Photo: Thomas O’Brien (left) and Rev. Jeffrey Brown (right) presented their early concepts for redevelopment of the former Carney Hospital to the Codman Square Neighborhood Council (CSNC) on Wednesday night in the Great Hall. Seth Daniel photo
Housing, nursing school also eyed for 12-acre campus
The team charged with re-developing the vacant Carney Hospital campus told civic leaders and neighbors that they intend to build a health care facility and a mix of housing on the 12-acre Dorchester Avenue site.
Thomas O’Brien, of HYM Investments, and Rev. Jeffrey Brown, of My City at Peace, briefed neighbors on their progress in a series of meetings held in the last month, including the Fields Corner Civic Association’s (FCCA) monthly meeting on Tuesday evening and the Codman Square Neighborhood Council (CSNC) on Wednesday. The team also convened an abutter’s meeting on Thursday, and met last month with the Lower Mills Civic Association. The huddles follow a series of nearly 30 “listening sessions” and civic meetings held late last year.
In recent public comments, O’Brien and Brown repeatedly emphasized that their top priority is to build a healthcare facility and find an operator. Their early concept also includes creating space for a nursing education program and a mix of housing that could include up to 500 new units. They have consistently said their plans would demand the demolition of the current buildings on the Carney campus.
“We were in a listening mode before and now we can report on what we heard and what we are thinking for next steps,” said Brown at Tuesday’s meeting in Fields Corner. “In all listening sessions we participated in it became clear that building a health care facility was the number one priority and something we are definitely going to do once we move this forward.”
A conceptual rendering of the ideas for the former Carney Hospital site, as presented by HYM Investments and My City at Peace during a monthly meeting of the Fields Corner Civic Association (FCCA) on Tuesday.
Added O’Brien: “The first and most important thing is to build the health care facility. We’ve heard unified appeals across all Dorchester. Dorchester has about 200,000 people and even if you took it out of Boston it would still be one of the largest cities in New England. This community deserves a [health care facility] and a building to provide for peoples’ health.”
The property is still owned by Apollo Global Management, which leased the Carney site to Steward Health Care– the Carney’s parent company –until it went into bankruptcy. The Carney subsequently closed in August 2024 as part of a state-facilitated plan to keep other Steward-owned hospitals in operation elsewhere in Massachusetts. In fall 2025, Apollo contracted with O’Brien and Brown to devise a redevelopment plan.
Both men have emphasized that they are leaning heavily on the recommendations of a 33-member “working group” that issued a report last May on potential re-uses of the site. The group, appointed by Gov. Maura Healey and Mayor Michelle Wu, was led by Michael Curry, president of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, and Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, director of the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC). The report underlined the severe community health impacts of the Carney’s closure and the need for a replacement health care use on the site.
Brown and O’Brien have both referenced a concept of building a 350,000 square foot health care facility on the footprint of what is currently the Carney’s emergency department. Other potential new elements would be a 150,000 sq. ft. educational building —potentially a nursing school or training program; 200 units of housing intended for senior citizen housing, including a possible assisted living model; 300 units of “family” rental housing; open space to connect to Dorchester Park; and a parking plan to accommodate the health care facility and residents.
O’Brien said in public meetings that while they have not secured a specific health care operator, they believe — based on conversations within the industry— that an existing system in the region would be interested in leasing or buying space once its built-out.
“When we say a health care partner, we are hopeful that one of the brand name hospital systems will run it or own it,” said O’Brien. “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 put this building on a path and deliver it to a health care partner ready to use, we believe it will be popular with one of them to operate it.”
O’Brien said it’s possible that more than one potential operator could find it attractive, spurring some competition for the Dorchester site.
Aerial image of the existing Carney campus courtesy HYM Investments/My City at Peace.
Brown said the biggest health care facility needs cited by the community are imaging services like X-ray, CT Scans, and MRIs; physical therapy and occupational therapy; pediatrics; primary care; urgent care; hospice care; behavioral/mental health care; and an emergency room.
Other pieces that would come after the health care facility, they said, include an educational building, potentially in partnership with UMass Boston’s nurses training program. The Carney campus once housed a nursing college that has since relocated to Milton.
Other elements for the site include open space that blends into the site from Dorchester Park, along with 200 units of senior housing that has a component of memory care, assisted living, and independent living. The 300 units of “family housing” might also include some retail space.
“The whole idea is to rebuild that village mentality that existed here prior to the closing of the Carney Hospital,” said O’Brien.
Brown said the team will continue to meet with other community groups and abutters this month. They then hope to file a “Letter of Intent” with the Boston Planning Dept. in the first quarter of this year in hopes of getting the required permitting completed by the end of 2026.
During the Fields Corner meeting on Tuesday, O’Brien and Brown were asked about how or whether their involvement in a separate project— Parcel 3 in Roxbury, which recently lost designation from the city of Boston, which intends to build a new vocational school instead— might impact their Carney plans.
“That’s a whole different process and a whole different story,” said O’Brien.
He added: “We’re completely focused on getting this done and complete permitting this year and get an agreement with a healthcare organization next year and start construction soon after.”
The HYM-My City at Peace team recently launched a Carney project website at www.2100DotAve.com.
