South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
A glimpse of what’s to come
Multiple new tenants opening their doors this year at Mizner Park
Mizner Park — the de facto downtown of Boca Raton — has a slew of new tenants coming to the open-air shopping and dining mecca this year.
Two eateries, two stores, a bowling alley and a yoga studio are slated to open starting this spring. The list of new businesses comes just as the plaza — built on four Rs: retail, restaurants, recreation and residential — turns 30 years old on Jan. 11, with little fanfare thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.
Here’s what’s coming to the Mizner Park in 2021:
▪ Calaveras Cantina (Mexican restaurant) — Spring
▪ EGG New York (apparel) — Spring
▪ Anna Zuckerman Luxury ( jewelry/accessories) — Spring
▪ Strike 10 Bowling and Sports
Lounge — Summer
▪ Hotworx (fitness studio) — Fall
▪ American Social (gastropub/ restaurant) — Winter
Named after the early 20th century architect Addison Mizner and located on the site that was once the Boca Mall, Mizner Park was built by South Florida developer Tom Crocker in 1991. At the time, it was one of the first in the nation to mix office space, housing, shopping, dining/drinking and entertainment.
Wendy Larsen and her late business partner Charlie Siemon were brought in as consultants. Their law firm specialized in land-use planning/development and they were the first to open an office at Mizner Park and the first residents.
“I remember when we were talking about Mizner Park,” recalls Larsen. “Tom Crocker didn’t want to do residential because he didn’t think anyone would rent. For many years after Mizner Park was built many projects around the country were called ‘Mizner Park-like’ projects... because in most cities they segregated uses, so it was innovative. It was always designed, in our minds, to be the
heart of downtown.”
Larsen and Siemon were instrumental in building the Mizner Park Amphitheater, which anchors the north end of the plaza. On the south end is the Mizner Park Cultural Center with its black box theater. The Amphitheater is home to the annual Festival of the Arts Boca, which they started in 2007 and Larsen still chairs.
“I remember the opening of the amphitheater in 2002,” she says. “That was an event. It was the last time the Florida Philharmonic performed. That was an incredible night. Incredible.”
While there have been new brands snapping up vacancies that never recovered from the Great Recession or were done in by online shopping, the retail anchor venue that was recently a Lord & Taylor remains empty after the tony store filed for bankruptcy and closed in August. The two-story 80,000 square foot space has previously been a Jacobson’s department store and then a Robb & Stucky furniture store.
Also, sushi restaurant Blue Fish suddenly closed earlier this week after an 11-month run, having moved to Mizner Park after trying its luck on Delray Beach’s Atlantic Avenue before closing there in 2013. The restaurant opened in February in the spot formerly occupied by Rack’s Downtown Eatery and Tavern.
Here’s a breakdown of what’s scheduled to open in Mizner Park this year.
Calaveras Cantina
CalaverasCantina.com.
Already a hit in Jupiter, this Mexican restaurant is opening a long-anticipated second location in Mizner Park sometime in the spring, taking over the space vacated by Junior’s Restaurant and Cheesecake. The future Boca Raton space has a larger kitchen, which may allow for a more ambitious menu than is possible in the Jupiter location in Harbourside Place.
Owner Curtis Peery, a Miami native raised in Palm Beach Gardens, says, “We studied Mizner pretty heavily. The clientele and people in Mizner are pretty much the same as we see in Jupiter — some snow birds from the North, but also some locals. We’re a place that you can have families in for dinner and then at a certain time it turns into a bar party atmosphere.”
EGG New York
EggNewYork.com.
This children’s fashion brand and retailer bills itself as being designed for “the stylish mom that identifies with a suburban lifestyle having a family that travels coast to coast.”
Why egg? When the brand was first “hatched” in 2003 by designer Susan Lazar, the company explains on its website that she settled on “Egg” inspired by “each child’s great potential — all eggs might look the same on the outside, but inside lays infinite possibilities.” The store should open in the spring.
Anna Zuckerman Luxury
AnnaZuckerman.com.
Jewelry designer Anna Zuckerman’s mission for her eponymous brand’s flagship store opening this spring is to make luxury more accessible. The wide array of merchandise, everything from tiaras to tennis bracelets, has an average selling price of $199.
Zuckerman, who emigrated from the former Soviet Union where she was born to a family of goldsmiths and fine jewelers, grew up watching her father design and craft jewelry.
The store’s interior will be designed by Boca Raton’s Albanese Development and will feature turquoise acrylic and malachite panels meant to mimic the hues Zuckerman uses in her designs.
Strike 10 Bowling and Sports Lounge
Strike10Bowling.com.
This summer the upscale bowling alley is looking to add a second South Florida location to its Hallandale Beach property in the Village at Gulfstream Park.
If the Strike 10 in Mizner Park is anything like that one, expect large HD televisions, a long sleek bar in the lounge area, a sushi bar, pool tables, an arcade, DJs, live entertainment and, of course, professional bowling lanes.
Hotworx
Hotworx.net.
This fitness studio combines infrared heat with either yoga, isometric workouts or High Intensity Interval Training.
Hotworx will open in Mizner Park this fall. There are other locations in Fort Lauderdale, Pembroke Pines, Boynton Beach, Wellington, Palm Beach Gardens and Miami.
American Social
AmericanSocialBar.com.
This sports bar and music-centric restaurant has successfully fit into Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Tampa, Orlando and — by next winter — Boca Raton by deflty blending a little local flavor with a familiar franchise: all-American food, handcrafted cocktails and all the big games on big screens.
“All our [restaurants] have a little local in them,” explains co-founder and managing partner Paul Greenberg. “We give them the opportunity to have…different local beers. We want them to be as constant as possible but we also give our team the chance…to give their own little touch.”
For example, he explains, “The entertainment might be a little different up there. Maybe try live music first. In Orlando we found out that live music fits better than a deejay. That’s something we might look at in Mizner Park.”
Greenberg and his business partner and co-founder Rick Mijares (“Who is taking the reins of the design of American Social”) think it is too early to say exactly how the Mizner Park location will look or reflect the local vibe. But they are eager to enter the market.
“Mizner Park is the epicenter of Boca,” he says. “We love the direction they are heading in. There’s so much to do in that area. I think they are really trying to step up their game.”
American Social is taking over the 8,000 square foot space that used to house Truluck’s.