Construction officially began today on Teachers Village, a development combining housing, retail and school facilities that is being touted as a major component of downtown revitalization.

Attending today’s groundbreaking was a group described by Mayor Cory Booker as a “mob of hope,” and included Gov. Chris Christie, the city council, city housing officials as well as representatives from the project’s private-sector partners, including Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs. Other corporate partners include TD Bank, Prudential and Bergguen Holdings.

Teachers Village will be located on a large plot of land along Halsey Street near William Street. When the first phase is completed, in the summer of 2013, it will include 200 moderately priced apartments which will be marketed to Newark-based teachers and 20 on-street retail businesses, including restaurants, medical offices and retail.

As well, the site will be the new home for the Great Oaks, Discovery and Team Academy charter schools, along with the popular CHEN School daycare facility.

The project was a long time in coming, officials said at today’s groundbreaking.

Ron Beit of the RBH Group, which s developing the site, said it was first conceived six years ago. Beit joked that a priest he knows said “the Israelites fled Egypt faster than I got this project out of the ground.”

Beit also stressed that this was just the initial phase of a project that will serve as a “catalyst” for an estimated 15 million square feet of additional retail, making the area a “global destination.”

The first phase is being designed by Richard Meier, a world-renowned architect and city native who told the crowd today that his first job was at an architectural firm “just around the corner” from the development.

Booker said the initiative is part of an overarching effort to breathe new life into the city, noting that Teachers Village comes as construction is being completed on two hotels that are the first to be built in downtown Newark in four decades.

“Newark is not done. We are a city that is moving forward,” Booker said. Referring to a group of students in attendance at today’s ceremony, Booker said “these children will grow up in a new Newark.”

Booker, the state’s most prominent Democrat, also noted that the project today was launched in partnership with the administration of Republican Gov. Chris Christie, who said the ultimate aim was to transform Newark into a “24-7 city” that doesn’t “close down at 5 or 6 o’clock.”

“It’s a great day for Newark, and a great day for Newark is a great day for New Jersey,” he said. “New Jersey stands with the people of Newark.”