This real-estate feature from the South Florida Sun Sentinel highlights the latest plans for new construction as demand rises for more housing, offices and stores across the region. You can submit questions through this form or by emailing , if you’re wondering about “what’s being built there?” in your community. Here’s one of the latest projects.
Location? West Palm Beach, on North Railroad Avenue, east of the Florida East Coast Railway between Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard and Quadrille Boulevard by Providencia Park.
What’s planned? Former industrial buildings in West Palm Beach are receiving a facelift with Nora, a mixed-use district intended to transform the area. In the first phase, the 154,000-square-foot project will feature public parks, a plethora of food and drink options from fine dining to casual bites, boutique fitness and wellness centers, lifestyle retail and a social club.
In future phases, Nora will receive about two million square feet of residential and office buildings, along with a 200-key high-end hotel.
For food options, co-developer Ned Grace said Nora will have everything from neighborhood necessities like coffee shops to “ultra high-end fine dining” and everything in between, none of which will be large chain operations.
For retail, Grace said Nora will have gift shops, skincare, haberdashery — a fancy way of saying men’s clothes and accessories — eyeglasses and more.
“Our hope is that someone comes here, enjoys a cocktail before dinner, has dinner, stops in one of the retail stores and then ultimately lives in one of the apartments or is staying in the hotel,” he said.
The idea is to create a pedestrian-oriented environment, which will be achieved through assets such as cobblestone streets and curbless sidewalks.
ASD Design
A rendering of Nora, a mixed-use district coming to West Palm BeachWhen will the project be completed? The $1 billion project will be constructed in phases, and the first phase will be completed in late 2024. Grace said the developers will be working on the northern part of the district for the next few years as they determine what elements would be best suited for the area.
For now, the hotel and retail establishments are well underway, he said.
The hotel development is in collaboration with BD Hotels and Sean MacPherson, who is behind some of New York City’s most iconic hotels like The Bowery and Chelsea Hotel.
Seeing demand: Historically, much of West Palm Beach has been fragmented, Grace said.
“You’ve had a lot of one-off retail environments and fragmented ownership in the downtown,” he said. “The ability to curate and control the retail and restaurant environment in this urban location is key to this project.”
Nora also aims to perpetuate the notion that West Palm Beach is more than a vacation spot — it can also be an viable place to settle.
“This really is an environment where people can live, work and play,” Grace said.
Nora is also projected to create more than 1,000 new jobs through the retail, service, hospitality and creative industries.
“Nora will play a vital role in West Palm Beach’s economic and continued cultural resurgence,” Mayor Keith James said in a statement.
