Developers planning the redevelopment of the former Carney Hospital campus say they intend to file a Letter of Intent with the Boston Planning Department in the coming weeks, formally launching the city’s review process for the 12-acre Dorchester Avenue site.
The project team says the filing will mark the next step in shaping a proposal that could bring a new health care facility and hundreds of housing units to the now-vacant property.
The team charged with re-imagining the campus—Thomas O’Brien of HYM Investments and Rev. Jeffrey Brown of My City at Peace—has spent the past several months huddling with neighborhood groups and gathering feedback. Most recently, they outlined their emerging plans during meetings with the Fields Corner Civic Association (FCCA), the Codman Square Neighborhood Council (CSNC), and the Lower Mills Civic Association.
At each meeting, as observed by The Reporter, O’Brien and Brown stressed that the central goal of the project is to restore a health care presence on the site.
“We are at a good point where we’ve done a lot of good engagement with the community and we’re close,” O’Brien told The Reporter this week. “We want to be sure we are aligned with the city and ensure that everybody understands exactly where we are. This is health care equity issue. There’s a window right now – unified with Dorchester and its elected officials – that we can produce a health care use on this campus. That’s what we’re focused on.”
Added Rev. Brown, a Dorchester resident: “It’s crucial to have the restoration of health care as the top priority because of the loss we’ve experienced.”
Seth Daniel photo
The hospital closed in August 2024 after its parent company, Steward Health Care, filed for bankruptcy. The shutdown was part of a state-assisted restructuring plan intended to keep other Steward hospitals operating elsewhere in Massachusetts.
The Dorchester Avenue campus is owned by Apollo Global Management, which had leased the site to Steward. In fall 2025, Apollo hired O’Brien and Brown to develop a plan for reusing the campus.
Their plan leans heavily on guidance from a 33-member advisory working group appointed by Gov. Maura Healey and Mayor Michelle Wu following the hospital’s closing. That group, led by Michael Curry of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers and Dr. Bisola Ojikutu of the Boston Public Health Commission, released a report in May 2025 that highlighted the significant health impacts of the Carney’s closure and urging that the site continue to serve a health-care-related purpose.
Based on that, the developers hope to make a 350,000-square-foot health care facility, potentially built on the footprint of the hospital’s former emergency department, the centerpiece of their redevelopment. While the team has not yet secured a specific operator, O’Brien has said discussions with leaders in the health care industry suggest that regional systems will be interested in occupying a newly built facility.
“When we say a health care partner, we are hopeful that one of the brand-name hospital systems will run it or own it,” O’Brien said last month. “We believe these health care systems want a new building like this, but struggle with the politics around the building process. If we create a unified approach with all Dorchester and deliver a building ready to use, we believe it will be attractive to one of them.”
Developers say the facility could include services residents identified as priorities during community meetings, including imaging services such as X-ray, CT scans, and MRIs, as well as physical therapy, primary care, pediatrics, urgent care, behavioral health services, hospice care, and an emergency department.
In addition to the medical building, the early concept includes a 150,000-square-foot educational facility, potentially developed in partnership with UMass Boston to support nursing education or health-care training programs. The Carney campus previously hosted a nursing college that later moved to Milton.
Housing would also play a significant role in the redevelopment. Plans discussed in recent meetings include about 500 residential units, including roughly 200 units of senior housing—potentially offering assisted living, memory care, and independent living—and about 300 family rental units. Some ground-floor retail space could also be incorporated.
Other elements under consideration include new open space connecting the property to Dorchester Park and parking to serve both the health facility and residents.
Filing the Letter of Intent later this month would formally begin Boston’s Article 80 development review process, with developers hoping to secure necessary approvals by late this year.
Reporting from News Editor Seth Daniel contributed to this article.
