QUINCY (CBS) – The new Quincy Center development has landed its first $55 million in equity financing as the massive 20-block project starts to take shape.

LaSalle Investment Management will join Street-Works Development and The Beal Companies in the project, which will begin with housing.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Anthony Silva reports

LaSalle Chief Investment Officer Wade Judge tells me he likes what he sees in Quincy, and what Street-Works and Beal also see in Quincy. Judge calls the area an “urban node” that has mass transit, and also has mixed use, and a lot of history.

Judge says most of LaSalle’s investments are in those urban nodes that are close to mass transit.

The entire $1.6 billion project will include 1,400 residential units, 5,000 parking spaces, new retail and restaurants, and two new hotels.