By Brian French | WestPalmBeachBusinessNews.com | September 16, 2026
Quick Answer
Palm Beach County retail asking rents averaged $30.14 per square foot triple-net in Q2 2026, with vacancy at 4.0% — among the tightest fundamentals in South Florida. Inside West Palm Beach the range is much wider: prime restaurant and retail space on Clematis Street and at The Square (Rosemary Square) runs roughly $42 to $72 per square foot, Northwood Village runs $32 to $48, and citywide retail listings average about $47. The growth corridors to watch are the $1 billion Nora District north of downtown, Northwood Village, South Dixie Highway’s Antique Row, and the blocks feeding the coming Vanderbilt campus and Cleveland Clinic site.
The County Picture: Low Vacancy, Steady Rent Growth
Colliers’ Q2 2026 report describes a market that keeps absorbing space faster than it is built. Net absorption totaled 148,769 square feet in the quarter, pushing retail vacancy down 10 basis points to 4.0%, while leasing activity reached 245,306 square feet and 556,704 square feet year to date. Only 63,548 square feet of new retail was delivered, and available inventory remains limited across much of the county. Average asking rents rose to $30.14 per square foot NNN, up 3.3% for the quarter and 3.4% year over year.
Those are county-wide averages that include grocery-anchored suburban centers in Wellington and Boynton Beach. For a business owner choosing a storefront in West Palm Beach itself, the relevant numbers are corridor-specific and considerably higher.
West Palm Beach Retail Rents by Corridor
| Corridor | Est. asking rent (psf/yr) | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Clematis St. / The Square | $42–$72 | Nightlife, tourism, office lunch |
| Palm Beach Island-adjacent | High-$40s and up | UHNW customer overlap |
| Nora District | Curated, undisclosed | New F&B and lifestyle |
| Northwood Village | $32–$48 | Chef-driven independents |
| Antique Row / S. Dixie | Mid-range | Design trade, residential |
| Citywide average (listings) | ~$47 | All classes |
Rents are asking figures from broker and listing platforms and vary widely by size, condition, and lease structure. Most West Palm Beach restaurant leases are NNN, meaning the tenant pays property taxes, insurance, and CAM on top of base rent.
Clematis Street and The Square
This is still the city’s most active dining and retail submarket, anchored by Clematis Street’s evening and weekend traffic and Rosemary Square’s mixed-use center, with lease rates of $42 to $72 per square foot. The tenant mix keeps churning toward experiential concepts — a country-themed West Palm Cowboy Club on Clematis, PopUp Bagels at CityPlace, and rooftop dining like Kyma. The Square benefits from the same office tenants that pushed the West Palm Beach CBD to Class A office asking rents near $67.70 per square foot, with trophy towers above $100: the lunch and after-work crowd is now a financial-services workforce.
Nora District: the growth corridor
Nora is the roughly $1 billion reinvention of a warehouse corridor along North Railroad Avenue into a walkable district of restaurants, shops, offices, a boutique hotel, and homes — the largest redevelopment the city has seen since CityPlace opened. The district encompasses 40 acres, of which the Nora development group (NDT Development, with Wynwood pioneer Place Projects and Wheelock Street Capital) owns 13 to 15 acres.
Leasing is deliberately selective. The leasing director has said he went through 37 coffee-shop candidates before signing one, and the strategy is a tenant mix meant to feel discovered rather than delivered. Confirmed tenants include Del Mar Mediterranean from the Cameron Mitchell group, Sana Skin Studio, Mint, and The Spot Barbershop, and the anchor is the 201-key Nora Hotel from BD Hotels and Sean MacPherson, with a Pastis outpost. Nora does not publish asking rents; operators should expect Clematis-level pricing with more landlord control over concept.
Northwood Village
Northwood has emerged as the city’s chef-driven independent corridor, with more accessible lease rates of $32 to $48 per square foot and a younger affluent customer base. It sits between Nora and the waterfront, which means it is the corridor most likely to see rent compression toward downtown levels as Nora’s foot traffic spills north.
Antique Row and CityPlace-adjacent blocks
South Dixie Highway’s Antique Row and the residential blocks around CityPlace draw year-round weekday traffic from a growing residential population — the design trade and neighborhood-service mix rather than tourism. With apartment rents in the city up roughly 2–3% year over year and median asking rents around $2,850 in the core, the resident base supporting these corridors is expanding even as other Florida metros see rent declines.
Second-Generation Space and Build-Out Costs
The single largest variable in a restaurant lease is not rent but build-out. A second-generation space — one that previously operated as a restaurant and retains the hood system, grease trap, plumbing, and venting — can save a tenant $150,000 to $500,000 in build-out and is the fastest path to opening. In a market with 4% vacancy those spaces move quickly, which is why many operators sign for corridors like Northwood or Antique Row rather than wait for a first-generation shell downtown.
What Investors Are Paying
Retail cap rates in West Palm Beach are estimated at 5.00% to 6.00%, tighter than office at 6.00% to 7.25% and roughly in line with multifamily. The compression reflects ultra-high-net-worth spending, Palm Beach Island luxury traffic, and tourism holding vacancy at 4.0%. For a tenant, tight cap rates mean landlords are under little pressure to discount; rent concessions are more likely to come as tenant-improvement dollars than as lower base rent.
Brian’s Take
The West Palm Beach retail story has become a barbell. On one end, Clematis and The Square are pricing like an office-lunch and tourism market — $60-plus rents that only work with high-ticket F&B or a national credit tenant. On the other, Northwood and Antique Row offer $32–$48 rents with a resident base that is growing 2–3% a year. Nora sits in the middle and is the one corridor where the landlord, not the market, decides who gets in.
For an operator comparing storefronts, I would price the decision on second-generation infrastructure first and corridor second. A $45 space with a hood system beats a $38 shell once you add $300,000 of kitchen build-out. And watch the north end: the Vanderbilt campus at Tamarind and Evernia and the Cleveland Clinic site will move daytime population in ways the current rent grid does not yet reflect.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average retail rent in West Palm Beach?
Citywide listing averages run about $47 per square foot annually, while the county-wide Colliers average is $30.14 NNN. Downtown prime corridors range from $42 to $72.
What is the retail vacancy rate in Palm Beach County?
4.0% as of Q2 2026, down 10 basis points on the quarter.
Which West Palm Beach neighborhoods are best for a new restaurant?
Clematis Street and The Square for volume and tourism; Nora District for a curated new-district launch; Northwood Village for a lower-rent, chef-driven concept.
What is the Nora District?
A roughly $1 billion, 40-acre redevelopment of the warehouse corridor along North Railroad Avenue into restaurants, retail, offices, a 201-room hotel, and housing, north of downtown.
Are West Palm Beach retail leases NNN?
Most are. Tenants should budget for property taxes, insurance, and common-area maintenance on top of base rent.
Business profiles and coverage inquiries for WestPalmBeachBusinessNews.com and the Florida Authority Network: 813-409-4683.
Sources and Further Reading
- Colliers, “Palm Beach County Retail Market Report, 2026 Q2” (July 2026) — https://www.colliers.com/en/research/palm-beach/2q26-palm-beach-county-retail
- Pepperlot, “Restaurants for Lease in West Palm Beach” (corridor lease rates) — https://pepperlot.com/restaurants-for-lease/west-palm-beach
- CityFeet, “West Palm Beach, FL Retail Space For Lease” — https://www.cityfeet.com/cont/west-palm-beach-fl/retail-space-for-lease
- CommercialCafe, “West Palm Beach, FL Commercial Real Estate” (data as of September 10, 2026) — https://www.commercialcafe.com/commercial-real-estate/us/fl/west-palm-beach/
- CLS Commercial Real Estate, “West Palm Beach Commercial Real Estate Market 2026 | Cap Rates” (March 2026) — https://clscre.com/blog/cre-market-report-west-palm-beach-2026.html
- GoCommercial, “Commercial Real Estate West Palm Beach: 2026 Outlook” (May 2026) — https://gocommercial.com/commercial-real-estate-west-palm-beach/
- Modern Living RE, “Nora District West Palm Beach (2026 Guide)” (June 2026) — https://www.modernlivingre.com/blog/on-the-horizon-an-inside-look-at-nora-west-palm-beach
- Palm Beach Post via AOL, “Nora District adds new retailers as it barrels toward 2025 opening” — https://www.aol.com/nora-district-adds-retailers-barrels-090115646.html
- South Florida Business & Wealth, “Nora District in West Palm Beach Unveils Four New Tenants” (January 2025) — https://sfbwmag.com/nora-district-in-west-palm-beach-unveils-four-new-tenants-expands-offerings-in-dining-wellness-and-retail/
- Laura Sell, “New Restaurants in Palm Beach County: The 2026 Dining Map” (August 2026) — https://laurasell.com/blog/palm-beach-countys-new-restaurant-map-the-four-districts-rewriting-where-locals-eat-in-2026
- Atlis Property Management, “West Palm Beach Rental Market 2026” (May 2026) — https://www.atlispm.com/blog/west-palm-beach-rental-market-2026-the-investor-and-landlord-guide-to-palm-beach-countys-urban-core
- RentCafe, “Average Rent in West Palm Beach, FL: 2026” (July 2026) — https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/fl/west-palm-beach/
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