The William C. Smith Companies and Jair Lynch Companies will head a $700 million project to revitalize the poverty-plagued area surrounding the Sursum Corda housing cooperative, Mayor Adrian Fenty said Thursday.

The developerswill tear down the low-income, 199-unit cooperative and build more than 1,600 units of housing that will include at least as many low-income units as are currently available in the area, as well as for-sale and for-rent housing for all income levels, the mayor’s office said.