It only took ten seconds to cut the ribbon on a project that was more than 10 years in the making.

To great fanfare and excitement, D.C. officials and residents gathered Tuesday afternoon in Ward 7 to welcome the city’s first Lidl grocery store, which officially opens its doors to the public on Wednesday morning.

The moment was as heavy with history and symbolism as it was with celebration: the Lidl is the first full-service grocery story to be built east of the Anacostia River in more than a decade, and only the fourth grocery store that will now serve the almost 160,000 residents of wards 7 and 8. It was built at the 18.5-acre Skyland Town Center, a mixed-use development that had for years bedeviled city officials looking to land anchor tenants.

“Five mayors have worked with this community on this project. But I will be the last one,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser at the ribbon-cutting, recounting the ups and downs of the long-promised project — from the city’s decision to take the site via eminent domain to a legal battle with Safeway against a covenant that would have barred the construction of any supermarket at the site to Walmart’s surprise decision in 2016 to cancel plans for a store there.

But that winding road has finally ended with a new full-service grocery store east of the Anacostia — one that residents, city officials, and civic leaders say is desperately needed.

“We have to have more amenities in our community. We’re tired of having to cross the bridge, and we’re tired of having to go to Maryland,” said Bowser, echoing years of complaints by residents of wards 7 and 8, many parts of which are considered to be food deserts. “We want every family to have a quality grocery store near their home.”

According to a report from food-access advocacy group D.C. Hunger Solutions, there were some 75 grocery stores across the city last year. Ward 6 had 15 of them and Ward 3 another 13; a single 2.5-mile stretch of Wisconsin Avenue NW boasts a Safeway, a Trader Joe’s, a Giant, two Whole Foods, a new Wegmans, and even a planned Lidl. Wards 7 and 8 — which are majority Black and low-income — have just three grocery stores combined.

“For the 160,000 people who live on the east end of the city, this is a huge win,” said Councilmember Vincent Gray (D-Ward 7), who also worked on plans for the Skyland site when he was mayor a decade ago. “I don’t know if we ever thought this was going to happen, but we were determined.”

Over the years critics lambasted D.C. efforts to land big retailers east of the Anacostia, saying that smaller and more creative solutions could have started to close the gap in food offerings sooner. But some of Bowser’s efforts for options big and small have started bearing fruit: Last year a Good Foods Market opened in Ward 8; D.C. officials say they are leveraging a $73 million Food Access Fund to help bring restaurants and markets east of the river; and earlier this year the city said it would use eminent domain to take a long-vacant lot along the Maryland border in Northeast for a planned Giant supermarket.

D.C. has also offered multiple incentives to grocers to open in wards 7 and 8 (the city invested $43 million to build out the infrastructure for the Skyland site, but officials say they did not otherwise offer Lidl any financial perks), and earlier this year the D.C. Council passed a bill introduced by Bowser that would allow supermarket chains to sell liquor — provided they open and operate a grocery store east of the Anacostia River first.

Beyond the Lidl — which has hired 75 people, 90% of whom live in wards 7 and 8 — the Skyland Town Center has come to life over the last year. The Crest, a 263-unit residential building, is now open, and Roaming Rooster and &pizza have locations at the new development. Earlier this year D.C. officials hailed the arrival of the city’s first drive-thru Starbucks at the site.

“When we’re able to attract well-known retailers, it’s a signal to the rest of them: this is what we want, this is what we expect, and we will support you,” Bowser said.

As the Lidl opened its doors for a tour ahead of Wednesday’s formal opening to the public, residents excitedly looked up and down the aisles stocked with foods and home goods.

“Now I have a variety right in my neighborhood. I think it’s fantastic. I’m happy it’s here,” said Yvette Mitchell, a Ward 8 resident.

“It’s called choice,” echoed Jackie Ward, who has lived in the neighborhood for more than 20 years and agrees that a nearby Safeway needs competition. “And that’s what we want. We want to have multiple choices like the people uptown.”