Soon, they say – end of March – the first of five new restaurants will open at Liberty Wharf, the $65 million development on the site of the former Jimmy’s Harborside. The first to open will be a Mexican restaurant, Temazcal Tequila Cantina. It’s not going for your average Tex-Mex fare. On the menu: roast suckling pig and … some kind of exotic fungus that grows on corn stalks. Sure, fine – keep the tequila coming.

The other three places: Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House, another Jerry Remy’s, another Legal Seafoods, and an as-yet-unnamed number five.

Talk about a shot in the arm for the Seaport District. It finally looks like Fan Pier will no longer be the parking lot wasteland by the sea. Cambridge pharmaceutical firm Vertex signed a letter of intent to move to Fan Pier and build two adjacent buildings in a 1 million square-foot development. Development of the full 23-acre parcel includes plans for residences and a marina, in addition to retail amenities.

This essentially would complete the development of Fan Pier as it sits today and add an impressive addition to the skyline on the waterfront. Vertex is getting plenty of goodies from the state, of course: $12 million in tax incentives and $50 million in road/infrastructure improvements. Still, Boston expects to recoup about $60 million in taxes from the deal. I’m not so sure Menino’s idea of calling the place the “Innovation District” will stick though. It’s going to be Fan Pier for a long time.

In the news:

• Vertex OKs Hub Deal (Boston Herald)
• Vertext to move to South Boston (Boston Business Journal)
• City draws Cambridge drug firm to Fan Pier (Boston.com)

The Liberty Hotel now has new co-owners and what’s more, the Liberty is now an affiliate of Starwoods Hotels & Resorts’ “The Luxury Collection” of properties. The new co-owner (no one will say if it’s a controlling interest) is Connecticut-based HEI Hotels & Resorts. The original developer, Carpenter Co. also boosted its investment, so the deal looks like a stronger partnership between HEI and Carpenter.

Here’s what’s kind of curious: Starwoods Hotels’ property list is huge … and includes the W Hotels. The Luxury Collection, however, doesn’t seem to include the W Hotels. Still, it’s interesting to see Startwood is still bullish on Boston.

Again, there’s definitely some light at the end of this long tunnel. The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Beige Book report sums up the regional economy as “generally positive, albeit moderate.” Among the sectors reporting steady though moderate growth: manufacturing, retail and business services. Of course, residential real estate remains “in the doldrums” but commercial real estate is showing signs of stability as 2010 drew to a close.

The Beige Book report points out that though the number of single-family homes and condos fell below 2009 levels, median prices continue to march up (except in New Hampshire). We all know real estate sales improvement only comes after general economy improvement, so all this is hopeful.

Developer Joseph Fallon is showing the city today his plans for a 15-story mix of retail and commercial space right on Boston Harbor, adjacent to the new Fed courthouse on Fan Pier. The idea is for retails and shops to occupy the bottom floors, and floors two to seven (that’s six floors) to be laboratory space. Office space is for the upper floors. Does the city want a towering laboratory on the harbor? Would a future condo or rental development want to be sited next to that? We’ll see.