The Nora District Gets Its Hotel This Month, and Railroad Avenue Gets a New Rhythm

"Palm Beach, but probably with better martinis." That is how Time Out summed up The Nora Hotel in its Oct. 8 preview. The 201-room property at 1135 N. Railroad Ave. opens on Monday, Oct. 19. Its hoteliers are Sean MacPherson and BD Hotels, the team behind Hotel Chelsea, The Bowery Hotel and The Mercer, and this is their first major project outside New York City.

The hotel sits at the far north end of a Railroad Avenue strip that already runs its own week. There are cars and coffee at 7 a.m. on Sundays, oysters at a dollar apiece on Mondays, and a themed night on the district calendar most weekdays. When the Palm Beach Post photographed the building in July, it called the hotel "the anchor to a new district under construction near downtown." As of this month, the district the hotel anchors is already open.

The Street, Block by Block

Walking north from 805 N. Railroad Ave. to the hotel at 1135, the district's addresses mostly run in order, with food and drink clustered at the south end, retail and fitness studios through the middle, and the hotel at the top of the 1100 block.

ZenHippo sits just off the main strip at 485 7th St. It's open Monday through Saturday and hosts special events on Sundays. Del Mar is the long-hours restaurant on the block: it's open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

The south end runs on food and morning traffic, and the middle runs on fitness classes and shopping. Until now, no restaurant or bar on the north end was built for a late night out. The hotel fills that gap.

A Week That Was Already Full

The district's own happenings calendar shows how programmed the street already is before a single hotel guest checks in.

1. Monday. $1 Oyster Mondays at Loco Taqueria & Oyster Bar, from 11 a.m. to close, with a rotating oyster selection. Happy Meal Mondays are also on the calendar.
2. Tuesday. Chicken Social Tuesdays and Taco Tuesdays.
3. Wednesday. Wine Wednesdays.
4. Thursday, Oct. 29. Dogs & Dogs on the North Lawn from 5:30 to 7 p.m. October's edition is Halloween-themed: leashed dogs are welcome, and there will be complimentary hot dogs, photos, giveaways and a costume contest.
5. Sunday. Sunday Service, a weekly cars-and-coffee meetup at Sunday Motor Co., from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Opening day lands on a Monday, so the first night of Pastis and Jack's Bar shares the street with an oyster special that runs from 11 a.m. until Loco closes.

What Oct. 19 Adds at the North End

The hotel brings three hospitality venues and a spa under one roof, run by three different operators. Each one adds to a different part of the week described above.

Pastis is the New York-born French brasserie, serving its Parisian-inspired menu. The district bills it as an all-day brasserie. On the address list above, Del Mar was the only full restaurant in the 1000 block. Pastis puts an all-day room at the north end.

Jack's Bar is the lobby bar. Time Out reports it draws on the mid-century glamour of John F. Kennedy and Camelot. The district's own description says it "pays tribute to the historic glamour and industrial grit of the neighborhood." Stephen Starr's STARR Restaurants runs both Pastis and Jack's Bar.

Lillys is the rooftop. It comes from Mama Hospitality, the team behind Mary Lou's, and splits into three spaces: Lillys Pool, Br Lilly and Cafe Lilly. Live music and events covering food, fashion, art and culture are planned. In July, the Post's photos still labeled it "Lilly's" while crews were working on it. That same month, the Palm Beach Post reported that Nora officials were in talks with Mary Lou's owners about a possible piano bar on the district's south side. No piano bar has been confirmed. The team's confirmed arrival is the roof.

Sisley Spa is the first in Florida. It covers 4,000 square feet, with four treatment rooms, steam rooms, locker rooms and an outdoor terrace. It joins SWEAT440, Solidcore, Gro Yoga and ZenHippo, which already make the district's middle blocks a wellness corridor.

Time Out describes the design as more Floridian than its New York pedigree. New York studio GACHOT, which also designed Detroit's Shinola Hotel, drew on Palm Beach's Spanish Colonial Revival and early 20th-century Mediterranean architecture. The result pairs bright exteriors with moodier interiors, plus pecky cypress, custom furniture and antiques. On the roof, the pool is ringed with pink lounge chairs, cabanas, umbrellas and palm trees. The hotel is a member of Leading Hotels of the World, and October rooms start at $395 a night, a useful figure for anyone booking visiting family within walking distance of Railroad Avenue.

The hotel's own page describes the rooftop as a restaurant and lounge with two bars, private cabanas and a resort-style pool. It doesn't say whether non-guests can use the pool deck. Pastis reservation policy and hours also haven't been published in anything we reviewed, so check with the hotel directly before planning a first visit around either.

The July photos also introduced the people behind the opening: hotel general manager Kara Depool and developer Ned Grace of NDT.

Parking Is Set Up for Evenings

The district's parking page, updated Oct. 6, lays out a system that leans toward afternoons and nights.

• Premium lots sit between 8th and 10th Streets, run through ParkMobile, and are capped at $15 for up to three hours.
• The general lot at 11th Street and Spruce Avenue is capped at $10, with a 10-hour maximum.
• Both lots start with a complimentary first period.
• Free, unmetered parallel parking runs along 7th through 10th Streets west of Dixie Highway.
• Valet costs $5 per day, with stands by Sunday Motor Co. and Del Mar. It runs 3 to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends.

Weekday valet doesn't start until 3 p.m., which matches the district's existing pattern of daytime coffee and classes on foot and dinner by car. The general lot at 11th and Spruce is the closest listed lot to the hotel's 1100-block address.

What's Still Coming

LUCE is the newest arrival before the hotel. The fine-jewelry boutique opened to visitors on Sept. 24 at 985 N. Railroad Ave. It was founded by cousins Valan Kaye and Ty Yanowitch, whose family is behind Kravit Jewelers.

Vesta is the one to watch at the south end. The Palm Beach Post reported in July that the new restaurant concept would take over the former Juliana's Pizza space at 875 N. Railroad Ave. No opening date has been confirmed as of mid-October.

Two dates are firm for the rest of the month: the hotel, Pastis and Jack's Bar on Monday, Oct. 19, and Dogs & Dogs on the North Lawn on Thursday, Oct. 29.

At The Costello-Deitz Group, we watch how a hospitality anchor changes the blocks around it, from operator lineups to the late-night traffic that follows. If you own near the Nora District or are thinking about a property close to Railroad Avenue, contact us for a private consultation.