Curbed Cup Final Four: (8) the Seaport District vs. (13) the South End

And now there are four: Our 16-seed Curbed Cup competition to decide the Boston area’s No. 1 neighborhood of 2017 is down to its final quartet.

First up is the Seaport District vs. the South End. Polls open 24 hours. Go.

(8) the Seaport District

Rendering via WS Development

Boston’s unfolding Seaport District has been very busy of late with new development.

Projects either underway or planned include the three-building, 1.3 million-square-foot EchelonSeaport, which is due to include 733 apartments and condos, and 315 Northern Avenue across from the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, which is supposed to include a 304-unit apartment building and a 294-key hotel.

Then there’s Seaport Square, the development slated to fill in the final 12.5 acres of the Seaport District.

It’s due to have 3.2 million square feet of residential space, 2.8 million square feet of office space, a 476,800-square-foot hotel, and 1.12 million square feet of retail, restaurant, and entertainment space. It might even have a public library.

(13) the South End

Jorge Salcedo/Flickr

The South End remains a desirable patch of the region beset by change that only seems to enhance its rep.

In 2017, several new projects in the neighborhood either got underway or were publicly vetted for the first time.

Not least of these was the proposal for the conversion of the old Boston Flower Exchange. Developer the Abbey Group wants to build nearly 1.6 million square feet of commercial, technology, life science research, and retail space on the 5.6-acre site as well as new parkland.

There are also plans to redevelop the long-vacant Hotel Alexandra building on Washington Street—perhaps into another hotel or maybe residences—and the unfolding Ink Block complex in the neighborhood’s upper reaches wants to add a 14-story co-living building.

Also, one of the region’s more unique condo conversions, the 33-unit Lucas on Shawmut Avenue, wrapped construction in 2017.

Oh, and the South End got Boston’s newest park—under an Interstate overpass.

• Record prices prove Boston hotels certainly inn demand [Curbed Boston]
• 7 trends and milestones set to rock Boston-area real estate in 2018 [Curbed Boston]
• Exchange South End: Details on the South End mega-project [Curbed Boston]
• South End’s old Hotel Alexandra to see new life after years of vacancy [Curbed Boston]
• Boston co-living tower proposed for South End’s Ink Block [Curbed Boston]
• South End’s Lucas wraps construction: From Gothic church to 33 condos [Curbed Boston]
• Underground at Ink Block, Boston’s newest park, opening under I-93 overpass [Curbed Boston]