"This is my forever home. I don't plan on going anywhere," Hurricane Alley owner Kim Kelly told The Coastal Star in late September. She was talking about a building directly across East Ocean Avenue from the one her raw bar had just left.
Her move is a small one, and it shows how downtown Boynton Beach is working this fall. Three of the large projects on Ocean Avenue and Federal Highway are scheduled to finish between 2027 and early 2029, and the fourth has no firm date. Meanwhile, the avenue's familiar places are moving short distances so they can stay on the street during the years of construction.
A Restaurant That Chose the Shorter Wait
The Pierce has been planned for more than five years. It is a $105 million mixed-use project at 115 N. Federal Highway, between Ocean Avenue and Boynton Beach Boulevard, with 300 apartments and about 17,000 square feet of restaurant, retail and office space. The plan had always been to demolish the Hurricane Alley building at 529 E. Ocean Ave. and give the restaurant an anchor space inside the new development.
According to The Coastal Star's September 3 report, that arrangement would have kept the restaurant closed "at least until spring" while the developer built the new space. Kelly took a different route. She reached a deal for the Paloma Mexican Restaurant space on the south side of the avenue, which closed permanently, and signed a five-year lease with options running up to 15 years. She described it as a short process. "It all came together within five days," she told the paper.
Regulars will probably care most about what moves with her. Kelly said the memorabilia on the walls and ceiling will make the trip, including fish-themed pieces that customers gave the restaurant over the years. The menu stays the same, with perhaps a few additions. The new layout won't have an outdoor bar, but another bar is being added inside. She credited support from the city's Community Redevelopment Agency with encouraging her to stay on the avenue.
The target is a grand reopening "around Thanksgiving." As of today, no newer announcement has confirmed a date. The restaurant's own website points people to its social media for opening updates. The site lists the address as 500 Ocean Avenue, Suite 105, while The Coastal Star gives it as 510 E. Ocean Ave. Either way, it's the former Paloma space with the orange facade, directly across from the old location.
That stretch of the south side already has one new tenant. Boynton Beach Insider reported in July that Rivalries Sports Pub had opened at 510 E. Ocean Ave., with a ribbon-cutting on July 17.
A Market That Moved Toward the Construction
The second move went the other direction, from the edge of the city into downtown. The Good Day Market used to set up at the Boynton Beach Mall. It now sets up at 129 E. Ocean Ave., in the lot next to the Schoolhouse Children's Museum. The Coastal Star counts more than 50 vendors selling farm-to-table foods, local honey, pet treats, baked goods, soaps, candles, clothing and handmade jewelry, with free parking in the adjacent lots.
The market runs on select Sundays, not every week, so the calendar matters. Three dates remain on the organizer's Fall 2026 schedule, each from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.:
- Sunday, October 25
- Sunday, November 8
- Sunday, November 22
The new lot sits at the west end of the same few blocks where Hurricane Alley plans to reopen. The Coastal Star reported both moves in the same September column, and both put a familiar business on the stretch of Ocean Avenue that the new buildings are planned around.
Four Sites, Four Different Clocks
Hurricane Alley's new lease came together in five days. The construction around it is measured in years. Here is where each project stood at its most recent dated report:
| Project | Location | What it adds | Latest status | Expected finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Villages | 405 E. Ocean Ave. | 336 apartments, 668 parking spaces, 8,000 sq. ft. of retail and restaurant space | Under construction in July 2026 photos | 2027, per the CRA |
| Ocean One | 114–222 N. Federal Hwy. | 371 apartments, about 27,000 sq. ft. of commercial space, a plaza with restaurants and shops | Official groundbreaking Oct. 7 at an already active site | Mid-2028 |
| Octavia | 120 SE 1st Ave., south of City Hall | 465 apartments, about 50,000 sq. ft. of amenities and ground-floor retail | Groundbreaking Sept. 10 | Late 2028 or early 2029 |
| The Pierce | 115 N. Federal Hwy. | 300 apartments, about 17,000 sq. ft. of commercial space, 150 public parking spaces | Cleared for construction this fall, per The Coastal Star | No firm date |
A few details sit behind those rows. The Palm Beach Post's October 7 report on Ocean One's groundbreaking says construction on the 3.5-acre site started in May. The CRA's project page gives an August start, a late-2028 finish and about 25,000 square feet of commercial space, so the published figures vary by source. Neither source has named a restaurant or shop tenant for the plaza. The CRA lists 90 public parking spaces as part of the project, including 20 on the street.
The Villages, which the CRA also calls Oria, includes plazas and a linear park in its plans. For Octavia, Boynton Weekly notes that a second, northern building is planned later, which would add hundreds more apartments around City Hall, Centennial Park and the Arts & Cultural Center.
The Pierce has the least settled timeline. The Coastal Star reported a 21-month construction period and said a firm schedule for any part of it was still hard to pin down. The CRA's undated project page still lists the project as in permit review. Under the original plan, The Coastal Star reported, Kelly would have had to wait months for Affiliated Development to build her a new space. The former Paloma space needs only minor renovations before she moves in.
The One Piece Without a Date
At the east end of the avenue, Boynton Harbor Marina is facing a less visible repair. The CRA says the marina's seawall is about 25 years old and has reached the end of its useful life. Replacing it is expected to cost roughly $4.5 million. The CRA has a $132,246 FEMA award, which covers initial design and permitting but not construction.
The CRA's list of what depends on that wall explains why the repair matters. A failure could affect 19 marine-related businesses along the wall, 11 businesses inside the marina, more than 1,100 nearby residents and a destination that draws over 50,000 visitors a year. The CRA's dining page lists Banana Boat, Two Georges Waterfront Grille and Marina Café as the marina's waterfront restaurants. Its directories also list operators such as Starfish Scuba, South Florida Diving Headquarters, Sea Mist III and Tiki Taxi & Cruises. The Boynton Weekly report gives no construction date for the new seawall.
The marina may eventually connect to more of the waterfront. In July, the Palm Beach Post reported that the city was looking into options for a multi-stop Intracoastal water taxi. At that point it was still being studied, not planned.
The Season Runs on the Blocks That Aren't Changing
The fall and holiday calendar leans on the two public anchors at either end of the avenue, Centennial Park and the marina. Neither has a construction site on it.
- Fall Festival, Saturday, October 17. Centennial Park & Amphitheater, 3 to 6 p.m., per the city calendar.
- Pirate Fest, October 31 and November 1. Free, at Centennial Park & Amphitheater, 120 E. Ocean Ave. Hours are noon to 10 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Boynton Beach Insider lists pirate encampments, a Mermaid Grotto, a Haunted Trail, sword fighting, archery, axe throwing and a Lil Scallywag Zone for younger kids. The official Pirate Fest page carries parking and road-closure details.
- Holiday Boat Parade, Friday, December 11. Boynton Harbor Marina, 6 to 9 p.m. The 2025 edition ran from the Ocean Avenue Bridge in Lantana south to the C-15 Canal in Delray Beach, with the marina as the official watch spot. The 2026 listing doesn't restate a route.
The Good Day Market's Sunday dates in the 100 block fall between these events. If Hurricane Alley reaches its Thanksgiving target, the reopened raw bar will sit between the park and the marina for the boat parade on December 11.
I follow these Ocean Avenue projects closely because they're starting to show up in conversations with homeowners near downtown. If you'd like to talk through what The Pierce, Ocean One or Octavia could mean for your property, Michelle Yales is glad to meet for a free consultation. Call or email me, and I'll share what I'm seeing block by block.
