As redevelopment plans move forward for Palm Beach’s historic Paramount Building property, most businesses that occupied the landmarked site have relocated or closed ahead of construction expected to begin this summer.
The relocations mark the latest transition for the longtime mixed-use property, which the Palm Beach Town Council approved for redevelopment in January after months of negotiations and revisions.
The approved project calls for a scaled-down private club, church space, a publicly accessible café, retail space and exterior renovations to the building that once housed the 1920s-era movie house known as the Paramount Theatre, at 139 N. County Road.
Most remaining businesses had been expected to vacate by a May 25 deadline set by property owner Lester Woerner, although some business owners said Woerner recently extended the deadline by several weeks. Woerner could not be reached to confirm the deadline extension.
Among the departures was the Palm Beach Civic Association, which moved in April to a temporary location within the First Horizon Bank building on Royal Palm Way after more than three decades at the Paramount. The nonprofit organization had more than three years remaining on its lease.
“Because of the upcoming construction and the general situation, we decided to move,” Michael Pucillo, the organization’s chairman, said at its annual meeting April 13.
David Beil, owner of Chik Monk Coffee, said the move marks a difficult transition after more than four years at the Paramount site.
Beil moved into the space in December 2021, less than a year after Woerner and his son, Trent, bought the landmarked property through WEG Paramount LLC with plans to redevelop it as part of a long-planned renovation and adaptive reuse of the structure.
When the Woerner family bought the building, about 25 tenants leased its storefronts and offices, according to previous reporting by the Palm Beach Daily News.
“We were Lester’s first new tenant,” Beil said. “We always went in knowing that every six months to a year, that could be it. We always had the hope that maybe we could get another year out of this.”
Beil said he met with Woerner in October 2025 and understood the direction was changing. “We knew the writing was on the wall at that point,” he said.
He added that he is now in final negotiations to relocate to a new space in Palm Beach, because staying on the island remains his priority.
“My family had a long history here,” he said. “My dad and his partner opened restaurants back in the late (1970s). They had very well-known restaurants. We spent much of our childhood here, and we love being here. We have really developed a really good community.”
Maurice Amiel, owner of wine shop French Wine Merchant at the Paramount Building, said he believes tenants were given too little time to relocate and called the situation “not fair at all.”
“I’m going to look for another place,” he said. “I am working on something right now in West Palm Beach. There’s nothing here. There’s no money to rent here anymore.”
Carrie Murray, co-owner of Pelimingo, a small jewelry studio that moved to the Paramount site a year ago, said the business is vacating its space and placing inventory into storage while the owners search for a new location in Palm Beach.
Murray said rising rents have made it harder for small businesses to find space on the island.
“It’s really sad,” she said. “Unfortunately there aren’t many spots, because I think everyone now wants to be in Palm Beach.”
Murray said she hopes to keep Pelimingo in Palm Beach and was sorry to leave the Paramount property, which she described as a great opportunity for the business.
“We loved the Paramount,” she said. “It was a lovely place to be. We couldn’t have been happier there.”
While most tenants had originally been required to leave by May 25, at least two organizations with long-term leases are expected to remain at the building longer. The Palm Beach Police & Fire Foundation is among them, because of a lease signed with the property’s previous owner that has about nine years remaining.
“We have no identified space of where to go,” said Rebecca Godwin, president and chief operating officer of the foundation. “We’ve certainly looked around, but there’s just not a lot available that doesn’t require either a short lease or having to vacate quickly.”
Another tenant expected to remain beyond the original deadline is Environment Design Group, a landscape architecture and planning firm that has operated at the property under a longer-term lease signed with the previous owner.
Dustin Mizell, a principal at the firm, said he has not been asked to vacate and is continuing to operate from the Paramount property for now while preparing for an eventual move. The company numbers many Palm Beach property owners among its roster of clients.
Mizell said he recently purchased a building in West Palm Beach after searching for alternative space for several years.
“I’d like to stay on the island,” he said. “Unfortunately, parking is a problem.”
Woerner said he was saddened to see many of the businesses leave, describing the tenants as “great people” who helped bring activity back to the Paramount property.
“It’s been a pleasure to see the Paramount be as active as it has been in the last three or four years,” he told the Daily News on May 18. “I hate to see that at this time, but the Paramount doesn’t have the luxury to wait. We’ve got to move forward with this restoration.”
Woerner said early-stage demolition work is expected to begin in June as the restoration project moves into its next phase. Town officials finalized a declaration of use agreement for the project in March, establishing operating limits related to membership, parking, noise, events and deliveries.
“We’re going to begin exploratory demolition in the building to determine what scope of work will be required for the restoration project,” Woerner said. “All that will be starting as soon as we can have the property available for that.”
Woerner said he does not yet have a clear timeline for when construction will be complete. The project is still in its early stages because of the number of steps involved, he said.
“I feel great that we can finally move forward with a plan,” he said. “I think it’s a good plan. I am just very, very pleased that we can now move this forward to fruition. This is just the beginning phase of that process. To do it right, it’ll take time.”
The Paramount Theatre property has been the subject of intense public debate since Woerner first proposed converting part of the site into a private club. Earlier versions of the proposal drew criticism from residents and town officials over concerns about traffic, parking and density before revised plans were approved Jan. 14.
The redevelopment plan significantly reduced the size and membership of the proposed club and added restrictions intended to preserve the surrounding neighborhood’s residential character. The plan also includes continued retail use and public amenities at the site.
The Paramount Theatre opened as a movie house in 1927, and the cinema there closed in 1980. The building was later redeveloped by a different owner as a retail-and-office complex, although its original appearance was retained in accordance with the town’s rules for landmarked buildings.
Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Businesses vacate Paramount site in Palm Beach ahead of redevelopment
Reporting by Jodie Wagner, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
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