Signature Boston Blog
South Boston Waterfront Spotlight Series: Seaport Square

Big things are happening in the South Boston Waterfront District!

This is part one in a multi-part series exploring all of the exciting projects being developed in the backyard of the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. From hotels, restaurants, and retail stores, to fitness studios, apartments, and office buildings, there is something new opening up each week here in South Boston’s Waterfront District.

This week we explore the Seaport Square area of this developing neighborhood. A large part of the master plan for Seaport Square, and for the entire Waterfront district, is to provide flexible office space for startup (tech) companies. Larger corporations have also brought their offices to the area. Among the companies who have relocated their offices to Seaport Square, or have signed on to relocate in the next few years, include PricewaterhouseCoopers, Skanska USA, and Red Thread/Steelcase; plus companies like John Hancock, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Red Hat, and General Electric, whose corporate headquarters are relocating elsewhere in the South Boston Waterfront District.

The area will also play host to residences and amenities (such as Equinox, Kings Bowling, The ShowPlace Icon Theater, Soul Cycle, Chipotle, Shake Shack, and CVS) suitable for residents and visitors alike. This transit-oriented development is easily walkable to downtown Boston, but also has direct access to the Silver Line’s Courthouse MBTA Station.

Additionally, the Seaport Square development will include three hotels to help bolster Boston’s hotel room supply. Opening in 2017, YOTEL Boston marks the brand’s fifth U.S. destination as part of its global expansion. The hotel will be 11 stories tall, include 326 “cabins”, and offers an expansive indoor-outdoor roof deck with impressive views of the city’s skyline. YOTEL joins the Envoy Hotel’s 136 rooms that opened in September 2015. A third, yet-to-be-announced, boutique hotel with 293 rooms will also open in Seaport Square, with anticipated completion by 2019.

Seaport Square, by the numbers:

  • Size: 23 acres
  • Residences: 2.75 million sq. ft.
  • Offices: 1.25 million sq. ft.
  • Retail: 1.25 million sq. ft.
  • Hotels: 800,000 sq. ft.
  • Cultural/Civic: 265,000 sq. ft.
  • Parking: 2.25 million sq. ft. (6,000 spaces)
  • Plus 37% open space/25% green space

Check out our interactive map to view our centrally located venues and explore the neighborhoods our convention centers call home.