Boston is one of the top cities for live-work-play apartments

Boston is one of the top cities for mixed-use housing, second only to New York City when it comes to new construction that includes residential, office and retail space.

What's happening: A total of 6,400 mixed-use apartments have been completed in Boston since 2012, per a report from RentCafe, a nationwide apartment search website.

• That's 42% of new units.

Why it matters: Rental communities that include residential, office and retail space gained a foothold in the last decade, especially as the pandemic heightened renters' preference for having daily activities close at hand, the report found.

Zoom in: One of the best-known examples is Millennium Tower, the luxury mixed-use development that opened in 2016 with more than 400 luxury condominiums.

• One of these units will set you back a few million.

Plus: The seven-building Ink Block development in Boston's South End, which was completed last month, ushered in a Whole Foods, a 205-room hotel and 650 apartments (including a 590-square-foot studio for $3,510 a month, per the website).

Zoom out: The number of apartments in "live-work-play" buildings nationwide has quadrupled from 10 years ago, from 10,000 completed in 2012 to 43,700 in 2021, according to Yardi Matrix data.

The bottom line: Blending different types of real estate is one way cities are evolving in the era of remote and hybrid work.