For year, residents of Riverdale's Pacesetter neighborhood sought ways to lift a neighborhood plagued by crime, drugs and gangs.

Two years ago, the village found the answer.

With construction set to begin in early September, the 40-acre site will be renovated to create a 500-unit housing and retail development to be completed within the next 10 years, said Andrea Klopfenstein, development manager for Holsten Development Corp., the firm spearheading the Pacesetter redevelopment.

The estimated $40 million first phase of construction includes the renovation of 90 existing townhome buildings and the construction of two mixed-use rental buildings in the 13700 block of South Lowe Avenue.

Most of the housing units will be rented to low-income residents.

Holsten has a history of building affordable housing in Chicago. In 2002, it began the transformation of the Cabrini Green public housing property into the North Town Village, which includes a 261-unit, mixed-income housing for existing and new residents.

"We have been successful with other mixed-income housing in Chicago so we have a good track record," Klopfenstein said, adding it could take 10 years for the Riverdale project to be completed.

Each phase of the estimated $160 million project could take two to three years to complete, Klopfenstein said. Future portions include building 125 single-family, quad and townhomes, she said.

The redevelopment of Pacesetter, which will be renamed Whistler Crossing, would bring stability to the community, Riverdale Village President Zenovia Evans said. Sixty percent of the students that attend the Gen. George Patton Elementary School in District 133 are from the Pacesetter neighborhood, the mayor said, adding that the school has a 90 percent turnover rate among its students.

Evans believes this occurs because several Pacesetter residents are from Chicago and are ill equipped to deal with social concerns in the area.

"A lot of people at Pacesetter don't have the same social services available to them as those that are offered in Chicago," she said, adding that the village offers more limited services than Chicago in counseling, transportation and senior care.

To help with stability in the community, Holsten plans to work with residents to find employment in the area, Klopfenstein said.

Riverdale Police Chief Greg Baker already has noticed the positive effects of the redevelopment, and said there already is a significant decrease in crime in Pacesetter since the closure of the 13600 block of Lowe for the project.

"It will be the next generation of housing to come in Riverdale," Baker said. "It will be tremendous to see something new come again."