Image via Envision McMIllan.

While the mayor has planned a groundbreaking ceremony for the new development at the McMillan Sand Filtration Site on Wednesday, an ongoing court case prevents too much ground from being broken for the time being.

Mayor Muriel Bowser, Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, and Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Brian Kenner will all be on hand to help usher in the start of what they’re calling “one of the most transformative projects” in D.C. at 11 a.m.

It’s definitely among the District’s most controversial.

Developers made the case for converting the 25 acres of city-owned land into a mixed-use property at a series of heated public hearings. However, the D.C. Auditor called the project’s bidding process, which led to the choice of Vision McMillan Partners, “flawed,” recommending the city put it back out to bid.

But the city has moved forward with Vision McMillan Partners, which sought a general contractor for the $720 million project back in March. The sand filtration site, which sits on the National Register of Historic Places, would include 146 townhouses, more than 500 apartments, retail, a Harris Teeter, a park, and a community center.

The McMillan Infrastructure Project has met opposition from groups like Friends of McMillan. “It breaks down to the offensiveness of the height and density of the project,” says Kirby Vining, treasurer of Friends of McMillan. “It’s flying in the face of the recommendations of the Comprehensive Plan,” which recommends finding a creative way to use the underground chambers and limiting the buildings’ to five stories.

The group’s pending lawsuit, currently before the court of appeals, makes those arguments. Until the court issues an opinion, the amount of work that can actually be done on the site is limited.

“The groundbreaking as far as we can tell is a fake, if you consider that a groundbreaking usually means the beginning of construction,” says Vining. “If any construction activity occurs on that site, we’ll immediately ask for an injunction to stop it.”

Joaquin McPeek, a spokesperson for the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, says that “no demolition will occur prior to the court order,” and the groundbreaking ceremony instead will kick off historic preservation work.

He doesn’t agree with the characterization of the ground breaking as a fake. “We have said for the past year that we intended to break ground on McMillan this year, and we’re keeping that promise,” says McPeek. “We believe the plan in place addresses the greatest needs of the community.”

Vining says that some supporters of Friends of McMillan have decided to attend the ceremony “to get on the inside and I understand some folks are planning to be outside with banners and flyers.”

For his part, Vining still wishes the city would issue a request for proposal, citing competition among developers he’s seen at other proposed construction projects, like St. Elizabeths. “It was really inspiring,” he said. “We’d like to see that for McMillan and we don’t know why that’s been skipped.”

If the court does approve the project, McPeek sees the timeline as follows: demolition would begin in summer 2017, followed by construction of the park space and community center in early 2018, and housing units in early 2019.