HYM Investment Group CEO Tom O'Brien speaks to reporters and supporters of Gov. Maura Healey's proposed housing policy and spending bill in Chelsea on Oct. 18, 2023. Photo by James Sanna | Banker & Tradesman Staff

Real estate developer Tom O’Brien reportedly will announce his candidacy for mayor of Boston next week, joining Josh Kraft in the bid to unseat incumbent Michelle Wu.

O’Brien’s HYM Investment Group is the firm behind the city’s largest pending project, the Suffolk Downs racetrack redevelopment, which has yet to break ground in Boston.

O’Brien also brings a working knowledge of the city’s real estate mechanisms from the public sector side as a former director of the former Boston Redevelopment Authority from 1997 to 1999.

The Politico Massachusetts Playbook reported Friday morning O’Brien’s formal announcement will take place next week.

Some of Wu’s policies have drawn criticism from real estate industry groups, including higher requirements for affordable housing components in new developments and new regulations on use of fossil fuel building systems.

Kraft, the former CEO of the Boston Boys and Girls Club and son of the Patriots owner, has criticized Wu’s track record on housing production and “not listening” to neighborhoods on bus and bike lanes, and as the mayor’s citywide Squares + Streets rezoning program spins up.

HYM’s ongoing projects include redevelopment of the Government Center garage property, which includes the Sudbury apartment and condominium tower and One Congress office tower.

Construction at Suffolk Downs project, including over 10 million square feet of development in Boston, has been delayed by the financial headwinds on multifamily construction. One building, the Amaya apartment complex, has been completed on the Revere section of the property, where income-restricted apartments were not required.

O’Brien did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At her annual State of the City address last week, Wu announced several new policies related to real estate including an expansion of the office-to-residential conversion program and new public incentives for heat pump installation.

Wu is scheduled to announce her re-election campaign on April 5 during an event at Cyclorama in South End.