After weeks of speculation, prominent real estate developer Thomas O’Brien has decided to run for mayor of Boston and plans to formally launch his campaign next week, a source close to the campaign confirmed.
O’Brien, 61, is the founding partner and managing director of HYM Investment Group, which is behind major redevelopment projects like the Government Center Garage downtown and Suffolk Downs in East Boston, and was head of a past iteration of the city’s planning department under former Mayor Thomas Menino.
He plans to formally launch his campaign in East Boston alongside his family next week, ahead of Mayor Michelle Wu’s formal reelection campaign launch, which is set for next Saturday in the South End, the Herald has learned.
East Boston is often referred to as Boston’s Ellis Island due to its history as a major immigration hub. Along with his wife, Tricia, O’Brien is expected to make his mayoral campaign announcement alongside some of his children, who are adopted from Columbia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Ethiopia, a source confirmed to the Herald.
Politico Massachusetts first reported O’Brien’s decision to formally enter the race, and the Boston Globe had previously reported his interest in a mayoral bid.
O’Brien joins Josh Kraft, son of the billionaire New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and longtime philanthropist, as prominent candidates vying to oust Wu, a popular progressive Democrat who is seeking a second, four-year term.
While the city’s municipal elections are non-partisan, O’Brien, like Kraft, is expected to run as a Democrat. Community activist Domingos DaRosa, an independent, has also stated his intention to run for mayor.
More than two candidates in the mayoral race would trigger a preliminary election, set for Sept. 9. That primary would whittle down the field to two candidates who would appear on the final ballot for the Nov. 4 municipal election.
O’Brien’s interest in running for mayor came to light just a couple of weeks ago, and speculation ramped up over this past week when a poll testing how he would fare against Kraft and Wu in a mayoral race began circulating.
While O’Brien was among the developers who initially supported Wu’s stalled bid to raise commercial tax rates, which was widely criticized by industry groups, he may look to join Kraft in seeking to capitalize on the frustration the real estate industry has expressed with some of the mayor’s policies.
Along with her bid to raise commercial tax rates at a time when the real estate industry is grappling with post-pandemic office building vacancies and decreased values, Wu also recently received approval from the Zoning Commission to speed up net-zero emission requirements, and previously increased affordability requirements, for new building construction.
Kraft, who launched his campaign in early February, has thus far rolled out a plan that would pare back affordability requirements, saying that the mayor’s policies have exacerbated housing affordability.
Wu has garnered national attention of late, however, in coming off a strong showing before the Congressional Oversight Committee, which is probing sanctuary cities and their impact on public safety, earlier this month.
Her State of the City speech, where she defended the city’s immigration protections, drew a response from the White House last week, and she appeared on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” earlier this week.
O’Brien is a well-known real estate developer in Boston. According to his HYM biography, his prior stints include serving as managing partner for JPI, a national developer and owner of multifamily communities, and as managing director in Boston and New York for Tishman Speyer, one of the world’s leading real estate firms.
He led the Boston Redevelopment Authority as its director and chief of staff, overseeing the development of more than 12 million square feet of projects in Boston, from 1994 to 2000, according to his biography.
The Wu campaign did not respond to a request for comment, and the Kraft campaign declined to comment on O’Brien’s entry into the race.
After O’Brien’s interest in running became public a couple of weeks ago, the Wu campaign issued a pointed response.
“It is clear some developers are willing to do whatever it takes to buy this office,” a Wu campaign spokesperson said at the time. “It seems that Josh Kraft is not turning out to be what they expected and now they are shopping for a new option.”
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