New York Times Spotlights Boston’s Seaport District

A recent New York Times article gave the world an insight into what Bostonians have known for a long time – that the Seaport District is fast becoming one of the nation’s most prominent hubs for international investment and innovation.

The NYT article gives us a brief history of the planning decisions that have led to the success of the Seaport district today, starting with the Big Dig connecting the area with Logan Airport and Interstate 90 in the mid 2000s. More recently, the authority has made some key decisions in favor of the area’s lively growth, such as requiring that building frontages have active retail and local uses, and that developers build public parks that connect with pathways to the waterfront. The area is already served by transportation in the form of the silver line and on the cards are a possible expansion of nearby South Station and the addition of water transportation.

The Seaport’s most high profile incoming tenant is of course GE, but the article doesn’t fail to mention new tenants Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Price Waterhouse Cooper. Shawn Hurley, the chief executive and president of Skanska U.S. Commercial Development in Boston cites the existing neighborhood of Fort Point as a firm foundation for development in the Seaport calling it innovative, but also grounded and “historic.”

The concept of the area as an “innovation district” is one that was envisaged by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, and seems to have been fulfilled beyond all expectations. Currently, the NYT says, quoting the Boston Redevelopment Authority, 2,700 residential units and 1.3 million square feet of office space are now in some stage of construction. It’s also heartening to know that the Seaport is still sought after as a residential address as well as for office space, and that maritime use continues alongside new development. Check out the New York Time’s timely article here.

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Published on July 11, 2016