Wellington Green Is Becoming the Entertainment District It Once Planned to Build Outdoors

"All my customers now can line up in comfort under air conditioning," Chris Carbo told Stet News this summer, when he was asked what he liked best about Palm Beach Improv's new home. Carbo is the club's owner and operator. He named one other feature first: "The free parking is huge."

He could have been describing the whole building. The things that once looked like weaknesses at the Mall at Wellington Green, an enclosed, air-conditioned box with a big surface lot, are what its new tenants keep citing as the reason they came. Over 2026, those tenants have pushed the corner of Forest Hill Boulevard and State Road 7 toward the role the mall's operators tried to give it in 2019 with an outdoor plan that never happened.

The Plan That Stalled, and the Version That Showed Up Anyway

When Nordstrom closed in 2019, mall operators proposed turning its site into a large outdoor entertainment area. The Town-Crier reported this spring that "those plans never moved forward," and the old Nordstrom box has mostly held storage and seasonal pop-ups since then.

The money behind that stall matters. Starwood Capital Group bought most of the property in 2014 for $341.1 million. According to the same April 2026 Town-Crier report, it is now estimated to be worth about $70 million, even though it still draws steady traffic and has kept most of its core tenants. Spinoso Real Estate Group, the current operator, has said it will reinvest in the property's exterior and focus on "lifestyle-oriented re-tenanting."

In practice, that has meant filling empty space with places you go for an evening, not an errand. General manager Asad Sadiq called the Improv's arrival a "game-changer" that moves the mall toward its goal of becoming an entertainment destination.

The Anchor: A Comedy Club With a Pub Next Door

Palm Beach Improv opened on September 4, with Nate Jackson's Big Dog Comedy Tour headlining Labor Day weekend. It shares the mall's southeast corner with its sister concept, Copper Blues Rock Pub & Kitchen, between CMX Cinemas and Macy's. Together they take up 13,800 square feet of space that had been empty, and the comedy club uses about 11,000 of it.

The club seats 450 at a mix of booths and high-top and low-top tables. Carbo describes the menu as "a mix of healthy items and comfort food," mostly appetizers, entrées and tapas. Copper Blues serves pub fare and cocktails, and after sunset it turns into what Carbo calls a "nighttime club" with live music on the patio. The walls carry photographs of polo horses, the Flagler Bridge and The Breakers.

The move closes a three-year gap. The Improv spent two decades at CityPlace in West Palm Beach until 2023, when the Related Cos. chose to build office space on its site. Its first pick for a new home was Tuttle Royale, a proposed development in Royal Palm Beach. When that fell through, Carbo said, the mall "kind of checked all the boxes for us." He also said the club drew 1,200 to 2,000 visitors a week to CityPlace, and he expects about the same here.

Here is what the club's official calendar shows for the next two months:

The October calendar has no open mics after the 28th, and November lists none. Anyone hoping to try five minutes on stage should plan for one of the two October dates.

The Rest of the Building Filled In Over the Summer

The Improv is the biggest name, but it arrived last. By the time it opened, three other tenants had already added more reasons to visit the corridor:

• Silk & Sugga opened June 1 on the first floor near JCPenney, between Sunglass Hut and Scoops & Beyond. It is a cookie and dessert bakery.
• Arcade Time Entertainment held its ribbon-cutting June 27 at Unit 122, near the food court entrance. It moved down from the second floor into a 13,000-square-foot first-floor flagship with modern and retro arcade games, a pinball alley and billiards. It is open from 10 a.m. to 3 a.m.
• Kids Empire opened July 4 at Suite 268. It is an indoor playground of more than 15,000 square feet for children ages 1 to 12, with a multi-level maze, slides, ball pits, a dance floor and a toddler zone. All-day admission lets families leave and come back the same day.

These tenants cover different hours. Kids Empire is a daytime stop that lets families come and go. Silk & Sugga is a quick visit. The Improv and Copper Blues run in the evening, and Arcade Time stays open into the early morning. CMX Cinemas sits next to the comedy club. A family could spend a whole rainy Saturday under one roof, and a couple could start with dinner at Copper Blues and finish at the pinball alley after the late show.

Wellington resident Julie Trieste told Stet News that she and her friends booked a couples' night and a girls' night as soon as the dates were announced. "Taking advantage of space that was sitting dormant in the mall will reignite the mall and surrounding area," she said.

Out by the Road, the Longest Vacancy Is Next

The same pattern is reaching the Shoppes at Wellington Green, the plaza in front of the mall along Forest Hill Boulevard. The old Circuit City at 10570 W. Forest Hill Blvd. was built in 2002 and has been mostly empty since the chain closed its stores after its 2008 bankruptcy. According to the Town-Crier, several proposals for the building were submitted over the years, and none moved forward.

Diadem Pickleball Complex is taking it over. Plans call for 11 air-conditioned indoor courts, two pickleball simulators, two golf simulators, a pro shop, a private party area and a restaurant and bar. The Wellington Edit gives the restaurant's name as Cat 5 and says it will serve pizza, salads, beer and wine.

Gene DeVito runs Diadem's Coconut Creek complex. He gave a familiar reason for picking this building: high ceilings and air conditioning. He also said Wellington has a strong pickleball community but few indoor options. Wellington Planning, Zoning & Building Director Tim Stillings said the interior build-out was permitted and underway as of mid-September. He added that the separate court contractor had not yet applied for permits.

The company is aiming for a soft opening in December and a full launch in January. That schedule should be taken loosely. The Wellington Edit's September 29 roundup said Diadem had originally targeted September and had not announced a confirmed date.

A short drive away, sisters Laura and Patricia Generoso have opened La Coppetta Matta at 10660 Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 150. The case holds more than 24 gelato flavors made with ingredients sourced from Italy, plus Italian ices, affogato and cappuccino granita.

What Is Still Undecided at the Old Nordstrom

The 2019 outdoor plan is gone. A different proposal for the same site is now in review. On March 31, Wellington-based Bainbridge Companies applied to demolish the Nordstrom building and build 620 apartments on just over 18.4 acres. The plan calls for three seven-story buildings, a parking garage and up to 1.5 acres of private recreation space. It needs a master plan amendment and has to go through the village's advisory boards and the Village Council. WFLX reported on July 1 that the plan had not been approved and had no announced timeline or cost estimate.

In the same WFLX report, Barnes, speaking for the village, said Macy's, Dillard's and JCPenney "are high-performing stores," and added that he had heard the Wellington Green Macy's is the top-performing store in the state. The anchors are holding steady, the empty space is filling with entertainment, and the largest vacant parcel is still waiting for a public hearing.

Here are the next dates to know: Kevin Farley at the Improv on October 8, the open mic on October 14, Chris D'Elia on November 13 through 15, and a possible Diadem soft opening in December. Each one is a few minutes from most of the village, with free parking and an indoor wait. For more about the village, see our Wellington neighborhood guide and our recent look at Wellington's summer dining and amphitheater season.

If you own a home near Forest Hill Boulevard and State Road 7, the Aron Team at Premiere Realty follows every opening and application at this corner, including the Nordstrom proposal as it moves toward a hearing. Request a Free Home Valuation to see how your home compares today.