Officials from all levels of government joined with residents of the Mary Ellen McCormack public housing complex to celebrate the start of WinnCompanies’ long-awaited effort to redevelop the historic community, breaking ground on the first phase of construction for the 3,300-unit mixed-income and mixed-use project.
With 200 people looking on, the groundbreaking marked a milestone for residents as it triggered provisions for the Mary Ellen McCormack Task Force to gain an ownership stake in all 1,016 affordable housing apartments planned for the 30-acre site. The project also features the first-ever underground geothermal heating and cooling system installed by WinnCompanies and the Boston Housing Authority.
Massachusetts Congressman Stephen F. Lynch, Governor Maura Healey, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and other dignitaries spoke near the newly poured footings and foundations for the first apartment building of the project, known as Building A. The 112,000-square-foot structure will provide 94 modern apartments for low-income families currently living at the Mary Ellen McCormack community when it is ready for occupancy in the fall of 2026.
In addition to the $62 million apartment building, construction of Building A features $8 million in public infrastructure improvements designed to strengthen climate resiliency and connect the community to surrounding South Boston neighborhoods. It will include a new Veterans Park with an accessible tot lot and splash pad, two-way, separated bike lane, reconfigured public streets and associated intersections with pedestrian enhancements, new street trees, planting areas and pedestrian zones.
Built during the Great Depression and opened in 1938, the Mary Ellen McCormack is Boston’s first public housing development and one of the oldest in the United States, consisting of 1,016 deeply subsidized apartments across 35 buildings.
The redevelopment will replace all 1,016 public housing units on site, and all current residents in good standing have a right to return. Existing buildings will be demolished in phases in a complex relocation strategy choreographed to maximize existing households moving directly into new apartments. The tenant-paid portion of the rent will not change. WinnCompanies will pay for basic utilities for affordable households. The BHA will retain ownership of the land to preserve permanent affordability for low-income families while management, ownership and maintenance of the buildings will be provided by WinnCompanies.
Building A will feature 37 one-bedroom units, 44 two-bedroom units, 12 three-bedroom units and one four-bedroom unit. It is being built about 600 feet from the Andrew Square MBTA Red Line subway station, using an efficient U-shaped design with heights that step down from six to four stories, responding to the Andrew Square neighborhood of South Boston.
Building A will be constructed to meet Passive House certification standards. In addition, the building will be 100% electric with a geothermal system for heating and cooling. A network of 22 closed-loop wells, installed 800 feet beneath the building site in the last few months, will connect heat pumps in apartments and common areas. The geothermal system, combined with the building’s Passive House envelope, will achieve energy savings of 25 percent compared to the performance of typical new construction buildings.
Work on Building A is expected to create 300 construction jobs. It will be performed under a Project Labor Agreement with significant goals for participation from local residents, low-income residents (known as Section 3 labor), and Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs). Targets are set to direct 40 percent of construction work hours to people of color, 25 percent of work hours for Section 3 laborers and 12 percent of hours for women. There are goals for Minority Business Enterprises to 25 percent construction contract value and Women Business Enterprises 15 percent. The project has a goal to direct 51 percent of construction work hours to City of Boston residents.
Once Building A is completed, financing will be secured for, and construction will begin on, Building B, which will offer 300 mixed-income apartments, and Building C, which will offer 196 mixed-income apartments, with 172 units reserved for seniors who are 62 or older with on-site resident services and programming.
The project was made possible thanks to a construction loan from the Bank of America; Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit and Energy Tax Credit equity from Bank of America, a tax-exempt bridge loan and tax-exempt first mortgage loan from MassHousing; a subordinate loan from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund maintained by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing & Livable Communities; a subordinate loan from the BHA; and State Low Income Housing Tax Credit equity from Bank of America with a loan from BlueHub Capital. The Commonwealth and the City of Boston have also committed significant funding toward future buildings and infrastructure in the redevelopment.
In all, eight new residential buildings will be built over the course of a decade during Phase One of the redevelopment. There will be 1,310 apartments built, replacing 529 aging public housing apartments for BHA households and creating 781 additional apartment homes for middle income and market rate renters.
Phase One construction will redevelop the northern 18 acres of the property, increasing open space by 73 percent with new pedestrian walking paths, bike infrastructure and gathering spaces. In addition, 33,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space will be created for local small businesses, including a possible grocery retailer. Twenty-five (25) percent of retail space will be offered at below-market leases.
Because the site is susceptible to current and future flooding from nearby Boston Harbor, construction work will raise the grades of the property by 5 to 7 feet. All new buildings will be constructed above the 2070 projected flooding scenario projected by Climate Ready Boston.
WinnDevelopment Vice President Andrew Colbert is leading permitting and overseeing the construction effort – the largest in the company’s 54-year history. Lee Kennedy Company, of Quincy, MA, is serving as general contractor for the construction in a joint venture with H. J. Russell & Company (MBE), of Atlanta. The Architectural Team of Chelsea, MA, is the architect for the project.
WinnCompanies expects to begin seeking permits for Phase Two in 2026 so that the remaining 2,000 apartments and open spaces can be developed as soon as Phase One is completed. When the entire project is completed the Mary Ellen McCormack property will offer 1,016 units of low-income and affordable housing and 2,284 units of workforce and market rate housing.
WinnCompanies is an award-winning owner, developer and manager of high-impact, quality apartment homes, supported by 4,500 team members in 27 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The company is known as a leading manager of multifamily apartment communities, operating the nation’s largest portfolio of affordable housing with a groundbreaking resident services platform. Its community development work focuses on creating and revitalizing mixed-income properties through environmentally sustainable new construction and pioneering adaptive reuse techniques. The company has also been a top manager of privatized housing for members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families since 2001. Founded in Boston in 1971, WinnCompanies is a family-owned, private company. Learn more at WinnCompanies.com.
Boston Housing Authority provides quality affordable housing for low-income families and individuals through the public housing and Section 8 rental assistance programs. We foster vital communities that are essential to our city’s economic diversity and way of life. As the largest housing provider in Boston, we bring stability, opportunity, and peace of mind not only to the thousands of low-income families we support, but to the city as a whole.
