Image courtesy of The Architectural Team

A joint venture of WinnCompanies and the Boston Housing Authority completed financing to begin a decades-long redevelopment of Boston’s Mary Ellen McCormack public housing complex.

The $70 million construction loan pays for a new apartment building and infrastructure work. The 3,300-unit redevelopment a mixed-income component to the sprawling 35-building complex in South Boston originally built in 1938.

All 1,016 public housing units will be replaced during the two-decade project, which will create a total of 3,300 units.

Quincy-based Lee Kennedy Co. and H.J Russell & Co. of Atlanta already have begun site work. The first building to begin construction is located on Logan Way near the MBTA’s Andrew station, and will utilize a geothermal heating and cooling system. It totals 112,000 square feet and will contain 94 income-restricted apartments.

The first phase of the project includes eight buildings scheduled to be built over the next decade, 70,000 square feet of retail space and a new community center.

Bank of America provided construction financing. The financing package also includes low-income housing 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.