WinnDevelopment Co. has been selected by the Boston Housing Authority to redevelop the first and one of the largest public housing developments in New England, through a project that is reportedly set to cost about $1.6 billion, according to news sources.
Built in the 1930s, Mary Ellen McCormack (MEM) consists of 1,016 deeply subsidized apartments and row houses in South Boston. The proposed plan will rebuild the site into a mixed-income community with a thoughtful design that embraces the existing residents and connects with the surrounding neighborhood.
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 homeownership condominiums. In addition, all units, regardless of affordability level, will be of identical quality and integrated evenly among the newly constructed buildings.
The WinnDevelopment plan was one of five proposals that BHA received in response to an RFP for the redevelopment. A selection committee comprised of residents of the MEM public housing development and BHA staff reviewed proposals and interviewed all teams that submitted proposals. The Winn team received high points from the selection committee for its demonstrated model for strong resident partnerships and robust resident services, items that are a priority for existing residents at the site. BHA and the developer will kick off the design process by holding a series of resident and community meetings in the near future.
BHA issued the RFP for redevelopment of the Mary Ellen McCormack site as part of a wider strategy to upgrade and make sustainable its affordable housing communities in the wake of historic federal budget cuts. The creation of additional market-rate and workforce housing will also further Mayor Walsh’s goal of creating 53,000 new units of housing by 2030.
