by John Osborn ·
Thursday, August 6, 2026
MassDevelopment on Wednesday presented preliminary findings from a long-awaited building conditions assessment of the Innovation and Technology Center (ITC) district, putting the cost to stabilize and remove hazardous materials from its most significant vacant structures at nearly $44 million.
The assessment, conducted by Icon Architecture with cost estimates from Miyakoda Consulting and hazardous materials analysis by Fuss & O'Neill, covered eight buildings in all: four historic structures at Vicksburg Square—Allen, Knox, Revere and Hale halls—and four more on Sherman Avenue, the three Bachelor Officers' Quarters buildings and Washington Hall.
All have sat vacant since the mid-1990s except Revere Hall, which was used as office space until 2006. Demolishing the buildings, instead of stabilizing them, would cost an estimated $24.4 million, according to the assessment,
Erikk Hokenson, MassDevelopment's senior vice president of real estate development, made the presentation to the Devens Committee and a packed conference room at the committee’s Aug. 5 monthly meeting. He was joined by Devens executive vice president Michael Sweeney, and by Sandi Silk, the agency’s recently hired executive vice president for real estate.
Hokensen said Allen Hall, rated in poor condition, accounts for nearly 40 percent of the total stabilization cost, an estimated $17.4 million, and is described as being in "imminent danger" of further deterioration. The building's stabilization cost has risen more than fivefold since MassDevelopment's last assessment, in 2017.
Hokensen, Silk, and Sweeney each said that rezoning the district to allow housing (which is prohibited under current rules) offers the best chance of preserving the buildings, and the agency aims to bring the question to a super town meeting of Harvard, Ayer, and Shirley voters next spring. A $5.1 million state earmark tied to that vote remains before a legislative conference committee and is not yet law. Vicksburg Square
Under Chapter 498, the 1993 state law that created the Devens Regional Enterprise Zone, any substantial change to its zoning bylaws must be approved separately by each of the three towns—Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley—meeting individually as part of the super town meeting process. If even one town votes no, the rezoning fails for the entire district, regardless of how the other two vote. That is what happened in 2012, when a Trinity Financial proposal for housing at Vicksburg Square failed to gain support in Harvard, according to Harvard Select Board Chair SusanMary Redinger, who said the plan was seen as too heavily weighted toward affordable rental units.
Hokenson said the agency is "working on identifying the funding sources for abatement, other safety measures, and stuff that we can take to reduce those future costs," but offered no specific funding plan or timeline. He said the cost estimates aren't expected to change before the final report is released later this summer—"and if they change, they'll only go up." MassDevelopment plans to return in September with the consultants who conducted the assessment to hear from residents on priorities for the buildings, Hokenson said.
The building assessment is one of three studies the Devens Housing Working Group recommended before any rezoning vote. Sweeney told attendees Wednesday night that a required education-impact study was put out to bid July 15. Responses are due Aug. 13 and a final report by Feb. 15, 2027, ahead of the planned super town meeting. The status of the third study, on traffic impacts, remains unclear.
Redinger, in an email to the Press, said she was encouraged by MassDevelopment's outreach to the three towns ahead of the presentation and is hopeful for a solution that serves both Devens and its neighbors.
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, who represents Ayer and Harvard and addressed the Devens Committee earlier in Wednesday's meeting, said a successful vote is his top priority. "My biggest focus is, if MassDevelopment decides to do a super town meeting next year, making that a successful negotiation with the three towns, the Devens Committee, and Devens residents, to make sure it's successful," Eldridge said. "Because I don't have to tell anyone here what happens if it's not successful—not only does that set back progress here, but I would argue it creates some clouds for the disposition of Devens."
MassDevelopment provided the Press with extensive background on the assessment ahead of and during Wednesday's presentation. As of press time, the agency had not yet responded to written follow-up questions submitted Thursday morning asking why it chose to release preliminary findings ahead of the final report, when state legislators were briefed on the results, and what immediate steps, if any, it plans to take to stabilize the most at-risk buildings before a super town meeting.