State says it will look for a developer to turn Boston's two most oppressive buildings into a new complex where people will want to live

The state said today it will soon seek bids to turn the "superblock" of the Hurley and Lindemann buildings - the most brutal of Boston's brutalist structures - into a "residential mixed-used redevelopment" that will bring new housing and commercial space downtown while upgrading space for the site's current residential mental-health services.

The move means the end of a 2022 plan by the state Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance to let developer Leggat McCall turn the Hurley building into new state office space and, since it was the New Hotness then, life-sciences laboratories.

But fans of brutalism and froggy pareidolia can rejoice: The state recognizes that Paul Rudolph's 1971 Government Service Center - which has all these weird empty spaces because it was planned with a brutalist tower in the middle is now old enough to be historic:

The site remains architecturally significant due to its unique mid-century design, and the Administration will prioritize historic preservation in the renewed redevelopment process.

In addition to housing, the state says it wants to see plans that also include commercial space - as well as " upgraded, modern space for the residential mental health services currently provided by the Department of Mental Health in the Lindemann building."

The current complex stretches between Merrimac and Cambridge streets in the north and south and Staniford and New Chardon streets in the west and east.

In a statement, Secretary of Administration and Finance Matthew Gorzkowicz said:

Given the Hurley - Lindemann site’s proximity to major hubs of Massachusetts industries, educational institutions, and government, it holds enormous redevelopment potential. Our approach will deliver urgently needed housing and economic opportunities in the heart of our capital city.

The next step in the process is for the state to issue a formal request for proposals to developers for potential projects on the site.

The state implied, but in a statement did not outright state, that it will seek to sell the land to the chosen developer, rather than lease it to that company:

The updated approach further advances the Administration’s goals for housing production and allows the Commonwealth to utilize the cost-effective and flexible approach of leasing downtown Boston office space for state employees.