Together with a shared five-story platform, the two towers will make up the Phillip and Susan Ragon Building, which will stretch across two city blocks. (MGH has not disclosed the size of the Ragons’ gift.) The 17-story Chambers tower is slated to open for patient care in 2028, while work will begin on the 15-story New Balance tower in 2027, replacing the existing Parkman Street garage, and wrap up three to four years later.
When he started in the job as MGH president in 2021, David Brown set out to meet with all of the hospital’s big supporters, a roster that included the New Balance Foundation. Conversations with New Balance owners Jim and Anne Davis eventually focused on how the new heart and vascular care tower would improve health care for the Greater Boston community.
“Those sets of conversations led to a deeper engagement between [hospital parent] Mass General Brigham and the New Balance Foundation, which culminated in this gift,” Brown said. “They are incredibly generous, they’re incredibly community-minded, and very humble.”
Brown, now head of academic medical centers for Mass General Brigham, said he sees parallels between New Balance and Mass. General — namely how both organizations started in Boston and grew to become globally known brands.
“This gift reflects our commitment to building healthier communities and supporting institutions that share our values of innovation, access, and excellence,” Anne Davis, the foundation’s managing trustee, said in a prepared statement. “We believe deeply in the power of place — and the New Balance Foundation Tower will be a place of healing, hope and progress for generations to come.”
Since its formation, the New Balance Foundation has already given $165 million to nonprofits around the world, including more than $17 million to nearly 100 organizations in 2025. Much of its focus is on obesity prevention and youth development through athletics.
With 2 million square feet of space when complete, including its parking and other underground spaces, and a $3.1 billion price tag, the Ragon Building and its two towers represent the largest construction project currently underway in the city.
The two towers will feature 482 private, single, acute-care patient rooms, replacing a similar number of beds in the existing hospital campus, mostly in double rooms. Of those, the New Balance tower will feature 32 intensive care beds and 190 acute-care beds. It will also include a conference center and areas for training, with a 300-plus seat auditorium. The entire Ragon Building has been designed to operate independently, off-grid, in case of an emergency. And it will include 864 parking spaces in an underground garage.
Brown said Mass General Brigham has raised about $700 million, including the Chambers and New Balance gifts, toward construction of the Ragon Building, reflecting the typical proportions of MGB’s major capital projects funded by philanthropy.
From his office window at the hospital’s Bulfinch building, its oldest structure, Brown has a daily view of the ongoing work on the new building.
“I’m excited for our patients, and what this will mean for our community. But I’m also excited for our staff … who right now are working in what I would call suboptimal working conditions,” Brown said. “It gets me really excited about the future.”
Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him @jonchesto.