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Inside NORA: A sneak peek at West Palm Beach’s next hot spot for South Florida

In one corner stands the shell of a future coffee shop. Several steps away, the framework for a speakeasy-style club is in the works.

On a recent blistering weekday afternoon, a construction crew chipped away at what will become NORA, a mixed-use destination district in West Palm Beach.

The project is so vast it’s being completed in phases, with the first phase slated for completion at some point in the first few months of 2025, a delay from its original expected completion at the end of this year.

Francis X. Scire, the head of leasing, blamed construction delays.

“We were really aggressive in terms of the timing, and I think as things started to settle, it’s just a normal progression to push off a quarter,” he said.

The term “NORA” stands for North Railroad Avenue, an apt nod to the location where the project is rising, which is east of the Florida East Coast Railway between Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard and Quadrille Boulevard by Providencia Park.

Some of NORA’s buildings will contain remnants of former industrial buildings, a concept known as “adaptive reuse.”

Others were completely demolished to make way for brand-new buildings.

Phase One of NORA will be 90,000 square feet of adaptive reuse and 60,000 feet of new construction, Scire said.

The food and beverage spots will serve as the district’s anchor.

“It’s what’s going to drive traffic, and the way that retail projects work today is really restaurants are the driver to the project,” he said. “The days of the super-enclosed regional shopping center where we have a department store anchor, it doesn’t work that way anymore.”

To generate buzz about the official unveiling and tempt possible visitors, NORA’s tenants have been announced gradually, with a few names dropping every few months.

When it came to choosing tenants, Scire was picky.

“I’ve said ‘no’ more than I’ve said ‘yes,'” he said.

Last September, NORA developers announced the first round of tenants, which included three food spots hailing from the Northeast and two fitness offerings.

Then, in January, three more tenants were revealed: a pizza joint, a sports bar and juice bar.

Most recently in May, another restaurant, a skin studio, a women’s boutique and a barbershop were welcomed, and nearly a dozen tenants are still yet to be revealed.

The current list of tenants are:

— Food: H&H Bagels, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, Loco Taqueria & Oyster Bar, Juliana’s Pizza, Del Mar Mediterranean Restaurant,  Celis Juice Bar and Cafe, and The Garret Group’s Garret Sports Bar and Recreation, which will also serve as an entertainment venue.

— Fitness: [solidcore] and Rumble Boxing.

— Retail: Mint boutique, Sana Skin Studio and The Spot Barbershop.

A NORA hotel, homes and offices are also on the horizon.