The Seaport Has Come A Long Way, But The Best Is Yet To Come

The Boston seaport is on the verge of a major development boom, and more than 550 real estate pros gathered recently at the Boston Marriott Long Wharf for Bisnow's State of the Seaport to talk where we've been, where we are, and perhaps most importantly, where we're headed.

Davis, Malm & D'Agostine president Paul Feldman (left with Stantec VP Fred Kramer) walked the crowd through the historical development overview of the Seaport and how it's grown. Fred said the Seaport District is booming with tons of new projects, some completed and some just starting, such as blocks B&C, the opening and operation of the Vertex Building, Fan Pier and 22 Liberty.

On the topic of absorption, Fred said right now capital flow remains solid, there's an undersupply of quality housing and the market is strong. 

"The Big Dig made a huge impact on the accessibility to the Seaport and the recession taught us to become good builders and developers," Fred said.

Nickerson PR & Nickerson RE founder Lisa Nickerson moderated our second panel, and asked the group for an update on where the Seaport District is today.

Berkshire Group SVP Heather Boujoulian said it's a full-service lifestyle area with contagious energy. The district itself is innovative and people feel good saying they work and live there. "With additions like the Archdiocese of Boston church it feels close to being a real neighborhood. There is a lot of pedestrian activity and lots of retail vendors coming to the district."

Synergy Investments president David Greaney owns and operates 25 office buildings in the Boston area and has been involved with the Seaport since 2010. He agreed we can't underestimate the cool factor when you say you live and work in the Seaport. It creates a fun energy, though it's just starting to evolve. "It's really starting to appeal to a variety of people and it took a lot of vision to get it to this state," he said.