Bringing General Electric to Boston

The Situation

In January 2016, GE announced its decision to relocate its corporate headquarters to Boston. With an aggressive timeline for site selection and construction, the company partnered with attorneys from Mintz and professionals from ML Strategies to develop its approach to the project.

The Approach

Attorneys from the firm’s Environmental Law, Real Estate, and Construction Law practices and their colleagues at ML Strategies worked seamlessly with GE and its consultants in designing and implementing a plan to expedite both the acquisition of the GE Innovation Point site and the many approvals necessary to begin construction.

The permitting plan included obtaining a Phase I Waiver to allow the expedited rehabilitation of the historic buildings within 10 months of GE’s decision to move to Boston, a Single Environmental Impact Report submitted in less than a year, and approval by the Boston Planning & Development Agency in 10 months.

The Outcome

​Less than one year after GE’s decision to move to Boston, GE had all of the approvals necessary to begin rehabilitating two historic brick buildings that will be part of its campus and to construct a third, new building — an iconic 12-story structure that is expected to be under construction beginning in 2018.