Officials gave a tour of the former Spofford Juvenile detention center Thursday, announcing plans to convert the space into an affordable housing complex.

The facility once served as a detention center for troubled youth but has been abandoned since closing in March 2011.

The city's Economic Development Corporation and Department of Housing Preservation and Development are looking to demolish the building and turn it into "The Peninsula," a 5-acre campus that would bring 740 affordable housing units, a new public plaza and retail and commercial spaces.

The detention center is planned to be demolished in the spring of 2018.

The project is expected to cost about $300 million and is scheduled to be completed in 2024.