Hurricane Alley Boynton Beach: New Location Across Ocean Avenue

"Anything that anyone gave us, we want to keep." That's how Kim Kelly put it to The Coastal Star in late September. She was talking about the stuffed fish, the nautical odds and ends and the ocean-themed pieces hanging from the ceiling at Hurricane Alley Raw Bar and Restaurant. Many of them were gifts from customers. One couple brought in a stuffed fish that had been sitting in their garage.

All of it is going across East Ocean Avenue. The restaurant spent about 30 years at 529 E. Ocean Ave., and that run ended on Friday, Sept. 25. Through the fall, the marina end of downtown Boynton Beach goes without its raw bar. The rest of the waterfront is mostly staying put, and some of it has spent this year fixing itself up. The redevelopment that pushed Hurricane Alley off its corner is also what's pulling money into the spots around it.

Why the Corner Changed Hands Now

The building at 529 E. Ocean Ave. stands where The Pierce is going up. That mixed-use project sits at 115 N. Federal Highway and covers the west side of Federal from Ocean Avenue up to Boynton Beach Boulevard, back to the Florida East Coast Railway tracks. The city's Community Redevelopment Agency approved it in 2021. According to The Coastal Star, Kelly posted on Aug. 25 that her landlord, Affiliated Development, had given her 30 days to vacate. Construction had finally been cleared on the $105 million project, and tearing down the Hurricane Alley building comes first.

For close to five years, the plan had been for Hurricane Alley to move into a new space inside The Pierce. That meant going dark for months while the space was built. The Palm Beach Post reported at the end of August that the restaurant would likely be closed for much of the winter.

Then on Sept. 3, the plan changed. Kelly announced she had reached an agreement with Carlos Alvarez to take over the Paloma Mexican Restaurant space on the south side of Ocean Avenue. Paloma has closed for good, and its owners are going back to legal careers. Kelly told The Coastal Star the deal "all came together within five days." She signed a five-year lease with options that can stretch it to 15 years.

That turns a wait until spring into a hoped-for reopening around Thanksgiving. It also means the restaurant stays on the same block of Ocean Avenue and moves in for the long term.

What Makes the Trip Across the Street

Kelly laid out the plan for the new room in The Coastal Star's September 29 dining column.

• The walls. All the memorabilia moves over. Kelly also said not everything will fit, so some pieces are going into storage.
• The menu. It stays the same, possibly with a few new items. "Don't change something that ain't broke," she said.
• The bars. The new space won't have an outside bar, though another bar will be added inside.
• Prices. They may go up slightly, since food and beverage costs keep climbing. Kelly said she's trying to keep beer and liquor prices down.
• The build-out. Plans call for minor renovations. She's looking into a city relocation grant that would pay for an architect to draw up the changes.

The exact address isn't settled in public yet. The Coastal Star reports the former Paloma space as 510 E. Ocean Ave. Hurricane Alley's own website lists 500 Ocean Avenue, Suite 105, and tells customers to watch its social media for an opening date. Either way, it's the terra cotta facade just across the street from the old spot. As of today, no one has announced an opening date. Thanksgiving is a goal, not a promise.

What Rises on the Old Block

The Pierce will bring 300 apartments, about 17,000 square feet of restaurant, retail and office space, and 150 public parking spaces, according to CRA plans reported by WFLX. Half of the units are set aside as workforce housing for at least 15 years.

The CRA's most recent detailed status report, dated June 22, 2026, shows how far along the paperwork is. The master building permit got a permit-ready letter on March 9. The land-development permit reached technical compliance on Feb. 18. The Miller Land Planning building on the site has already been demolished, and the developer was aiming to close on construction before the end of the year. No public groundbreaking date has been announced. For now, that stretch of Federal and Ocean is a construction zone in waiting, not an active site.

Where the Waterfront Picks Up the Slack This Fall

The Intracoastal side of the district is in better shape than it was a year ago. Two Georges Waterfront Grille has been at Boynton Harbor Marina since 1957, and this spring it finished extensive dock and seawall improvements. The CRA's own write-up says the upgrades give boaters more reliable space to pull up and tie off under the thatch roof. It called the project "a great example of redevelopment at work right here in Boynton Beach." The CRA's marina dining directory also lists Banana Boat and Marina Café as waterfront options.

Stone crab season opens Oct. 15 and runs through May 1, based on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's standing season dates. If you crab from your own boat, FWC's recreational rules set a minimum claw size of 2 7/8 inches. You can't take claws from egg-bearing crabs, and the limit is 1 gallon of claws per person or 2 gallons per vessel, whichever is less. Anyone 16 or older needs a free trap registration and can set up to five traps. Traps can't go in marked navigation channels, and that includes the Intracoastal channel past the marina. We couldn't confirm any marina restaurant's stone crab plans for this season, so it's worth calling ahead.

Here's what's on the waterfront calendar from now through mid-December:

1. Thursday, Oct. 15. Stone crab season opens.
2. Friday, Oct. 30. Banana Boat at 739 E. Ocean Ave. hosts its "Boo-Nana Boat Disco" on the water, with happy hour, a DJ and a costume contest.
3. Saturday, Oct. 31, and Sunday, Nov. 1. Boynton Beach Pirate Fest runs noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, with free entry, in Centennial Park and along East Ocean Avenue, a short walk west of the marina.
4. Around Thanksgiving. Hurricane Alley's target for reopening in the former Paloma space.
5. Friday, Dec. 11. An event listing shows the city hosting the Holiday Boat Parade at Boynton Harbor Marina from 6 to 9 p.m. The CRA's December calendar doesn't show it yet.

The Next Moves Are Also on the Water

Hurricane Alley's move is the most visible change, but the CRA has been putting money and attention into the Intracoastal all year. In February, the agency bought a 1.24-acre lot next to Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park for $6.8 million. The park is best known for its boat ramps. The plan isn't final, but the idea is to add waterfront dining, more docks and parking. "We need to continue to buy as much Intracoastal property that is available that we can," CRA Executive Director Christopher Brown told commissioners, as reported by The Coastal Star.

The marina is getting work too. In May, the CRA announced $1,145,144 in federal funding to replace the commercial seawall at Boynton Harbor Marina. The announcement didn't include a construction schedule.

Back toward the tracks, The Villages at East Ocean Avenue is under construction and set to finish in 2027. A smaller second phase across the street would turn the 1907 Andrews House into a café.

If you'd like a hand making sense of what The Pierce, the Oyer Park expansion or the marina seawall work could mean for your street, Abbey Adair at A+ Realtor is happy to walk you through it. Abbey follows Boynton's waterfront projects closely and can explain how they connect to your home's value.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.