19-03-2025
These major changes are coming to downtown West Palm Beach's CityPlace
Stephen Ross, chairman of Related Ross, said he is working to transform West Palm Beach into a model city that will be in "the most important county in the United States."
To get there, Ross will continue to upgrade downtown's CityPlace, a massive mixed-use project that changed downtown when it opened in October 1999.
New developments were shared by officials after March 12 groundbreaking of the company's newest planned office towers, 10 and 15 CityPlace, at Rosemary Avenue and Hibiscus Street.
Ross, also owner of the Miami Dolphins, said: "We are doing everything we can to bring all the amenities and activities needed to sustain the growth we're looking at today."
Some of those include:
∎ Related Ross development company is hoping to strike a deal with Publix to build a new West Palm Beach grocery store that would be nearly double the size of an existing store at CityPlace.
∎ More restaurants and furniture stores will take space at CityPlace.
∎ The opening of the Eataly Italian Market in the historic Harriet Himmel Theater this year.
More: The Square complex in West Palm Beach reverts to its former, beloved name: CityPlace
The 15 CityPlace tower, and a companion tower next door dubbed 10 CityPlace, will add 1 million square feet of office space to the downtown when completed in 2027.
Some 4,700 employees could work in the towers when they are fully occupied, said Ken Himmel, president of Related Ross.
The 25-story, 500,000-square-foot 15 CityPlace tower is 60% pre-leased to office tenants, officials said.
More: West Palm's new office tower One Flagler opens as Related Ross works on other projects
Among the building's many perks is a 6,000-square-foot rooftop amenity deck, said the tower's architect, Bernardo Fort Brescia, co-founder of Arquitectonica.
These tenants included the previously announced Cleveland Clinic Florida medical offices, which will total 120,000 square feet.
They also include two newly revealed tenants: Shutts & Bowen, Related Ross' law firm and a current tenant of another office building owned by Ross; and Inclenberg Investments, a private real estate investment firm with an office in Palm Beach. The size of these office leases was not disclosed.
As for a larger Publix, Himmel said talks with the Lakeland-based grocery chain still are underway, and Related Ross needs to buy one additional piece of property for a new, larger store.
The new store would be built at the northwest corner of Banyan Boulevard and Rosemary Avenue, a few blocks north of the current Publix store at Fern Street and Rosemary Avenue.
Talks have been ongoing with Publix for five years, Himmel acknowledged, but the grocery chain previously backed away from opening a larger store at CityPlace.
However, in the past couple of years, with the surge in the city's population and upgrades being made to the CityPlace district, a bigger store once again is a possibility, he said.
The $45 million Eataly market will feature 30,000 square of interior space, plus outside seating. The market is being built in the historic Harriet Himmel Theater.
Mayor Keith James, who attended the groundbreaking, said Eataly will attract further interest in the city.
"You want something that will bring people from all over the county, maybe all over the region, and I think Eataly will be a great draw," James said.
Himmel said Eataly also is a draw for restaurants hoping to get spillover business from the foot traffic and customers who visit the food hall.
In fact, more than half a dozen restaurants are slated to be built at CityPlace in the next few years, Himmel said.
Among them is Moxie's, a Canada-based chain that does $17 million a year in revenue at each of its two other locations in South Florida.
In addition, a restaurant will be built inside the cottage that once housed the former Hibiscus House Bed & Breakfast, a property that Related Ross now owns.
Home furnishings are an important element, too, in the CityPlace retail lineup. Perigold, part of the Wayfair furniture company, will open at the end of the year, and Crate & Barrel will open at CityPlace, too, joining West Elm at the center.
As for the existing RH store on Okeechobee Boulevard, just south of CityPlace, that store does more than $80 million in volume, the third busiest store in the company's chain, Himmel said.
Stay up to date on South Florida's sizzling real estate market and sign up for The Dirt weekly newsletter, delivered every Tuesday! Exclusively for Palm Beach Post subscribers.
Alexandra Clough is a business writer at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at aclough@ X: @acloughpbp. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: These major changes are coming to downtown West Palm Beach's CityPlace
