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The initial portion of a Suffolk Downs redevelopment, touted as Boston’s ideal spot for Amazon HQ2, is up for city and state approval.
The Boston Planning & Development Agency has a Thursday vote scheduled on whether to approve HYM Investment Group’s proposal for two office buildings near Suffolk Downs Station in East Boston. The 520K SF development has already been approved for accelerated environmental permitting from Massachusetts and is expected to win Boston zoning approval next week. BPDA approval would enable the developer to begin construction this spring, the Boston Globe reports.
The impetus for the quick permitting is Boston’s quest to land Amazon’s second headquarters. The city’s pitch highlighted HYM’s Suffolk Downs property as the ideal Boston location for Amazon to build its 8M SF HQ2 with relative ease. HYM purchased the 161-acre horse track in May and announced plans to redevelop the site as a mixed-use development akin to Assembly Row or Boston Landing.
When Amazon announced it was looking to house 50,000 employees in a second headquarters, the developer and the city of Boston pushed the site forward, as it is a rare open plot of land controlled by a single developer within city limits. While city officials noted the entire site will likely require several months of review, the accelerated approval for the first phase would enable HYM to build to Amazon’s desired timeline of 500K SF of office being available by the end of 2019.
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