Old Warehouses Are Becoming Palm Beach County's Newest Retail Districts. Here Is What That Means for Industrial Supply

Some of Palm Beach County’s most talked-about new shopping and dining destinations are being built inside or on top of former industrial property, from the restored warehouses of West Palm Beach’s Nora District to Glades Station, a former industrial site near downtown Boca Raton. Traded has covered a run of openings and leases in both. They are adding life to their neighborhoods. They are also part of a steady conversion of close-in industrial land.

The Nora District

Nora is a 40-acre mixed-use district along North Railroad Avenue, developed by NDT Development, Place Projects and Wheelock Street Capital with the City of West Palm Beach. It combines restored warehouses with new construction, including a 201-key hotel and 350 rental homes, and its first phase includes more than 156,000 square feet of retail. Recent arrivals include a 1,483-square-foot Onia shop at 835 North Railroad Avenue and Pastis, which is taking more than 13,300 square feet of indoor and outdoor space at The Nora Hotel. Downtown, Related Ross is repositioning the 449,000-square-foot Phillips Point office complex, where London’s Los Mochis will open an 11,346-square-foot waterfront restaurant in 2027.

Glades Station

In Boca Raton, Investments Limited is redeveloping a nearly four-acre former industrial property at 50 Glades Road, at Glades Road and Dixie Highway near Florida Atlantic University and the Brightline station, into three buildings with more than 28,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and office space. Carmine’s Gourmet Market and Carmine’s La Trattoria are targeting a first-quarter 2027 opening.

A tight market for retail and restaurant space

These districts are filling because good retail and restaurant space is scarce. Palm Beach County retail vacancy was 3.7% in the second quarter, according to Cushman & Wakefield, with average full-service asking rent of $38.62 per square foot. Restaurant operators in particular are competing for second-generation space with existing kitchens, grease traps and outdoor seating, which can save hundreds of thousands of dollars in buildout. Adaptive reuse of old warehouses offers what new construction rarely can: high ceilings, character and a walkable setting.

Why it matters for industrial

Warehouses near downtowns and rail stations are being priced as retail and mixed-use land. The businesses that occupied them, distributors, contractors, service companies, still need space, and they are moving to buildings further from the core. Countywide, Palm Beach industrial vacancy was 8.1% in the second quarter, according to Cushman & Wakefield, but small functional buildings were much tighter, with office-service and flex at 4.2%.

What this means for you

If you own an older industrial building near a downtown, a Brightline station or a redevelopment district, it may be worth more as a redevelopment site than as a warehouse. Know both values. If you are an industrial tenant in a converting area, start planning your next location before your lease is up. If you own small industrial space in established parks, displaced businesses are a strong tenant pool. If you are a restaurant or retail operator, second-generation space in districts like these moves quickly, so be ready to act and negotiate the buildout allowance as carefully as the rent.

AXCESS Commercial helps Palm Beach County owners weigh those choices, and leases space, lists properties for sale and manages commercial and industrial buildings.

Talk to our team about leasing, listing or managing your Palm Beach County property →