Boston’s Back Bay has established itself as a premier commercial real estate market, rivaling the traditional prestige of the Financial District.

Boston’s Financial District, with all of its high-profile addresses, sweeping harbor views and clusters of towering office buildings, may not be the hot spot it was a few years ago.

Industry watchers say that some companies instead are flocking to the city’s Back Bay, where they can find an office with a view and a neighborhood with nightlife.

In the past two years, at least 635,000 square feet of tenant space has shifted from the Financial District into the Back Bay, a trend that some say will continue.

“When Palmer & Dodge did it, others that may not have considered it said, ‘what are we missing?'” said Chuck O’Connor, principal of Trammell Crow Co.’s Boston office, of the Boston-based law firm’s defection from the Financial District to the Bay Bay.

The Back Bay’s combination of high-end residential developments, designer retail shops along Newbury Street and restaurants along Boylston Street form a sharp contrast to the Financial District, where many restaurants close down by 3 p.m. The culture, lifestyle, commute and vitality evident between Beacon Street and Columbus Avenue have created an irresistible pull, luring several companies away from the city’s traditional central business district.

“In the downtown, at 6:30 p.m., the lights go off,” O’Connor said. “In the Back Bay, the lights go on.”

Since 2001, at least 13 companies have made the move from the Financial District into the Back Bay. Palmer & Dodge, credited as being the Back Bay pioneer and trendsetter, moved from One Beacon St. into 111 Huntington Ave. in 2001. During that year, Weston Presidio and J.W. Childs left One Federal St. for 200 Clarendon St. and 111 Huntington Ave., respectively. Alta Communications moved from One Post Office Square into 200 Clarendon St.

At least seven companies followed over the next year and a half. Several companies joined Palmer & Dodge in the newly finished 111 Huntington Ave., including BTM Capital, Federal Home & Loan and Epstein Becker & Green. All of the companies previously held offices in the Financial District.

The remaining companies that made the move into the Back Bay were Summit Partners, which relocated to 222 Berkeley St., and Deckert Price & Rhodes, T.B.G. Assoc., Adage Capital and Old Mutual, which all made their way 200 Clarendon St.

Mercer Management, formerly of Lexington, also leased 45,000 square feet of space at 200 Clarendon St.

‘Buzz’ in Boston

In the mid-1980s and the early 1990s, the Back Bay was home primarily to advertising, publishing and insurance firms. Office space back then was cheaper than the Financial District by about 10 to 20 percent, although since then the price gap has narrowed so much that rents in the Financial District and the Back Bay are about the same.

In 1982, Bob Delaney, principal of Trammell Crow Co., was a rookie broker in the Back Bay. At that time, there were almost no law firms in the neighborhood, and no significant building developments until 500 Boylston St. opened. A few other mid-sized properties followed, including 399 Boylston St., but two of the three didn’t have parking and weren’t considered top-quality office spaces.

When 111 Huntington Ave. opened in 2001, providing top-tier office space in the Back Bay, Palmer & Dodge took the plunge into a new neighborhood with a commitment of 180,000 square feet, leaving behind their previous offices at One Beacon St.

“I think that turned a lot of heads,” O’Connor said. “Boston has always been a provincially minded town in terms of what is an acceptable address.”

The opening of 111 Huntington Ave. and 10 St. James Ave. began pulling companies away from the traditional central business district. Palmer & Dodge’s move, along with Holland & Knight’s move from One Beacon St. to 10 St. James Ave. in 2000, marked a turning point in the level of prestige of Back Bay office space.

“Those are two very highly touted law firms,” said Robert Cleary, executive vice president of the Codman Co. “Everyone always thought that you had to be on the same corner as your clients but the Back Bay offered cheaper rent, more favorable amenities and more convenient transportation … It’s the true 24-hour city.”

The Back Bay and Financial District were always considered separate markets based on their surrounding communities and amenities, but over the past few years that perception has changed.

“A lot of the tenants I work with talk about the Financial District and Back Bay in the same breath,” said Peter Farnum, principle at Trammell Crow Co. and president-elect of the Commercial Brokers Association, part of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board. “There’s no built-in predisposition to absolutely, positively want to stay downtown. Tenants want to learn about the Back Bay and ask what the buzz is about.”

Some industry watchers say that Back Bay has proved such a successful mix of office, residential and retail that developers in the new South Boston Seaport will use it as a model. Both areas have a convention center, hotels, retail and planned residential space.

“It’s an interesting analogy but I don’t see a Commonwealth Avenue back there [in the South Boston Waterfront area],” Delaney said. “But there is a lot going on, it’s a useful analogy.”

Cleary is a bit more optimistic.

“It took 40 years for the Back Bay to establish itself,” Cleary said. “The Seaport may only take 20 but it’s going to happen. Then we’ll have a beautifully flowing city.”