Thomas O'Brien

Redevelopment of the 161-acre Suffolk Downs racetrack property on the East Boston-Revere border could be imminent with a possible sale to a well-known Boston developer.

HYM Investment Group’s Thomas O’Brien has agreed to acquire the site, which has long been eyed by developers for a massive urban in-fill project, The Boston Globe reported. O’Brien declined to comment when reached Sunday.

Numerous local and national developers have met with Suffolk Downs ownership in recent months.

Chip Tuttle, chief operating officer for Suffolk Downs, declined to say whether a purchase-and-sale agreement has been signed.

“When we have some definitive news we’ll definitely put it out,” Tuttle said.

A former executive director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority and executive at Tishman Speyer and JPI Cos., O’Brien has experience with large, complex redevelopment projects. HYM is leading the transformation of the 2,300-space Government Center Garage property on Congress Street into a 2.9-million-square-foot mixed-use development called Bulfinch Crossing, including high-rise apartments, office space and a boutique hotel. Construction of the first phase, a 480-foot-tall apartment tower, began in January.

HYM also is co-development manager for the 1.8-million-square-foot Boston Landing mixed-use development in Brighton which includes the New Balance headquarters, 295 luxury apartments, a 190,000-square-foot office building and new training facilities for the Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics.

Finding more profitable uses for the Suffolk Downs property amid the horse racing industry’s decline prompted ownership to pursue plans for a $1 billion resort casino in 2013. The measure was rejected by East Boston voters at a referendum in November of that year.