D.C. and Giant have signed a tentative deal to bring a 55,000-square-foot grocery store to a long-vacant site in Ward 7, a move that would expand food access for neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River.

Mayor Muriel Bowser made the announcement on Wednesday afternoon at the the Capitol Gateway Marketplace, an 11-acre plot of land located only blocks from the Maryland line that was once set to play host to a Walmart store, before the mega-retailer announced in 2016 that it was pulling back on plans for two stores east of the river.

“This is a big deal,” said Bowser, referring to a letter of intent signed by the Landover-based grocer to serve as an anchor tenant for a new mixed-use development on the site. “If we’ve got to get to the 100-yard line to score a touchdown, we’re halfway there.”

Earlier this year Bowser unveiled plans to force development forward at the languishing site, largely by taking over Walmart’s standing lease on the land and using eminent domain to take ownership of the site. The D.C. Council quickly approved Bowser’s request for eminent domain authority in February, and this month the city sued in D.C. Superior Court to start the process. The city is expected to pay $14 million for the site.

“Without intervention this site likely would have remained vacant for another 15 years,” said Bowser.

The development drew cheers from United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400 union, which represents Giant employees in the D.C. area.

“This new store will not only supply much-needed food access to the neighborhood, it will also provide good, union jobs with competitive wages, excellent benefits, and the guarantees and protections of a union contract,” said Mark Federici, the union’s president, in a statement. “This is precisely the outcome we fought for all these years. We look forward to the store’s grand opening.”

Coupled with a new Lidl that is being built at the Skyland Town Center in Ward 7 and a Good Foods Market that opened in Ward 8 last year, Giant’s possible arrival would represent a significant expansion in access to food to communities who have long dealt with the fewest grocery stores in the city. But it still stands in stark contrast to the plethora of grocery options that exist in wealthier areas of the city.

According to a November report from D.C. Hunger Solutions, there were 75 full-service grocery stores in the city last year. Of those, only three are in the portions of wards 7 and 8 that east of the Anacostia River, while Ward 6 had 15 stores and Ward 3 claimed 13. Additionally, Ward 3 is now getting a new Wegmans next month at the City Ridge development and a Lidl in Tenleytown. On a 2.6-mile-long stretch of Wisconsin Avenue from Tenleytown south, there’s two Whole Foods, a Trader Joe’s, a Safeway, a Giant, a Target, and a Streets Market.

For years D.C. officials have rolled out a number of incentive offerings to entice grocers to underserved neighborhoods, but an assessment performed by the city’s Chief Financial Officer said that most grocery stores are not generally persuaded by promises of tax breaks or other perks. In recent years Bowser’s administration has turned more attention towards attracting smaller retailers — like Good Foods Market — food businesses, and sit-down restaurants to wards 7 and 8.

The council also recently passed a bill proposed by Bowser that allows grocers who open locations in wards 7 and 8 more flexibility on selling liquor, and earlier this month Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward 5) worked an amendment into the city’s budget to allow the same for Ward 5, portions of which also lack immediate access to full-service grocery stores. (In related news, the original Good Foods Market location on Rhode Island Avenue NE announced it is closing this Friday.)

Similar debates over inequitable access to grocery stores have taken place in Prince George’s County, where some residents were dismayed by recent news that Trader Joe’s will be opening a location in College Park while other communities lack ready access to grocery stores.