The Boat is a 14 storey 33,000ft2 mixed use building comprising office, residential and restaurant uses.  The building was designed by architect Barrie Todd for Strangford Estates.

A planning application (Z/2005/1291/F) proposing to develop The Boat building was submitted in June 2005 and approved in March 2006. Construction commenced in May 2007. During 2007 the adjoining 950ft2 site of the former Lifeboat bar was purchased by the developer and a planning application (Z/2007/2368/F) submitted in October 2007  proposed an extension (referred to as The Lifeboat) to The Boat. The extension was approved in March 2009 and the steel frame of the extension began to be erected in July 2009 to provide additional office space, 4 additional apartments and a ground and first floor bar/ restaurant unit. Both the Boat and Lifeboat were completed in December 2009.

During the Autumn of 2010 it was announced that Grafton Employment Group had acquired four floors of the Boat. Grafton began fitting out the 13,000ft2 of office space during October 2010. PropertyWeek reported in November that Grafton would pay £12.25/sq ft with a rent-free period.

The British Council relocated to the seventh floor during early 2013. Mott MacDonald occupy the sixth floor. The Bar of Northern Ireland acquired 4,000ft2 of space on the fifth floor during autumn 2016.

The ground and first floor bar / restaurant unit is now let and a liquor licence application has been submitted. A restaurant is due to open during late 2018.

McKibben Commercial placed The Boat building on the market during September 2018.