ABG Research Desk
A proposed historic district in downtown Boston could make it easier and cheaper for developers to turn aging office buildings into housing. The 18-acre Exchange District was approved by the Massachusetts Historical Commission in September and is now with the National Park Service for final review, according to Bisnow.
What the Exchange District would do
Historic tax credits can cover part of a conversion’s cost, but only for buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, developers usually have to get each building listed one at a time, which adds time and expense.
Inside the new district, properties would already be eligible for that listing. The city’s Office of Historic Preservation drafted the district, and at least eight conversion projects fall inside it, including 31 Milk St., 50 Congress St. and 1 State St., according to Bisnow’s analysis.
“We knew that we would get better projects, and we’d have retention of a lot of the historic fabric,” said Elizabeth Sherva, deputy director of the Boston Office of Historic Preservation.
Why the credits matter
State and federal historic rehabilitation credits can be worth up to 20% of a project’s qualified rehab costs. For conversions, which often struggle to line up financing, that can close a real gap.
Dinosaur Capital Partners’ conversion of 31 Milk St., an 11-story office building, into 110 apartments shows the work involved today. The firm secured historic tax credits on its own, which took longer because it first had to get the building on the National Register. It worked with Dorfman Capital on a capital stack with at least seven equity and financing pieces.
“That will make it so much easier for developers who want historic tax credits for their buildings within this district,” Scott Oran, managing partner of Dinosaur Capital Partners, said at Bisnow’s Boston Building Upgrades and Conversions Summit.
The credits are still capped and competitive, so being in the district doesn’t guarantee an award. As Sherva put it, “Not every adaptive reuse project is going to be a tax credit, a historic tax credit candidate.”
Boston’s conversion pipeline
Since Boston launched its office-to-residential incentive program in 2023, developers have filed 28 applications covering 35 buildings. Together they propose more than 2,400 homes in about 2 million SF of former office space. Recent proposals include Vanbarton Group’s 476-unit conversion at 31 St. James Ave. and Synergy’s 258-unit project at 294 Washington St.
Most of these projects haven’t started construction yet, because developers are still lining up financing.
Boston’s office-to-residential pipeline since 2023
Homes planned in three downtown conversions
Source: Bisnow, November 2026
Why this matters for commercial real estate
Older downtown office buildings have had the hardest time keeping tenants as companies move to newer space. Conversions give owners of those buildings another path, and every building converted takes office space off the market, which helps the offices that remain.
For investors and lenders, a simpler path to historic tax credits can make the numbers work on projects that are stuck today. More people living downtown also means more customers for street-level retail, restaurants and services.
What to watch next
- The National Park Service’s final review of the Exchange District
- Whether stalled conversions inside the district apply for historic tax credits
- Construction starts among the 2,400-plus homes in the city’s pipeline
- Whether Boston proposes similar districts elsewhere downtown
The ABG Research Desk will keep following these stories and what they mean for commercial tenants and owners. If you’re weighing a lease or a property decision and want to talk through how local conditions could affect it, our team is here to help.