Carolyn DiPaoloWest Palm Beach’s $2.6 million investment aims to revitalize historic neighborhood northwest of downtown.
A key piece of the revival of West Palm Beach’s historically Black Northwest Neighborhood clicked into place last week with a celebration of six small businesses at the Styx Promenade.
The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency injected $2.6 million into building or restoring nine shotgun-style houses where businesses can grow on 7th Street west of Rosemary Avenue, about seven blocks north of downtown.
A new business district is emerging. The Styx Promenade is kitty-corner from two other multimillion-dollar CRA investments in the Northwest Neighborhood: the 4-year-old Heart & Soul Park and the Sunset Lounge, which could begin offering dinner and shows later this year.
Directly to the west of Styx on 7th Street is Queen of Sheba Ethiopian restaurant.
The name Styx recalls the neighborhood in Palm Beach that Black families left when they were displaced to West Palm Beach more than 100 years ago. They made their home in the nearby Pleasant City neighborhood and transformed it into a bustling business corridor.
“This promenade tells a story of resilience, creativity and economic inclusion,” City Commission President Christina Lambert said in her remarks at Friday’s ribbon-cuttings. “It blends our past with our future.”
Alfonso Hernandez Architect designed the structures, which Hartnett Building Group built after Burkhardt Construction paved the way with the 7th Street Streetscape project.
An outsider may wonder why entrepreneurs like Gregory Eaton, who established a popular local cupcake business, would open his restaurant and catering operation in the heart of a gritty urban neighborhood.
“This is home,” said Eaton, who spent his teenage years there. “This road that we have here is really an homage to our ancestors. Because, by law, they couldn’t live anywhere else in the city. They built something, and we’re doing the same thing.”
Eaton continued, “When I walk out the door, these kids call me Mr. Greg.”
Business owners competed for a chance to buy or lease the buildings from the city’s CRA.
They represent a town-square mix that will serve Northwest Neighborhood residents and visitors: a second-generation florist, a bookstore, a home care provider, a cupcake and soul food cafe and an intimate event space and soon, a beauty salon.
These are the urban pioneers who are investing in Styx Promenade:
❤️ A Better Way Home Care, 626 7th St.
Owner Craig Glover was the first to move into Styx Promenade. He relocated his thriving home health care company there after purchasing two buildings in 2023.
Glover describes A Better Way Home Care as providing care and love to help elderly and disabled people live in their home as long as possible.
He and his late wife, Bonnie, launched the company in 2015 after finding a lack of quality health care when their own family members were in need.
“We decided to use this pain to help other people,” Glover told Stet.
But there would be more pain. Bonnie died of COVID in 2021.
Fulfilling their wish to be a part of a community like the Historic Northwest District, Glover’s company bought the Styx Promenade property from the CRA for $233,000.
Today, A Better Way has a full-time staff that coordinates more than 60 home health care workers. To be hired, “they have to demonstrate they can love someone,” Glover said.
As part of its community commitment, A Better Way has just completed the company’s first tuition-free health care training for a class of six students.
🧁 Eat’n Cake restaurant, 622 7th St.
Step into Eat’n Cake, where owner Gregory Eaton has left nothing to chance.
The rich red-and-black interior, the blues music, the framed pictures of cultural icons and the soul food menu emphasize the central role that distinctive food and traditions play in the life of the Black community.
Eaton offers breakfast and a changing menu of dishes that include smothered chicken, fried catfish and pot roast. And plenty of cupcakes.
“This is a great opportunity the city has given us,” Eaton told about 200 people gathered Friday at the project celebration. “You cannot revitalize any community anywhere on this planet without its small businesses.”
Eat’n Cake’s hours vary as Eaton trains his new staff and balances the restaurant with catering clients. It is generally open Wednesday through Sunday. Check his social media for the daily menu and restaurant hours.
💐 Camile’s Flowers & Gifts, 618 7th St.
🍹 Wild Rose Wine & Daiquiri Bar event space, 620 7th St.
Owners Camile and Julius Bunche operated Camile’s Flowers and Gifts in Old Northwood for a generation.
Now joined by their daughter, Kimberly Weston, they are running two businesses at Styx Promenade in buildings they leased from the CRA with an option to buy.
Camile’s offers flowers for all occasions and local delivery.
The family’s new event space is next door. It can be booked for garden parties, small receptions and corporate mixers.
“This is where you want to be,” Weston said Friday as she encouraged other business owners to join her in the neighborhood. “It has taken off like a rocket,”
Camile’s Flowers and Gifts is open 8-2 pm weekdays and 9 to noon Saturdays. 561-655-6772.
📚 Rohi’s Readery, 630 7th St.
Educational consultant Pranoo Kumar opened her social justice-driven bookstore in CityPlace in 2021. She dedicated Rohi’s Readery to inclusivity by honoring historically marginalized communities.
Last year, she won the opportunity to relocate to Styx Promenade.
Kumar also operates a nonprofit at Styx Promenade. Rohi’s Liberation Station offers free literacy programs. Her team offered free summer programs like “Little Revolutionaires Phonics.”
Upcoming classes include a child-centered engineering course, a class on creativity and monthly dance classes. The full schedule is here.
Kumar bought two buildings at Styx Promenade in November for $233,000 and received a CRA grant for $44,000 to make improvements, city records show.
“The fact that we are in a space that is constantly honoring the ancestors and descendants just feels so tied into our work,” Kumar said Friday.
The bookstore hours are 10 am to 4 pm Monday-Wednesday, 12 to 4 pm Thursday, 10 am to 5 pm Friday and 12 to 6 pm Saturday.
💄 Serene Beauty Suite, coming soon to 634 7th St.
Yaneek Facey and Kimberly Winn will soon relocate their growing beauty business to the restored historic home at Styx.
And when they move from their salon on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, they intend to bring their hundreds of clients with them. Professionals including doctors and lawyers and first responders, who will also be potential customers for Serene Beauty Salon’s neighbors in the Northwest Neighborhood.
They bought the home from the CRA in May for $133,000. They also received a $44,000 grant for improvements, records show.
“To our future clients, I can’t wait to meet you guys,” Facey said. “As a homeowner in this community for 18 years, I can’t wait to see what is yet to come.”
I am a co-founder, writer and editor for Stet News. I am also a former senior editor at The Palm Beach Post. For 20 years, I oversaw some of the most consequential stories published by the paper, including the “Corruption County” reporting project that led to multiple arrests of elected officials. I am a member of the Leadership Palm Beach County Class of 2013. I live in West Palm Beach with my husband, Bill DiPaolo.
