News

Boston Housing Authority designation begins major redevelopment of the historic South Boston housing community

BOSTON - Friday, August 11, 2017 - WinnDevelopment Company, LP has been selected by the Boston Housing Authority to redevelop the first and one of the largest public housing developments in New England. Built in the 1930s, Mary Ellen McCormack (MEM) consists of 1,016 deeply subsidized apartments and row houses. The proposed plan will rebuild the site into a vibrant mixed-income community with a thoughtful design that embraces the existing residents and connects with the surrounding neighborhood..

“The Mary Ellen McCormack redevelopment effort is another example of our commitment to improving the quality of life for all Boston residents,” said Mayor Martin J. Walsh. “As the oldest public housing development in the city, MEM marks an important piece of our history and also serves as a significant example of how important and needed our public housing communities are. We must preserve this resource, and I look forward to this development becoming an even better resource and home for many. ”

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, all units, regardless of affordability level, will be of identical quality and integrated evenly among the newly constructed buildings.

“We are excited and pleased with the selection of WinnDevelopment, LP for Mary Ellen McCormack,” said Tenant Task Force Executive Director, Carol Sullivan. “They heard us and listened to our ideas about how to make our development better; we are excited about this partnership and BHA’s choice.”

The WinnDevelopment plan was one of five proposals that BHA received in response to a Request for Proposals for the redevelopment in South Boston. A selection committee comprised of residents of the Mary Ellen McCormack 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 which 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.

“Mary Ellen is a community that is near and dear to me; in fact I call it home,” said BHA Administrator Bill McGonagle, who grew up in the development. “Preserving housing developments by creating partnerships with developers who understand the value of community is key to maintaining our housing stock in this city. I am pleased with the selection of Winn and look forward to working with the residents and the development team.”

As with previous BHA redevelopment efforts, residents will be offered relocation options that will include moves to other BHA public housing sites or Housing Choice/Section 8 vouchers. Existing residents will have the right to return to the site after redevelopment.

“We are grateful for the chance to partner with the McCormack residents, the BHA and the City of Boston to redevelop this community into a first class mixed-income neighborhood,” said WinnCompanies CEO Gilbert Winn. “We recognize the property is old and therefore requires a major redevelopment effort. Our goal then, is to move through the formal approval process as quickly as possible while paying close attention to resident and community input.”

BHA issued the Request for Proposals (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.

Prior to issuing the Mary Ellen McCormack RFP, BHA issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) in November, 2014 asking the non-profit and for-profit development community for ideas about how to preserve public housing units with decreased reliance on federal public housing subsidy, which has been shrinking for many years. There is a copy of the RFQ and more information on the BHA’s funding situation in our Five-Year Plan on the BHA’s website.

About Boston Housing Authority (BHA)

Boston Housing Authority (BHA) provides affordable housing to more than 58,000 residents in and around the City of Boston. Residents are assisted through a combination of public housing and federal and state voucher subsidy programs that provide a wide variety of housing opportunities. As the largest public housing authority in New England, the BHA houses close to 9 percent of the city's residents.

Our mission is to provide stable, quality affordable housing for low and moderate income persons; to deliver these services with integrity and mutual accountability; and to create living environments which serve as catalysts for the transformation from dependency to economic self-sufficiency.