Demolition at The Square: AMC movie theater, retail space torn down for new office towers
Parts of The Square in downtown West Palm Beach are being torn down to make way for two office towers totaling nearly 1 million square feet, amid the backdrop of a lawsuit that could delay the towers' construction next year.
The planned high-rise towers are the largest redevelopment of The Square since the property's owner, Related Cos. of New York, launched the shopping, dining and residential complex in 2000.
The office buildings are part of Related's overall plan to transform the Italianesque center of shops and eateries, formerly known as CityPlace, into a modern center of commerce, featuring tall offices and residences, with ground-floor retail space.
More: What's coming to the Square? See details on the two high-rise towers coming soon
The steel-and-glass office towers, dubbed East and West, will have space for more than 2,000 workers. The site is on the east side of South Rosemary Avenue, between Gardenia and Hibiscus streets.
The office high-rises at 550 S. Rosemary Ave. and 545 Hibiscus St. are planned for the site that formerly housed restaurant and entertainment venues. They include Brio Tuscan Grille, AMC West Palm Beach 12 movie theater, Copper Blues Rock Pub and the Palm Beach Improv.
Copper Blues Rock Club and the Palm Beach Improv are slated to open at Royal Palm Beach’s Tuttle Royale, a ambitious dining, shopping and entertainment complex being built at Southern Boulevard and State Road 7. Tuttle Royale, which has been referred to as "the CityPlace of the West," is not expected to open until fall 2025.
But the Cinemark's closure leaves West Palm Beach without a downtown movie theater for the first time since December 2000, when the theater first opened as a Muvico Theater.
LA Fitness lawsuit: Can case stall tower construction?
Even as Related tears down this section of The Square, it's unclear if construction on the towers will happen as planned early next year.
In court records, Related recently claimed the towers' completion dates and construction financing "are jeopardized by the delay and uncertainty of this pending lawsuit."
More: LA Fitness sues Related Cos. over plans to bring Equinox gym to The Square in West Palm
The parent company of LA Fitness last year sued Related, alleging its lease forbids the real-estate development company from ever turning retail space into office space. Related responded that the LA Fitness lease makes clear that the shopping center portion of the development could be reduced.
But Related still asked a judge to expedite the LA Fitness lawsuit so the case doesn't interfere with the towers' construction or leasing plans.
The request received mixed results.
In a September order, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jaimie Goodman only agreed to allow a limited speed-up of the information-gathering process during the next three months.
He set the case's trial date for late 2024.
Related officials did not respond to a request for comment on the tower construction timeline.
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New apartment building set to open next year
Meanwhile, a 364-unit luxury apartment tower being built on the former Macy's department store site will be completed in early 2024.
But will it have a residents' gym as well as office space, as planned?
LA Fitness is challenging those elements, too. In its lawsuit, it not only is trying to block the office space there, but LA Fitness also says the company's lease grants it the exclusive right to operate fitness centers at The Square.
Alexandra Clough is a business writer and columnist at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at aclough@pbpost.com. Twitter: @acloughpbp. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: The Square's redo: West Palm Beach stores, movie theater torn down
