“We are very excited,” said James Cowdell, executive director of the Lynn Economic Development & Industrial Corp. “This project will have a shovel in the ground next spring.”

Plans for the 14-acre site include 355 apartments with rents expected to be in the $2,000 range.

“The people who will live there will primarily work in Boston, but can’t afford to live in Boston,” he said. “It offers a one-minute walk to the ferry with a 30-minute ride to Boston or a trip on the commuter rail, two minutes away. It will transform the area, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle.”

There are several projects on the drawing board for the Lynnway. Charles Patsios plans to construct a $500 million development that would offer 1,200 apartments on the former General Electric Co. Gear Works site. Joseph O’Donnell, founder of Boston Culinary Group and Belmont Capital in Cambridge, is investing $69 million to develop a 17-acre waterfront site that would include 250 units in a wood frame, three-story building.

Still, Cowdell admits there’s a healthy skepticism in Lynn where residents have heard promises of revitalization for years. “People are critical because they haven’t seen any progress yet,” he said. “But the Beacon site will transform that area, 40,000 cars drive by daily and they will look at the waterfront differently.”

Minicucci and Pappathanasi were unavailable for comment.

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Thomas Grillo can be reached at tgrillo@itemlive.com.

May 11, 2016shasakLynn, NewsArthur Pappathanas, Beacon Chevrolet, Beacon-Bel Realty Trust, Belmont Capital, Boston Culinary Group, Charles Patsios, General Electric Co. Gear Works, James Cowdell, John Granese Jr, Joseph O’Donnell, Louis Minicucci Jr., Lynn, Lynn Development LLC, Lynn Economic Development & Industrial Corp., Lynnway, Marblehead, THOMAS GRILLO