How The Seaport District Became Boston’s Hottest Neighborhood

“The only thing you used to come down here for was to buy fish or drugs,” a Boston bartender confides in me as I order a drink at Lookout Rooftop Bar. With a new enclosed space this winter, the rooftop bar at The Envoy Hotel is surprisingly packed even on a frigid day, with festive groups crowding into colorful igloos and snapping selfies with the city’s skyline in the background.

Boston Seaport is unrecognizable from just a few short years ago. The Envoy Hotel set the tone when it opened in 2015, a cornerstone for the retail, dining and residences that have sprouted up in the past few years. The 33-acre Boston Seaport District spans 20 city blocks and is the largest development in Boston, and biggest project to date for Chestnut Hill-based WS Development. New skyscrapers lining Seaport Boulevard were all built on former parking lots, which were full during the weekdays with people commuting to work in the Financial District across the bridge, but desolate on weekends. 

Today Boston Seaport has become a veritable shopping and entertainment district, with emerging e-commerce brands at retail incubator For Now along with next generation tech novelties at b8ta and custom made-to-measure suits for men and women at Mr. Sid. It’s hard to believe that the development is only a third of the way finished, but there’s still much more to come. 

Omni Boston Hotel At The Seaport will open its doors in 2021 and St. Regis Residences, Boston has launched sales with 114 condos expected to open in 2021. This will be the first urban, all-condo development for the St. Regis brand, with no hotel attached. Flight Club will open within the month, and Toronto-based fine jewelry brand Mejuri and New York’s healthy fast casual Broken Coconut are coming soon too. 

“It’s very fresh and a lot younger than most of the city,” says Seaport resident and Equinox Seaport general manager Dawne Stanley. “I personally believe in work-life integration as opposed to work-life balance. Seaport is small enough that it feels like home and we have a great community here. Local businesses are so open and willing to partner for shared experiences.”

At an early morning Pilates class at Equinox, half the women are clad in Lululemon and the other half in crocodile textured yoga leggings from Booty by Brabants, a locally designed direct-to-consumer brand that’s popping up this holiday season at The Current. 

The Envoy Hotel’s executive chef Tatiana Rosana is another successful young professional living and working in Seaport. She’s as excited about the new Trader Joe’s as anything else and recommends industry hangout Pastoral for low-key Italian pizza and beer. “Every day there’s something new opening up,” she says. “And for me, it’s so nice to be able to walk to work.”

Boston visitors looking for their culture fix will want to book tickets to Yayoi Kusama: Love Is Calling at the Institute of Contemporary Art sooner rather than later. Tickets have been selling out months in advance for the largest of Kusama’s existing Infinity Mirror Rooms, but don’t fret. The ICA has this exhibit through February 7, 2021. The Seaport neighborhood is also home to the Boston Tea Party Museum, Boston Children’s Museum and Society of Arts and Crafts.

There have been a slew of new restaurant openings here too, mostly restaurants from popular national or New York brands who can afford the high rent. When Menton opened in 2010, it was a pioneer in Fort Point, garnering a James Beard Foundation Award nomination for Best New Restaurant. Chef Barbara Lynch’s Relais & Chateaux restaurant is still the top fine dining destination in Seaport today, adjacent to craft cocktail bar Drink and casual Italian trattoria Sportello, but dining options abound in Seaport for all mealtimes now like never before. Row 34 from the Island Creek Oyster team and all-day cafe Tatte Bakery are a couple of highlights.

The vibe at Boston Seaport is entirely different from any other neighborhood in Boston, fast-paced and commercialized like a modern metropolis, juxtaposing red brick in Fort Point with gleaming stainless steel towers. There are already more than 4,600 existing residential units in Seaport with nearly 2,000 more under construction. A focus on public artwork and free events like summer concerts and Christmas tree lighting ceremonies have helped foster community as Boston’s brightest, shiniest new ‘hood continues to evolve. 

This post first appeared on Forbes.com. To see the original, click here.