he’d like to see go to D.C. residents.

“This is one of the most exciting development projects ever constructed in the city of Washington, D.C.,” Brainerd said.