Steel, scaffolding and a rooftop cluster of bulkheads now dominate the block at 644–650 Southern Boulevard, where a new nine-story mixed-use building is taking shape in Longwood. The 111-foot project is set to house an in-patient drug and alcohol rehabilitation center with dozens of rooms, paired with ground-floor commercial space. The steel frame has already topped out, and crews are concentrating on a white-brick facade, a grid of rectangular windows and a setback with terrace at the sixth floor. Developers are still aiming to wrap construction in summer 2026.
Design credit goes to IMC Architecture, with Jerome Development Corp. listed as the developer. Renderings show a basket-weave brick pattern and a recessed entrance at street level, according to New York YxIMBY. The outlet also notes a construction hoist on the building’s southern side and cites plans for roughly 74,000 square feet of clinical space and 54 treatment rooms inside. The structure is rising as a ground-up replacement for a low-rise use that previously occupied the lot.
What’s being built
Filings under the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program describe the project as a new nine-story commercial building that will include inpatient residential units and an outdoor courtyard for occupants. NYSDEC documents for the site (C203170) outline the remedial work completed before construction, including extensive excavation and post-remedy monitoring, and confirm that the project moved through formal review under the program. Those filings show the redevelopment was planned with environmental oversight because of historical industrial activity on the property.
Site history and sale
The property was previously home to a one-story religious building and earlier light-industrial uses before it changed hands in 2023. Public property records reviewed by PropertyShark list the sale as recorded on August 23, 2023, for approximately $3.25 million. That transfer cleared the way for environmental remediation work and the ground-up construction that is now visible from the street.
How the corridor could change
Southern Boulevard is already the focus of a neighborhood planning effort that targets housing, health services and commercial investment, so this in-patient treatment facility is arriving in the middle of a bigger reset for the corridor. The city’s Housing Preservation & Development office notes that the Southern Boulevard plan is meant to coordinate public investments in health, retail and commercial projects along the strip, placing this development in a broader planning context rather than as a one-off. Local small businesses and community groups will likely be watching to see whether the facility brings referrals, jobs or fresh neighborhood amenities as it opens.
Timeline and next steps
For now, exterior finishing remains front and center, particularly the brickwork and window installation. Interior build-out for the clinical spaces is expected to follow. New York YIMBY reports that the developer is targeting a summer 2026 completion, while state Brownfield Cleanup Program records show remedial milestones concluding late last year, with a Certificate of Completion filed in December 2025. Once the facade is in place and Department of Buildings sign-offs are secured, the project will move into final inspections and licensing steps required for an inpatient facility.
