How Palm Beach Gardens Is Growing: Publix, Shops, Restaurants, Coming to Avenir Town Center

Palm Beach Post, August 30, 2024

Developers envision that Avenir Town Center will become a mini-downtown for its surrounding neighborhoods, which will total more than 4,000 homes.

Businesses including Florida’s signature grocery store are following thousands of new residents to Avenir, the growing community on the western edge of the city. Restaurants, shops and a modern-style Publix are starting to plan openings at Avenir, which will have more than 4,000 high-end homes once it is built out. Its Town Center area will be a mini-downtown similar to others cropping up across Palm Beach County, allowing residents to shop, eat and play near their homes.

Three buildings now stand at the Town Center off Northlake Boulevard, about 10 miles west of Palm Beach Gardens City Hall. Construction on them is set to finish this fall with construction costs totaling $10.5 million, according to city documents.

Ken Tuma, the agent for Landstar, the community’s developer, said Avenir Town Center “will provide significant diversity and choices” to residents of Palm Beach Gardens’ newest community. The area is being built in phases, said Tuma, who noted there is a “rush to open.” About 30% of its retail space is built so far, with the total build-out for retail amounting to about 200,000 square feet, a spokesperson said. The first phase of Avenir Town Center’s construction includes six buildings, but the city has approved the construction of up to 29 buildings there, Tuma said, adding that these additional buildings would take several years to complete.

Avenir Town Center will also have features to liven up the neighborhood, like grassy gathering areas and a 10-foot-tall sculpture of a silhouette of an orchid flower, which will be made of aluminum and resemble Chinese and Dutch porcelain vessels, records show. City officials have said that the amenities coming to Avenir are making it almost like a city unto itself. About 700 families already are living at Avenir today, a spokesperson said.

A Publix will be housed in the largest of the three buildings at Town Center now. It is scheduled to open this fall and will follow a modern style, Tuma said. At around 49,000 square feet, the Publix is large by grocery-store standards. It will also have an indoor seating area for customers, according to a Publix spokesperson. It will be one of at least three modern-style Publixes in the Palm Beach Gardens area, joining the one now open in Alton and the Promenade Plaza store now under reconstruction and expected to be completed by next spring. It’s part of a larger pattern of Publix scrapping its aging stores for larger structures with wide aisles and more modern features and updated selections.

Modern-style Publixes also have traditional departments for grocery, dairy, frozen food, seafood, meat and fresh produce and full-service bakery and pharmacy areas.

Two smaller buildings, each with multiple storefronts, sit east of Publix, with one at 5,600 square feet and the other at 5,400 square feet, Tuma said. The developer hopes to welcome a mix of more affordable and upscale dining options to the center. Aside from Publix, these businesses have committed to open at Avenir Town Center.

Carmela Toasta & Coffee Bar brews its coffee with beans from its farm in Costa Rica. It plans to open at the Town Center in July 2025. Carmela’s first location opened in Broward County, but its footprint is moving northward with eight locations in Palm Beach County and more planned.

Kitchen Restaurant is a contemporary American restaurant with steak, seafood dishes, hamburgers and salads. It plans to open in the fall of 2025. It has other locations in West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Gardens.

Man Cave is a barber shop that offers haircuts, hair coloring, shaving, and skin and nail services for men. It plans to open in the first quarter of 2025. It has eight other locations in Palm Beach County.

Seppe Pizza Bar is a modern neighborhood pizzeria with dishes ranging from chicken wings to octopus and chicken parmesan. It has one other location in Staten Island, New York. It has not yet announced its opening date.

Venetian Nail Spa is a nail salon with stores in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee and Kentucky. It has two other locations in Palm Beach Gardens, with one at Alton Town Center and another at Legacy Place.

Walgreens will be the only pharmacy at Avenir Town Center, its spokesperson said. Walgreens has more than 800 locations in Florida.