Development is booming around Boston’s North Station and the recent opening of AvalonBay Communities’ 38-story apartment tower is the latest step in the once-sleepy neighborhood’s reawakening.

More than 74 leases have been signed since November and nearly 40 units are occupied on 7th through 11th floors of the 503-unit Avalon North Station as construction continues on the upper levels, said Scott Dale, AvalonBay’s senior vice president of development.

Studios start at $2,335 per month and 3-bedroom units begin at $5,435. Three-bedroom, 1,700-square-foot penthouses with balconies, hardwood floors, recessed lighting and premium appliance packages run around $12,000 a month. AvalonBay is offering up to six weeks free rent on two- and three-bedroom leases, said Tod Salmonson, senior community manager.

The CBT Architects-designed tower will show off its views with a 2,000-square-foot indoor “Sky Pavilion Lounge” and an outdoor roof deck on the 35th floor, both of which will open in early 2017. Other common area amenities include a 3,000-square-foot fitness center, Wi-Fi-equipped resident lounge, yoga studio, game room and pet grooming spa.

The commanding views also include those of competitors such as The Eddy, developer Gerding Edlen’s 16-story apartment tower in East Boston which began leasing in July. But Dale said the timing looks good for Avalon North Station’s leasing cycle, with a brief lull in Boston’s luxury apartment pipeline this winter. The next milestone: Berkshire Communities’ 812-unit Benjamin and Via towers on Seaport Boulevard, which are scheduled to begin move-in’s in April and next summer.

The latest arrivals come at a time when Boston’s apartment market has hit a temporary peak, according to data released this month by Dallas-based multifamily researchers Axiometrics.

Annual effective rent growth in the city of Boston was just 0.8 percent in November, the lowest increase since February 2014. At the same time, rents rose 4.1 percent in the North Shore/Merrimack Valley market and 3.1 percent in the west/northwest suburban market, Axiometrics said.

But rents will climb another 2.7 percent in 2017, Axiometrics projects.

“We expect job growth to remain near the national rate in 2017, so demand for apartments will be steady,” said Stephanie McCleskey, vice president of research for Axiometrics, in a statement.

Approximately 8 million square feet of development is projected in the surrounding neighborhood in the next few years, including Boston Properties’ Hub On Causeway mixed-use development at North Station, HYM Investments’ Bulfinch Crossing at the Government Center garage complex and Equity Residential’s 470-unit residential tower on the Garden Garage property on Lomasney Way.