The valet at the Nora Hotel charges two prices. Before 6 p.m. it costs $10, the same rate as every other valet stand in the district. After 6 p.m. it costs $15. No other valet stand on North Railroad Avenue charges a separate evening rate.
The hotel opened Monday, October 19, at 1135 North Railroad Avenue. It has 201 rooms and comes from New York hotelier Sean MacPherson and BD Hotels founders Richard Born and Ira Drukier, the group behind Hotel Chelsea, The Bowery Hotel and The Mercer, according to CBS12's opening report. On opening day it brought two restaurants with it, and two more evening venues are scheduled for the weeks after. Taken together, the district gains a night program in three stages between mid-October and December.
What the First Year Put on Railroad Avenue
The redevelopment covers a former warehouse corridor bounded roughly by Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard to the north, Quadrille Boulevard to the south, Dixie Highway to the east and the Florida East Coast Railway tracks to the west. NDT Development, Place Projects and Wheelock Street Capital started on North Railroad Avenue itself. In that first phase, 13 former industrial and railway buildings were renovated or adapted, and businesses began opening in stages in 2025.
The district's own directory, walked south to north, shows how much was already open before the hotel:
- Sunday Motor Co., 805 N. Railroad Ave.
- Loco Taqueria & Oyster Bar, 840 N. Railroad Ave.
- Carousel Fine Art, 845 N. Railroad Ave.
- IGK Salon, 860 N. Railroad Ave.
- Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, 870 N. Railroad Ave.
- H&H Bagels, 880 N. Railroad Ave.
- Celis Juice Bar, 895 N. Railroad Ave.
- SWEAT440, 905 N. Railroad Ave.
- [solidcore], 915 N. Railroad Ave., which posted an August 25 opening notice.
- Le Labo Fragrances, 975 N. Railroad Ave.
- Del Mar, 1015 N. Railroad Ave.
- Warby Parker, 1040 N. Railroad Ave.
- Mint, 1045 N. Railroad Ave.
- Sana Skin Studio, 1055 N. Railroad Ave.
- Pompanos, 1070 N. Railroad Ave.
- Gro Yoga & Wellness, 489 7th St., and ZenHippo, 485 7th St., just off the main block.
The list leans toward bagels, juice, ice cream, coffee, two fitness studios, a yoga studio, a salon, a skin studio, eyewear and fragrance. Those are errands and routines that fit the hours before dinner. The roster has also turned over. The Palm Beach Post reported in June that Juliana's Pizza, the pizzeria founded by Patsy Grimaldi, had closed after less than a year in the district.
Stage One: The Lobby, October 19
The hotel added two places to eat and drink on opening day. Pastis is the Parisian-style brasserie from restaurateur Stephen Starr, and Jack's Bar is the lobby bar. New York firm GACHOT designed the building. Its interiors draw on Palm Beach's Spanish Colonial Revival and Mediterranean architecture and pair them with a more intimate downtown New York style.
Pastis West Palm's own site lists breakfast, brunch and dinner menus. The daytime schedule posted on Resy runs as follows:
- Weekday breakfast, 7 to 10:30 a.m.
- Weekday lunch, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Weekend breakfast, 7 to 10 a.m.
- Weekend brunch, from 10 a.m.
Resy is how the restaurant takes reservations. Nora's own guide to Pastis recommends booking ahead for dinner and weekend brunch and describes the bar as a walk-in option.
A 7 a.m. breakfast puts Pastis inside the district's existing morning routine. The evening is the larger addition, since dinner at Pastis and drinks at Jack's give North Railroad Avenue a full night out at one address.
Stages Two and Three: Up to the Roof, Then Down the Block
The next two openings come from Mama Hospitality, the group behind the supper club Mary Lou's. A press release distributed October 15 says these two openings will take the group from one West Palm Beach venue to three by the end of the year.
| Stage | Timing | Venue | Location | Status as of October 29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One | October 19 | Pastis and Jack's Bar | The Nora Hotel, 1135 N. Railroad Ave. | Open |
| Two | November | Lillys: Lillys Pool, Bar Lilly, Cafe Lilly | Nora Hotel rooftop | Announced |
| Three | December | Macs 44 | 825 N. Railroad Ave. | Announced |
The release describes Lillys as an all-day rooftop with three parts. Lillys Pool handles daytime poolside service for hotel guests. Bar Lilly is an aperitif lounge built around cocktails and sunset. Cafe Lilly is a full-service restaurant run in collaboration with Starr Restaurants, which links the roof to Pastis downstairs. The release also promises live music, poolside sets and performances. The rooftop pool and a Sisley Spa round out the hotel's amenities. The hotel's own press release describes the spa as the brand's first in Florida, CBS12 reported.
Macs 44 is the most clearly after-dark project in the district so far. According to the release, it is an 80-seat, 3,600-square-foot salon with a programmed live show every evening that combines music, vocal performance and choreography. The menu is short, five to six dishes including caviar service and late-night classics. A liquor locker program lets regular guests keep a bottle on the property. "We wanted to create a room where the entertainment isn't simply an addition to the evening – it's the main event," co-founder Alex Melillo said in the release. The name honors Michael "Mr. Mac" McEvoy, grandfather of co-founders Topher and Dottie Grubb. He led Sea-Land and R.J. Reynolds Industries and was also a trained opera singer.
At 825 North Railroad Avenue, Macs 44 sits at the southern end of the block, near Sunday Motor Co. and Loco Taqueria. The hotel anchors the northern end. When both are open, evening activity will cover the whole length of the street. Nora's directory still marks Macs 44 as "Arriving Soon," and both opening months come from the operator's announcement.
Thursday Evening on the North Lawn
The district's event calendar already includes evenings. Dogs & Dogs runs today, Thursday, October 29, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on The North Lawn. Tomorrow, Friday, October 30, Gro Yoga and [solidcore] host a fitness event in the Nora District Courtyard. That one fits the district's original daytime routine. Details for both are on the Nora happenings page.
Parking Before and After Six
All of this affects how you get there. Nora's parking page, updated October 16, directs drivers to two ParkMobile lots. The premium lot sits between 8th and 10th Streets and is reached from 8th or 9th. The general lot is at 11th Street and Spruce Avenue. Valet is $10 a day across the district. The Nora Hotel stand is the exception, at $10 before 6 p.m. and $15 after.
For a weekday breakfast at Pastis or a class at SWEAT440, nothing changes. Dinner at the hotel now carries the evening rate at the hotel curb, while the 8th-to-10th Street lot sits closer to the southern end of the block, where Macs 44 is due in December.
The district is not finished. CBS12 reports that future phases call for residential buildings, including condos, along with more office and ground-floor retail, in buildings of 12, 15 and 20 stories. For this season, the dates to watch are the rooftop opening in November and the salon opening in December.
If you are weighing what a busier North Railroad Avenue means for nearby streets, from walking distance to evening activity, Elizabeth DeWoody follows these openings block by block and can talk through how they bear on a specific property. Work With Elizabeth.
