The Square (formerly known as Rosemary Square and CityPlace) is an upscale
lifestyle center
A lifestyle center (American English), or lifestyle centre (Commonwealth English), is a shopping center or mixed-used commercial development that combines the traditional retail functions of a shopping mall with leisure amenities oriented toward ...
in downtown
West Palm Beach
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, along South Rosemary Avenue. Considered a
New Urbanist
New Urbanism is an urban design movement which promotes environmentally friendly habits by creating walkable neighbourhoods containing a wide range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually inf ...
mixed-use development, The Square is architecturally composed of
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
and
Venetian elements. The -center contains more than 60 restaurants and stores, as well as rental apartments, condos, and offices.
Opening in October 2000, the property, which constitutes several city blocks, is primarily credited for West Palm Beach's
urban renaissance
The urban renaissance of the United Kingdom is the recent period of repopulation and regeneration of many British cities, including Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, and parts of London after a period of inner c ...
, which had previously been notorious for crime, poverty, and vacant and dilapidated businesses and houses.
AMC Parisian 20 and IMAX,
LA Fitness
LA Fitness (doing business as LA Fitness International LLC) is an American gym chain with more than 700 clubs across the United States and Canada. The company was formed in 1984 and is based in Irvine, California.
History
LA Fitness was founde ...
and
Publix
Publix Super Markets, Inc., commonly known as Publix, is an employee-owned American supermarket chain headquartered in Lakeland, Florida. Founded in 1930 by George W. Jenkins, Publix is a private corporation that is wholly owned by present and ...
are the center's anchors. The fourth anchor was
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
which closed in 2017. Hotspots include
Cheesecake Factory
The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is an American restaurant company and distributor of cheesecakes based in the United States. The company operates 219 full-service restaurants: 206 under The Cheesecake Factory brand and 13 under the Grand Lux C ...
, Sloan's Ice Cream, and
Starbucks. Apart from shopping, dining, and cinema, the center is now at the forefront of West Palm Beach's entertainment complementing establishments located on nearby
Clematis Street.
The
Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts and
Alexander W. Dreyfoos, Jr. School of the Arts are located within walking distance to The Square, as is the
Palm Beach County Convention Center. An early-century
trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...
circles downtown between The Square and Clematis.
History
Prior to completion
By the 1980s, downtown West Palm Beach had acquired a reputation for crime, poverty, and vacant and dilapidated businesses and houses.
United States senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
Lawton Chiles
Lawton Mainor Chiles Jr. (April 3, 1930 – December 12, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 41st governor of Florida from 1991 until his death in 1998. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a United State ...
referred to the area as a "war zone", while local politicians were not optimistic about the future of downtown. West Palm Beach had the highest crime rate for a city of its size in the late 1980s.
Crack USA: County Under Siege, a 1989 documentary film about the
crack epidemic
The crack epidemic was a surge of crack cocaine use in major cities across the United States throughout the entirety of the 1980s and the early 1990s. This resulted in a number of social consequences, such as increasing crime and violence in Amer ...
, was filmed in West Palm Beach.
In 1986, private investors David C. Paladino and Henry J. Rolfs presented a 20-year, $433 million project to revitalize the western side of downtown, in the vicinity of where The Square is presently located. The proposal, known as Uptown/Downtown, included plans for of office space, of retail space, 800 hotel rooms, and 700 residential units.
Paladino and Rolfs purchased and razed properties across of land – more than 300 properties
– adjacent to Okeechobee Boulevard for about $40 million,
with the exception of the historic First United Methodist Church (built in 1926), which later became the Harriet Himmel Theater. The duo donated of land for development of the
Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, which opened in 1992.
However, by the early 1990s, the project was discontinued after Rolfs exhausted his personal fortune and due to defaulted loans, foreclosures, lawsuits, and a recession.
Then-
Mayor of West Palm Beach Nancy Graham and the city acquired the land in 1995 using a multimillion-dollar loan and eminent domain.
On August 1, 1996, three proposals for developing the former Uptown/Downtown project area were presented to the city of West Palm Beach – ''CityPlace'', ''KravisPlace'', and ''Millennium''. Each proposal called for keeping the historical church and constructing hundreds of thousands of square feet for stores, hundreds or tens of thousands of square feet for a movie theater, tens of thousands of square feet for restaurants, hundreds of thousands of square feet for office space, and thousands of hotel rooms and apartment units. The teams planning the proposals were scheduled to present further details in early October. However, on September 30, the team bidding for ''Millennium'' withdrew.
The city commission made their final decision regarding future use of the site of the formerly proposed Downtown/Uptown project in October 1996. Commissioners voted 5-1 to approve the $375 million project called CityPlace,
[ ] proposed by Himmel & Co., the Related Cos., the O'Connor Group, and the Related Group. Their plan included an 18 to 24 screen movie theater and a number of restaurants, upscale stores, apartments, and office buildings.
[ ] Overall, about of land development was approved. In return, the city agreed to invest $75 million for construction of streets, parking garages, and plazas,
with $20 million already borrowed for purchasing land.
Construction began on May 1, 1998, during a gala featuring speakers including the project leaders, Mayor Nancy Graham, and Congressmen
Mark Foley
Mark Adam Foley (born September 8, 1954) is an American former politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives. He served from 1995 until 2006, representing the 16th District of Florida as a member of the Republic ...
and
Clay Shaw
Clay LaVergne Shaw (March 17, 1913 – August 15, 1974) was an American businessman and military officer from New Orleans, Louisiana. Shaw is best known for being the only person brought to trial for involvement in the assassination of John F. ...
. Initial rates for tenants ranged from $40-$45 per square foot, a smaller amount than at malls and places such as
Worth Avenue, but higher than rates for space on nearby Clematis Street. The project was expected to be completed by November 1999, though CityPlace would actually open in October 2000.
Since completion
CityPlace opened to the public on October 27, 2000, with 31 stores and 1 restaurant opening during the first weekend. Many other stores and restaurants were expected to open by mid-December, bringing the total number of stores and restaurants to about 70. The original anchors for CityPlace were
Barnes & Noble,
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
,
Muvico Parisian 20 and IMAX theater.
Wild Oats Markets was also planned as an original anchor. However, financial problems halted construction in 2000. CityPlace filed suit to terminate their lease, with both parties settling a few weeks later. On August 20, 2001, Wild Oats Markets was replaced by
Publix
Publix Super Markets, Inc., commonly known as Publix, is an employee-owned American supermarket chain headquartered in Lakeland, Florida. Founded in 1930 by George W. Jenkins, Publix is a private corporation that is wholly owned by present and ...
as an anchor, which opened in January 2002.
Early on, CityPlace sought to attract many high-end stores as tenants, though emphasis shifted to home furnishings during the
housing bubble
A housing bubble (or a housing price bubble) is one of several types of asset price bubbles which periodically occur in the market. The basic concept of a housing bubble is the same as for other asset bubbles, consisting of two main phases. Firs ...
. By the
Great Recession
The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...
, the focus turned heavily toward dining and entertainment establishments becoming tenants.
In January 2017, Macy's closed 68 of their stores across the United States, including its location at CityPlace. The former Macy's building is temporarily housing
Downton Abbey: The Exhibition. Related Companies submitted plans for and gained approval from the city commission in November 2018 for transforming the building into a 21-story apartment building, which would add 300-400 new residential units to CityPlace.
As part of a re-imaging effort, CityPlace was renamed "Rosemary Square" in April 2019. Related Companies intends to invest almost $550 million for the construction of new restaurants, a new mixed-use luxury residential tower, and a new hotel, as well as an office tower containing of space. Some asphalt roads were replaced with gray and white pavers and converted into pedestrian walking areas.
In 2021, Rosemary Square was renamed once again, this time dropping the word "Rosemary" to become "The Square." Its website and branding was updated accordingly.
Concept
The shopping center is the epitome of a
New Urbanist
New Urbanism is an urban design movement which promotes environmentally friendly habits by creating walkable neighbourhoods containing a wide range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually inf ...
mixed-use development. Most of its architecture is West European-inspired, with mainly
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
and
Venetian elements. However the ''CityPlace Tower'' constructed in 2007, and associated with the original property, is
postmodern. This tower has been downtown West Palm Beach's first office development in over twenty years. Later phases of CityPlace, including ''Montecito Palm Beach'' (formerly called ''The Mark at CityPlace'') and ''CityPlace South Tower'', retain loyalty to the original development's architecture. Excluding these more recent additions, The Square proper contains 600 private residences.
The ''Harriet Himmel Theater'', a former
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
church, is located at the center of The Square. Built in 1926 in the
Spanish Colonial Revival
The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
In the ...
style, it has undergone a six million dollar restoration, and serves today as a cultural center. Surrounding squares, arcades, and promenades feature water
fountain
A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect.
Fountains were ori ...
s and lush landscaping.
Anchors
*
AMC Parisian 20 and IMAX;
*
Publix
Publix Super Markets, Inc., commonly known as Publix, is an employee-owned American supermarket chain headquartered in Lakeland, Florida. Founded in 1930 by George W. Jenkins, Publix is a private corporation that is wholly owned by present and ...
;
*
LA Fitness
LA Fitness (doing business as LA Fitness International LLC) is an American gym chain with more than 700 clubs across the United States and Canada. The company was formed in 1984 and is based in Irvine, California.
History
LA Fitness was founde ...
*
Restoration Hardware
RH (formerly Restoration Hardware) is an upscale American home-furnishings company headquartered in Corte Madera, California. The company sells its merchandise through its retail stores, catalog, and online. As of August 2018, the company operate ...
Former anchors
*
FAO Schwarz
FAO Schwarz is an American toy brand and store. The company is known for its high-end toys, life-sized stuffed animals, interactive experiences, brand integrations, and games.
FAO Schwarz claims to be the oldest toy store in the United States ...
(closed in 2004, became
Panera Bread
Panera Bread is an American chain store of bakery-café fast casual restaurants with over 2,000 locations, all of which are in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters are in Sunset Hills, Missouri.
The company operates as Saint Loui ...
and Taverna Opa;
*
Barnes & Noble Booksellers (now closed, became
LA Fitness
LA Fitness (doing business as LA Fitness International LLC) is an American gym chain with more than 700 clubs across the United States and Canada. The company was formed in 1984 and is based in Irvine, California.
History
LA Fitness was founde ...
)
*
Muvico Parisian 20 and IMAX (converted to
AMC Theatres
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (d/b/a AMC Theatres, originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema; often referred to simply as AMC and known in some countries as AMC Cinemas or AMC Multi-Cinemas) is an American movie theater chain fou ...
in 2017)
*
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
(demolished 2019)
Gallery
File:CityPlace Event.jpg, Live entertainment on a weekend night
File:Harriet Himmel Theater.JPG, The street entrance to the Harriet Himmel Theater and Christ Fellowship
File:CityPlace Live Stage 2.JPG, The back of the theater, featuring an entertainment stage where the show takes place.
File:CityPlace Macy's.JPG, Macy's, one of the anchors of CityPlace that closed.
File:CityPlace West Palm Beach.jpg, CityPlace (Jan. 2009)
File:The Square WPB.jpg, Building at the northside (2021)
References
External links
The Square official websiteCityPlace Tower official websiteCityPlace South Tower official websiteThe Square real estate websiteRealtor CityPlace West Palm BeachCityPlace West Palm Beach
{{DEFAULTSORT:Square, West Palm Beach, The
Shopping malls in Palm Beach County, Florida
Shopping malls established in 2000
Pedestrian malls in the United States
Buildings and structures in West Palm Beach, Florida
2000 establishments in Florida