BOSTON— A historic office building in the heart of downtown Boston could soon be transformed into new housing, as city officials review plans to convert the 14-story property at 1 State Street into 75 apartments. The proposal was first reported by the Boston Business Journal.
Located across from the Old State House at the corner of State and Washington streets, the building is the latest to enter Boston’s office-to-residential conversion pipeline. According to BBJ reporting, the project marks the 24th submission under the city’s incentive program aimed at revitalizing underused downtown office space.
Plans call for maintaining the building’s ground-floor retail tenants, including The Well Coffee House and BNC Market, while repurposing upper floors that are currently vacant or underutilized. The residential conversion would include 48 one-bedroom units and 27 studio apartments.
Developer John Geraghty is leading the project and intends to designate 13 units as income-restricted affordable housing, in line with program requirements, as reported by BBJ.
The approximately 64,000-square-foot building dates back to the 1920s and would undergo renovations to become an all-electric property, eliminating the use of fossil fuels for heating and appliances.
Boston’s conversion initiative, launched in 2023, has gained traction as the city looks to address both office vacancies and housing demand. As reported by BBJ, the program now includes two dozen projects expected to deliver more than 1,700 new housing units across roughly 1.4 million square feet of former office space.
So far, only one project has been completed—a 15-unit conversion at 281 Franklin Street—while several others are currently under construction.
The proposed redevelopment at 1 State Street highlights the continued momentum behind adaptive reuse efforts in downtown Boston, particularly in areas near landmarks like Faneuil Hall and Post Office Square, where a growing share of these projects are concentrated.
