More than eight years after it was first proposed, the redevelopment of Northwest D.C.'s vacant Superfresh grocery store has secured financing to move forward.

A joint venture of Mill Creek Residential and PGIM Real Estate obtained a $92.3M construction loan from U.S. Bank National Association for the project, according to documents filed last month with the D.C. Recorder of Deeds. The project is expected to cost more than $160M.

Mill Creek Managing Director Peter Braunohler told Bisnow the team is gearing up to start construction by early February.

“The closing marks a major milestone in the project, closing the door on a challenging 8 year predevelopment period after Mill Creek first became involved,” Braunohler wrote in an email. “Our partners have shown an immense perseverance to get to this point, and we’re humbled by the opportunity to finally start building.”

Branded as The Ladybird, the project is planned for 219 multifamily units and 19K SF of retail at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and 48th Street Northwest, half a mile from American University. The property, next to the Spring Valley Shopping Center, housed a Superfresh grocery store until it closed in 2013.

Valor Development first submitted a 230-unit proposal for the site in 2016 before bringing Mill Creek on as a partner two years later. Valor sold its stake in the project concurrently with the loan closing, Braunohler said.

The project was delayed for years when neighbors in the wealthy, low-density section of Ward 3 complained about its size.

The team submitted a new application in 2019 that reduced the number of units and amount of retail space. It received Zoning Commission approval in February 2020 after a contentious process in which more than 60 people filed letters in opposition — concerned about its size and the impact on traffic and parking — while 90 submitted letters to support the project.

In June 2020, four parties filed an appeal contesting the project's approval with the D.C. Court of Appeals. It was one of a series of developments that were delayed by court appeals during that period.

The case lasted for nearly four years before the appeals court in April 2024 denied the opponents' petition for a rehearing after affirming the Zoning Commission's approval the prior October. Braunohler said in April he was “thrilled” with the court ruling to allow the project to finally move forward.

The project sits in the Rock Creek West planning area, the section of the District that has seen the least new housing built over the past decade. The developers agreed to keep 12% of the units in the building affordable, a critical need for the area, where only 125 new affordable units have been developed since 2019, according to D.C.'s housing production tracker. Mayor Muriel Bowser set a goal that year of adding 1,990 affordable units to Rock Creek West by 2025.