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As Boston's mayoral race heats up, a new contender could be stepping into the ring — hailing from the real estate industry.
Thomas O'Brien, the founding partner of HYM Investment Group and former planning chief of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, is considering running for mayor, The Boston Globe reported.
The developer would be the second notable challenger to incumbent Mayor Michelle Wu, after Josh Kraft, the son of Patriots owner Robert Kraft and head of Kraft Family Philanthropies, officially entered the race last month.
Alhough incumbents have historically been hard to unseat in Boston, Wu has continued to create frustration in the real estate industry. Many of her efforts haven't sat well with developers, from the city's ambitious green zoning plan to efforts to raise property taxes for the commercial real estate sector and development policies that have hiked costs.
Kraft had raised just under $300K in donations as of last week, and a late February poll showed him trailing Wu by 14 percentage points. Wu also won endorsements from five labor unions on Saturday.
“It is clear some developers are willing to do whatever it takes to buy this office,” a Wu campaign spokesperson wrote in a statement to Bisnow. “It seems like Josh Kraft is not turning out to be what they expected and now they are shopping for a new option.”
O'Brien and Kraft's campaign didn't respond to Bisnow's requests for comment.
O'Brien is a longtime leader in the development community, serving on the BRA between 1993 and 1999. He went on to found HYM in 2008 and has developed several high-profile projects, including Bulfinch Crossing, New Balance's Boston Landing and NorthPoint in Cambridge.
The development company also has several projects in the works, including its massive Suffolk Downs development in East Boston and Revere and the next phase of the redevelopment of Government Center Garage. It also won the bid for the city-owned Parcel 3 lot in Roxbury.
Other candidates that have announced runs for mayor include community activist Domingos DaRosa and North End restaurateur Jorge Mendoza Iturralde.
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