Boston – WinnCompanies has announced the development team for the $1.6 billion redevelopment of New England’s first public housing complex, Mary Ellen McCormack, in South Boston.
The development team includes architect, The Architectural Team; landscape architect, Copley Wolff Design Group; transportation, permitting, and civil engineer, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin (VHB); sustainability and green design, New Ecology; project management consultant, Pinck & Co, Inc.; and marketing consultant, The Concord Group.
The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (AFL-CIO HIT) will serve as the financing partner for the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) project, creating access to the capital needed to rebuild the 27-acre site into a vibrant mixed-income community, including 200 workforce (middle-income) apartments, with a thoughtful design that embraces the needs of existing residents and connects with the surrounding neighborhood in a positive way.
The proposed redevelopment would take place over four phases, paying close attention to the needs and concerns of relocated residents. The current proposal calls for a total of approximately 3,000 new units, including replacement of all existing units, creation of workforce (middle-income) units, as well as market-rate apartments and home ownership condominiums. In addition, each building’s units, regardless of affordability, will be of identical quality and integrated evenly among each newly constructed building.
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“We look forward to working with WinnCompanies and the BHA, and appreciate their commitment to building affordable housing, and building it with 100% union labor,” said Ted Chandler, COO of the AFL-CIO HIT.
The AFL-CIO HIT is a $6 billion investment fund that has financed more than 120,000 units of union-built housing across the country. More than two-thirds of the units financed are affordable to low and moderate income families. It is directed by Stephen Coyle, former director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, and is recognized as one of the earliest and most successful socially responsible investment programs.
“In the last eight years, the Housing Investment Trust has invested nearly $400 million of its capital in 12 developments in Boston,” Chandler said. “These investments represented over $1 billion in total development investment and spurred $1.5 billion in total economic impact in Boston’s neighborhoods. The projects also generated 3,330 union construction jobs, and created opportunities for graduates of BHA’s Building Pathways program to begin careers in the construction industry with the Boston Building Trades. The redevelopment of the Mary Ellen McCormack community will create similar opportunities.”
The BHA’s designation of WinnCompanies as developer kicks off a lengthy city, state and federal design review and approval process that will include extensive input and close collaboration with resident and community groups.
