Boston Flower Exchange redevelopment envisions tech campus to rival Kendall

The owner of the former Boston Flower Exchange in the South End wants to replace the 5.6-acre site with 1.6 million square feet of lab and office buildings to create a commercial hub to rival Kendall Square, the Longwood Medical area, and the Seaport.

The Abbey Group won a bidding war for the Flower Exchange in 2015, and hinted at its plans last year.

A March 15 presentation to a neighborhood group, however, spelled out in greater detail just what the owner has in mind.

That 1.6 million square feet of lab and office space would be spread over four buildings rising to 200 feet. And Abbey would construct those buildings around a 1-acre public plaza called Albany Green that would include a new cultural center and restaurant space.

Plans are very preliminary and Abbey has not filed anything yet with the city.

But given the old Flower Exchange’s proximity to Boston Medical Center and Boston University Medical School, never mind its spot amid the construction boom in that area of the South End, the plans seem pretty reasonable, even modest. Stay tuned.

• New owners of Flower Exchange unveil their plan for the site [Globe]
• Boston Flower Exchange Conversion: Two Big, Unanswered Questions [Curbed Boston]
• Boston's Harrison Avenue: Mapping the city's busiest development corridor (updated) [Curbed Boston]