HYM Investment Group won a city competition for Roxbury’s parcel P3 with a plan for 700,000 square feet of life science space, 45,000 square feet of retail space with preference for local and minority-owned businesses, 144 income-restricted condominiums and 164 affordable apartments. Image courtesy of HYM Investment Group and MyCAP
Plans for a new $700 million high school displaced the latest proposal for a large commercial and residential project at Roxbury’s Parcel P3.
In 2022, Boston-based HYM Investment Group and anti-violence coalition My City at Peace were designated as developers of the 8-acre property, which has remained vacant for decades.
HYM Investment Group confirmed the decision, first reported by the Boston Globe and announced by Chief of Planning Kairos Shen at a Roxbury advisory group meeting Monday. The development team had billed the project as an overdue opportunity to bring well-paying jobs and affordable home ownership opportunities to the inner-city neighborhood.
“From the start, our vision has been clear: to invest in the Roxbury community by creating deeply affordable home ownership and rental opportunities; good-paying jobs with viable, long-term career tracks; and meaningful equity participation in the development process by people of color and women – while connecting the P3 site to the economic engines of Longwood and nearby academic institutions,” the development team said in a statement.
Shen announced that the property has been designated for a new Madison Park Technical Vocational High School, following December’s preliminary approval of state funding to help pay for its construction.
Some members of the Roxbury Strategic Master Plan Oversight Committee denounced the decision, the Globe reported. The committee represents the neighborhood in advising planning officials on development in the neighborhood, including a series of publicly-owned parcels such as P3 that have been offered to private developers in recent years.
The proposal included 282 apartments, 184 home ownership units, 617,700 square feet of lab space, 47,500 square feet of retail space and a life science workforce training center. But since it was selected, the region’s life science real estate market has collapsed.
The school plan would leave room for private development on a smaller portion of the site, according to a presentation.
“Since our designation in 2022, we have raised and invested substantial capital, advanced the project in good faith, and met our commitments to The Roxbury Oversight Committee and the broader community—despite significant economic and political headwinds,” the team said in a statement. “My City at Peace and HYM remain fully committed to this parcel, this community, and this city.”
HYM CEO Thomas O’Brien considered but ultimately rejected a challenge of Mayor Michelle Wu in last year’s mayoral election.
Parcel P3 has remained vacant for decades following demolition during the urban renewal era, and was considered as a part of a site for a city-wide campus high school in the late 1960s.
The Boston Planning Department issued a statement noting that the developers’ designation as parcel P3 developer is set to expire at the end of January.
“[T]The proposed development has not advanced after three years and the overall project — relying on lab space to generate enough profit to support affordable housing and a nonprofit center — is not financially viable,” the statement reads. The school plan at parcel P3 could reduce costs by hundreds of millions of dollars and “leave plenty of remaining land to reconstitute an economic development parcel that could be actually economically feasible.”
Editor’s note: This report has been updated with a statement from the Boston Planning Department.
