[ad_1]
The Warehouse District in West Palm Beach is getting a reboot that backers say will bring in home furnishings, interior design, wellness and fitness retailers to the district, which consists of warehouses initially built between 1925 and 1974. It will also see the shuttering of the food hall known as Grandview Public Market, with aspirations to bring in other dining options.
The district sits along Elizabeth and Clare avenues, about a mile south of CityPlace.
The rehabbing of the Warehouse District is a venture by real estate investor Alex Griswold, who bought the properties in 2024. Griswold recently brought in veteran retail leasing executive Francis X. Scire Jr., the leasing director for West Palm Beach’s Nora District, to fill the project’s spaces.
Nora District: Sneak peek shows new WPB neighborhood with restaurants, stores
West Palm’s Grandview food hall closed, no details on replacement yet
At the end of July, the space’s Miami-based operator, City Food Hall, shut down Grandview Public Market.
In a July 17 interview, Griswold and Scire said they aren’t yet certain what will become of the food hall space, but they said they are aware it is the district’s anchor. Griswold said he hopes the space can be filled with a food and beverage operator “for the locals and by the locals.”
Isla & Co, a sit-down restaurant adjacent to the food hall, will remain open.
Griswold said he has big plans for the Warehouse District, which sits in a pocket of the city next to longtime residential enclaves such as Grandview Heights and Flamingo Park.
“Our goal is to serve the community,” he said.
Aerial view of the Warehouse District in West Palm Beach.
To that end, creating a roster of interesting tenants is a major goal, especially in the home furnishings market. It’s also a solution for retailers that want to be close to the city’s major residential communities but can’t find space that’s large enough, or affordable enough along South Dixie Highway.
“We can offer larger spaces to these designers and furniture businesses while still being adjacent to the Dixie Highway corridor,” Griswold said.
More: Transformed from rundown to hip, Warehouse District fetches $18.5 million
New West Palm Beach businesses include home furnishings retailer, Show Pony Palm Beach
Among the tenants that just opened in the district is Show Pony Palm Beach, specializing in 20th century home furnishings, including art and furniture.
Michael Walker, its owner and a veteran of New York’s fashion industry, moved to West Palm Beach nearly four years ago, then opened a furniture gallery on South Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach.
Walker said he quickly found success with people who appreciated his eye for finding unusual items for the home. After a lease on his existing warehouse space ran out, Walker decided to take up 13,000 square feet in two spaces in the Warehouse District.
Furnishings offered by Show Pony Palm Beach, a home furnishings store that just leased space in the Warehouse District in West Palm Beach.
With the surge in migration to West Palm Beach from New York and other major U.S. cities, Walker is optimistic the Warehouse District will thrive as a destination for home furnishings. Even as Walker was moving items into the spaces this month, he said he was surprised to see walk-up inquiries.
“This area is going to explode,” Walker said. “The local community is so good at decorating their homes. They have sophisticated taste, and designers come here from all over.”
Blake Anding, owner of Classic Sofa, moved into the district last year after searching for space in Southeast Florida from Miami to Vero Beach.
More: New apartments in West Palm Beach’s hip Warehouse District add to allure of industrial area
Classic Sofa is a 43-year-old company that makes custom upholstered furniture from a New York-based manufacturing facility. The setup allows customers to obtain their pieces in weeks, rather than months, as is the case with furniture stores that use foreign manufacturing sites, Anding said.
Anding said he settled on the Warehouse District because it had the feel of a place that felt artsy enough to be interesting but not so pricey it was closed off to new players.
“It’s a breath of fresh air,” Anding said.
Anding said he’s particularly impressed by Griswold’s decision to bring in creative tenants to give life to the district, including complementary neighbors such as Show Pony. For his part, Anding said he’s eager to be part of the Warehouse District’s new shine: “I just want to help in any way I can.”
Warehouse District gave fresh life to old buildings
The Warehouse District first burst onto the scene in 2018 with the opening of the Grandview Food Market, the county’s first food hall.
The food hall was formed out of one of six rundown properties purchased and revamped by investor Hunter Beebe of Palm Beach.
In addition to creating the food hall, Beebe also brought hip tenants, such as Steam Horse Brewing and Steel Tie Spirits Company, to nearby properties.
Mural by artist Renda Writer at The Warehouse District at 1500 Elizabeth Avenue in West Palm Beach, Florida on July 15, 2024.
In late 2018, just months after opening the Grandview Public Market, Beebe sold the properties for $18 million to Charlotte-based Asana Partners. The real estate company held the portfolio for a few years and then sold it to a Griswold entity for $19.5 million in July 2024.
During the past year, Griswold said he’s managed to bring the project’s occupancy to about 90% from 50%. This includes leasing the entire 12,000 square foot boutique office space to tenants.
Prior to Griswold’s ownership of the buildings, the warehouse district and its occupants experienced mixed success.
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.
The district attracted a rental apartment project now known as The Point at District Flats.
But the food hall struggled amid the COVID pandemic. Steam Horse Brewing at 1500 Elizabeth Ave. also took a hit from the pandemic and never really recovered. The brewery closed its doors in September.
By teaming with Scire, Griswold hopes to tap into the thriving market for design and furnishings, boutique gyms, wellness concepts, and selected food operators.
Wellness businesses also finding a home in Warehouse District
A new tenant that just opened in the Warehouse District is Bindu Yoga & Wellness at 1530 Elizabeth Ave.
Formerly an axe-throwing venue, the space “has a different energy now,” co-owner Angela Reinhardt quipped.
Reinhardt said she and partners Annie Cardelus and Bella Jones were attracted to the district “because it seems to have a growing wellness community that we want to be a part of.”
A prior location on Dixie Highway was half the size, Reinhardt said. But the new district space, which opened two weeks ago, allows for group classes, private yoga sessions, massage and soon a red light therapy room.
Reinhardt said the studio’s expanded services will meet demand from customers “who have a better understanding of how we need to focus on our health if we want to stay comfortable in our later years.”
Indeed, health and wellness are key components of the Warehouse District, said Scire, who has experience bringing these retailers to central Palm Beach County.
Scire successfully leased the newly-created Nora District, a dining, entertainment and shopping district set to open in September in a section just north of downtown West Palm Beach. Like the Warehouse District, Nora also was fashioned out of old industrial buildings, along with some new construction.
Prior to the Nora District, Scire previously leased the Royal Poinciana Plaza, filling the 1950s-era Palm Beach shopping center with new tenants. The property, now known as The Royal, today features a top collection of restaurants, designer retailers and wellness facilities.
Scire said he’s staying on with the Nora team as a consultant for a year to help guide the project’s planned second phase, set to open in 2028.
At the same time, Scire said he’s eager to create a new gathering spot for West Palm Beach residents and visitors in the Warehouse District, which is close to his home in the nearby Grandview Heights Historic District.
This plan includes possibly making use of the district’s main street, Elizabeth Avenue, into a spot for events, especially for families in the evening hours.
Scire described the Warehouse District as “the best kept secret” in the city, and he and Griswold hope to unveil more details in the fall, including more new tenants.
“We want to reintroduce the district to West Palm Beach as a place to serve the neighbors around us,” Scire said.
More residents could be filling up the area, too.
West Palm Beach-based Amato Millan Development is approved to build two new apartment buildings featuring 245 residences. The buildings are an extension of the nearby 51-residence Mercer Park Apartments, which the company finished in 2022.
Alexandra Clough is a business writer at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at aclough@pbpost.com. X: @acloughpbp. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: West Palm’s Grandview Market food hall closed in Warehouse District
[ad_2]