Massachusetts Restarts Overhaul of Boston Government Center

The Boston Government Center is getting dolled up for a redevelopment — again.

Gov. Maura Healey’s administration released an offering memorandum for the Erich Lindemann Mental Health Center and the Charles F. Hurley Building in Boston’s West End neighborhood, Bisnow reported. The parcels form a 6.5-acre office complex in need of a revamp.

“We’re turning underutilized state property into new homes, preserving important parts of this historic site, and ensuring that critical mental health services continue uninterrupted,” Healey said in a statement.

The 1960s-built buildings have suffered in recent years as they’ve aged. The Lindemann building alone is expected to need more than $300 million in capital improvements.

In fact, there was an effort only a few years ago to redevelop the properties under a previous administration.

In 2022, Leggat McCall Properties was awarded the contract to redevelop the Hurley Building as part of a $1 billion mixed-use project, which was to include 200 housing units and a lab development. But when the life sciences market capsized, the development plans did the same.

The 347,000-square-foot Hurley Building is already empty. The Lindemann building, however, still hosts a number of state agencies, including the Department of Mental Health. There are 115 beds for vulnerable people at the center, which will either need to be kept on-site or moved nearby.

Developers will be invited to submit proposals — with affordability requirements dictated by the city — for the redevelopment over the summer. Historic preservation and adaptive reuse are expected to be two major factors in the state’s analysis of who gets the gig.

The complex is part of the State Land For Homes inventory, state-owned properties that could be redeveloped to create more housing across income levels. Last year, Healey made 17 sites available to private developers, which could generate up to 3,500 housing units in the long run.

— Holden Walter-Warner