Juno Beach's Four Corners Heads Into the Holidays Without Its Tree Lot, and With a Paris Restaurant Group on the Way

Every year around Thanksgiving, a big tent went up in the empty field behind Juno Square, and rows of Christmas trees filled the lot at U.S. 1 and Donald Ross Road. In December 2025 CBS12 reported that a lifelong Juno Beach resident remembered running into Tiger Woods there one year, buying a tree with his family. That field now holds Pulte's townhome construction, and the tent has moved down the highway.

What happened to the tree lot follows a rule you can see across the whole intersection. At the Four Corners, a shop, restaurant or seasonal tent survives only if the owner of that corner keeps room for it. Each corner made its own call over the past few years, and this holiday season you can drive past all four results.

The Field Became Townhomes, and the Trees Moved South on U.S. 1

The southwest corner is the clearest example. For years the open field behind Juno Square was a seasonal space that came alive for a few weeks each winter. Then the town approved a community of three-story homes there, called the Dunes at Juno Beach, and the field was no longer empty. Stet News reported in January that Pulte was building 40 townhomes on the former Christmas tree lot.

CBS12 reported last December that the tree lot had moved to North Palm. On its website, the operator lists its new location as 1300 U.S. Highway 1 in North Palm Beach, at Our Lady of Florida. The business was North Pole Christmas Trees and is now Mr. Jingles Christmas Trees under new ownership. The site says the company has sold trees in Palm Beach County for more than 20 years and offers custom wreaths, garland and flocking. If you're shopping for a Fraser fir this year, that's a short drive south on the same highway, not a stop on the way home from the beach.

The Restaurant Is Coming to Caretta's Commercial Share

Across Donald Ross Road, the northwest corner shows the same rule from the other side. Caretta, the condominium-over-shops building that now defines the intersection, was approved in 2022 after the town changed its rules so the project could be 95% residential and 5% commercial. That 5% is where the most talked-about restaurant arrival in northern Palm Beach County is going.

Big Mamma Group, the Paris-born company behind Pink Mamma in Paris, Carlotta in London and Gloria Osteria in Milan, announced in May that its first U.S. restaurant would open in Juno Beach. Business Debut reported the address as 1011 U.S. Highway 1, Unit C101, Caretta's anchor tenant space. Chicago-based Ballyhoo Hospitality secured that space through developer Jim Letchinger of JDL. Ballyhoo, led by CEO Ryan O'Donnell and partner Jon Farrer, originally planned a different restaurant for the space and changed course once its relationship with Big Mamma developed.

Here's what has been said publicly about the restaurant:

• Concept: coastal Italian, about one block from the ocean, with a menu built around seaside dishes, local seafood, vegetables and fruit.
• Size: about 7,500 square feet, with around 180 seats inside and roughly 100 to 120 outside, according to O'Donnell.
• Menu direction: Forbes described fresh handmade pasta, a grill section running from fish to Fiorentina, South Florida seafood and gelato made in-house daily, all inspired by the Tuscan coast.
• Local partner: the group teamed up with Carmine Giardini, founder of Carmine's Gourmet Market & La Trattoria in Palm Beach Gardens.
• Status: both the Big Mamma and Ballyhoo websites list Juno Beach as coming soon.

Florida Weekly reported that co-founder Tigrane Seydoux met Giardini before Big Mamma had chosen a U.S. location, and that Giardini helped the group discover Palm Beach County. The same piece quoted Seydoux on how the coast is shaping the menu:

"Our menu will always remain classically Italian, but we are deeply inspired by the spirit of South Florida and coastal living."

Seydoux has also moved to South Florida with his family, which is how the group has handled earlier openings, including Madrid. He told Business Debut that the group's approach is to "go there, we feel the vibe," visiting nearby restaurants and talking with local people before opening.

A space of up to roughly 300 seats is a big neighbor for a town Juno Beach's size. The restaurant is coming because Caretta's small commercial share was kept and leased, and its scale is part of why Juno Beach has spent the past year arguing over how much commercial space each corner must hold.

The Southeast Corner Is Staying the Same on Purpose

The southeast corner has a new owner and very little change. Stet News reported in January that companies led by Josh Simon, a former owner of Abacoa Town Center, paid $13.5 million for the 108-room Holiday Inn Express and $2.6 million for The Fish House. Together that's 4.5 acres a block from the ocean.

In the same article, Simon told Stet News he had no plans to redevelop either property and was happy to let the hotel and restaurant keep operating. "Just investing," he said. "Boring stuff." Fish House owner Teo Mendez Lynch contacted Stet News after publication to confirm that the restaurant isn't closing. He said he is pursuing improvements and plans to stay.

On the southeast corner, the hotel and the restaurant are still there because their new owner chose to leave them alone.

Plaza La Mer Is the Corner Still in Play

The biggest unanswered question is just west of Caretta. Plaza La Mer, a 10-acre shopping center, was bought by Chicago-based Bucksbaum Properties for $27 million in September 2023. Stet News reported that the owner had shown no desire to rebuild. The center has already lost one fixture. The Palm Beach Post reported that County Line Pizza closed on Dec. 14, 2025, and that its owner cited lease discussions and uncertainty about Plaza La Mer's future as reasons for not renewing into 2026.

The plaza is in play because of zoning. Town rules allow commercial property to be developed as up to 75% residential, as long as 25% stays commercial. A master plan presentation showed 184 residential units on the Plaza La Mer site, which its commercial zoning allows, and residents protested over traffic and the possible loss of stores and restaurants. Dana Little of the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, the town's master plan consultant, described the pressure at an Aug. 6 workshop:

"You're going through a transition now where you've been discovered. And you've been discovered at a period of time when your land values are increasing dramatically and you've got developers who are very interested in being here because they're running out of land everywhere else."

The 75/25 standard is itself a rollback. The ratio that allowed Caretta's 95/5 split has since been tightened. Voters weighed in this spring too. In the March 2026 municipal election, Stet News reported that 42% of Juno Beach voters turned out, compared with 17% countywide. They elected three newcomers, Mayor Dave Santilli and Council Members Max Fraser and Scott Shaw, who campaigned on protecting residents from overdevelopment.

The Holiday Errand Route, Corner by Corner

For a December Saturday, the practical version looks like this. The Fish House on the southeast corner keeps its spot under its new landlord. Juno Square on the southwest corner still has Juno Beach Cafe and Thirsty Turtle out front, with townhome construction behind them. Big Mamma's Unit C101 on the northwest corner is listed as coming soon. For a tree, drive south to 1300 U.S. Highway 1 in North Palm Beach, the location the tree operator lists on its site. If the morning includes a walk on the Juno Beach Pier, the whole loop stays within a block or two of the ocean.

If you own near the Four Corners and want to understand how these changes affect your street, Lighthouse Realty Group follows every corner of this intersection, and you can find more on our Juno Beach neighborhood page. Schedule a Free Consultation and we'll walk through what's being built nearby and what it means for your home.