Gov. Baker Taps Cambridge’s Brattle Group to Analyze Boston 2024’s Potential Impacts
Gov. Charlie Baker has selected The Brattle Group to perform an independent review of Boston 2024 and its potential impact on the region.
The Cambridge-based global consulting firm will be tasked with evaluating various aspects of hosting the 2024 Summer Games, including financing mechanisms, infrastructure investments, insurance requirements, and taxpayer protection.
“Hosting the Olympic Games is an opportunity to showcase to the world what makes Massachusetts great and as the process continues, having a robust analysis of this massive undertaking will be extremely helpful in ensuring transparency and protections for taxpayers,” Baker said in a release. “We look forward to this work and the ability of the Massachusetts public to review Boston 2024’s plans when they become available in the coming weeks.”
The announcement comes as Baker has increasingly voiced his frustration with Boston 2024, from “holding his hands out as if receiving communion” and repeating “Show me the plan,” to telling the State House News Service that a Boston Convention and Exhibition Center expansion included in Boston 2024’s plans—the same expansion he froze in April—”never a part of the conversation. Ever. Not once, okay? Never.”
The Brattle Group will be assisted by Floyd Advisory LLC, a consulting firm with offices in Boston’s Financial District. The review will be completed by mid-August, the release said. The Brattle Group’s proposal was one of four submitted and reviewed by a selection committee. Their contract is capped at $250,000, covered by Office of the Governor and the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.
Baker, along with Senate President Stan Rosenberg and House Speaker Robert DeLeo, first requested an independent analysis in March.