13 Sep Five new restaurants coming to Boca Raton’s ‘Restaurant Row’ adjacent to Town Center Mall

BOCA RATON — Five new restaurants are coming to Boca Raton next year thanks to a real estate investment firm’s push to create “Restaurant Row” in the city’s western reaches.

Developers broke ground Wednesday on the 22,500-square-foot space located next to the Town Center Mall. Construction is expected to take a year, and the project will be completed in the third quarter of 2022.

“What we’re trying to do is bring a more urban restaurant environment into the suburbs,” said Ian Wiener, CEO of PEBB Enterprises, the Boca-based firm heading the development. “We’re seeking to attract new concepts from South Florida and beyond to tap into the changing demographics of Boca Raton.”

Two of the five restaurant spaces are pre-leased to popular chains Pubbelly Sushi and El Camino. PEBB Enterprises is currently negotiating with multiple potential tenants based inside and outside of Florida.

Weiner said the project is intended to meet the demand for high-quality dining from the growing younger population in Boca Raton.

Restaurant Row will be situated next to the mall and at the base of the Two Town Center office building. The immediate surrounding area contains 2.5 million square feet of office space and four hotels.

“We’re trying to really create a place that’s busy from lunch to after dinner and drinks, without having to leave,” Weiner said.

PEBB Enterprises hopes the development’s proximity to Interstate 95 will bring in customers from West Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale. In addition to the five restaurants, Restaurant Row will include walkways and outdoor dining space, as well as a valet service, landscaping focused on greenery and a water feature.

“This is an impeccably designed project allowing us to curate the best-quality restaurants,” PEBB Enterprises Chief Investment Officer Eric Hochman said in a prepared statement.

Restaurant Row was originally the project of real estate firm CP Group, which sold the site to PEBB Enterprises for $2.35 million in a transaction that closed July 2. PEBB Enterprises has spent the past year steadily expanding their acquisitions throughout southern Palm Beach County.

PEBB recently bought two office buildings minutes from Restaurant Row, and is currently developing two shopping plazas in Delray Beach. Sometime this month, the real estate firm plans to hold an official groundbreaking ceremony at the Restaurant Row construction site with Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer and other city officials.

“A lot of us (at PEBB Enterprises) live in Boca Raton and don’t see the need to have to leave Boca to get quality dining,” Weiner said. “We really want to bring that to our own backyard with this project.”