Boston's Charles F. Hurley State Office Building. Photo by James Sanna | Banker & Tradesman Staff
State real estate officials approved the latest vision for a private redevelopment in Boston’s West End, which could result in construction of a 40-story tower and relocation of group homes and shelters for Department of Mental Health clients.
“The site itself is in a highly attractive, high-profile location that is hugely underdeveloped in comparison to both its surroundings and the existing zoning,” the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance stated in a report released this week on its current strategy for a private redevelopment of the Hurley and Lindemann complex on Staniford Street.
The state Asset Management Board approved the latest proposal at its meeting on June 24. A request for proposals is scheduled for release in early 2026.
Residential and clinical treatment programs by the state Department of Mental Health in the Lindemann building could be relocated off-site to other locations in the Government Center and Beacon Hill areas, according to the report. The building has approximately 113 residents including group homes and overnight shelter space.
The 8.5-acre property includes the 347,000 square-foot Hurley Building, which had housed state labor and workforce agencies, and the 222,000 square-foot Lindeman building, which includes offices and programs by the Department of Mental Health. The Edward Brooke Courthouse at the eastern end of the property is not included in the redevelopment plan.
Developers will be required to provide approximately 120,000 square feet of program space for the Department of Mental Health for residential and clinical treatment programs.
But in the new report, DCAMM said it may accept offers for space in downtown Boston to relocate the programs, and published an appendix including the radius of relocation possibilities.
Image courtesy of DCAMM
DCAMM’s report notes that Boston’s current zoning allows approximately four times as much density on the site as the existing buildings, with a permitted floor area ratio of between 8 and 10.
The zoning allows buildings up to 400 feet, similar to the height of the nearby John F. Kennedy Federal Building.
Design guidelines suggest the new tower could be developed on the courtyard between the two buildings and the courthouse. DCAMM encourages adaptive reuse of the existing buildings, but stated in the report that “radical reimagination may be required to transform the Lindemann and Hurley into state-of-the-art buildings.”
In a comment letter, the Boston Preservation Alliance reiterated its support for preservation of the Hurley and Lindemann buildings because of their modernist architectural significance.
A request for proposals will be issued in the first quarter of 2026, according to the report, which could result in groundbreaking in 2028.
The latest version received support from Secretary of Administration and Finance Matthew Gorzkowicz. In a comment letter issued June 13, Gorzkowicz wrote that the project could eliminate $550 million in anticipated costs to repair the two aging buildings.
State Reps. Aaron Michlewitz and Jay Livingstone also submitted letters of support.
Redevelopment plans for the Hurley and Lindeman buildings date back to the Baker administration.
Gov. Maura Healey canceled the previous proposal for a redevelopment in 2024. Boston-based Leggat McCall Properties had responded to the first request for proposals with a $1 billion project that would have included a large life science component and only 200 housing units.
But the drop in lab space demand prompted the cancellation of the project and a shift that could include a large housing component, a top goal of Healey’s surplus property disposition strategy.
In a related initiative, Healey last month announced the results of a comprehensive inventory of state properties and plans to offer 450 acres at various sites around the Commonwealth for housing development.
Image courtesy of DCAMM
