BPDA Approves Largest Downtown Office-to-Residential Conversion Under City Pilot Program

BOSTON — March 19, 2026 — Boston's BPDA board approved the largest office-to-residential conversion yet submitted under Mayor Michelle Wu's downtown pilot program at its March 19 meeting. The project at 280-300 Washington Street, an 11-story building historically known as the Old South Building, will convert approximately 202,000 square feet of vacant office space into 255 rental apartments, including 52 affordable units with 44 reserved for HUD voucher recipients, under a 29-year tax abatement of up to 75 percent of assessed residential value. BPDA Director Arthur Shen noted the approval pushes the program's cumulative total past 1,700 units of new housing from underutilized office space. The board also approved two NOAA-funded workforce training contracts totaling $1.11 million — $484,029 to Excel for CDL bridge training and $627,949 to New England Tractor Trailer Training School of Mass, Inc. for Class B CDL instruction — as part of a $9.8 million federal climate workforce grant. The meeting also marked the final board appearance of Dr. Ted Landsmark, who served 12 years beginning in 2014; Mayor Wu declared March 19 "Dr. Ted Landsmark Day" and Shen noted the board approved more than 60,000 housing units, including 15,000 income-restricted, during Landsmark's tenure.