A first look at Seaport Square

The developers of the proposed Seaport Square project will give the public a first look at their plans for the South Boston Waterfront tonight.

Seaport Square is proposed as a massive 20-block, 20-building development with 2.65 million square feet of residential space, 1.5 million square feet of offices, 1.25 million square feet of retail stores and restaurants, a half-million square feet of hotels, and 600,000 square feet of cultural, arts, and educational use, including a proposed private Nations Academy School.

It would include two parks and may involve the relocation of the Barking Crab, a well-known seafood restaurant on the Fort Point Channel adjacent to Seaport Square, and St. Vincent de Paul Parish's Our Lady of Good Voyage Chapel.

The developers are Gale International, run by John B. Hynes III of Boston, and the financial firm Morgan Stanley. Gale also is developing the old Filene's building in Downtown Crossing and New Songdo City in South Korea, a new, $25 billion community.

Gale has filed a notice of intent of its plans with the city, but has not filed a formal proposal. It is showing it to community groups and the public to gauge reaction to its concepts before finalizing the details.

The meeting will be held tonight from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the J. Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse on Fan Pier in South Boston.
(By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe staff)