The busiest new address at The Mall at Wellington Green is one upper-level corner, the stretch between CMX Cinemas and Macy's. In about four months, that corner gained a comedy club and a rock pub that share 13,800 square feet of space that had sat empty, and a new arcade and an indoor playground opened elsewhere in the mall.
With those additions, the mall now has an evening program built around a few doors next to each other, and it has its own calendar through December.
The Corner That Changed Hands
The evening anchor got to Wellington because it lost its old home. Stet News reported that Palm Beach Improv spent two decades at CityPlace in West Palm Beach. It had to find a new location in 2023 when the Related Cos. decided to build office space on the club's site. Its new address is the corner of State Road 7 and Forest Hill Boulevard. Opening night was Sept. 4, with Nate Jackson's Big Dog Comedy Tour, the first of more than 40 shows booked through New Year's Eve.
The club takes about 11,000 of the 13,800 square feet in the southeast corner. Owner and operator Chris Carbo calls the décor "modern cozy." The walls carry photographs of Wellington and Palm Beach, including polo horses, the Flagler Bridge and The Breakers. The mall directory lists the club at Unit 239.
The lineup mixes headliners with internet comics. Carbo described that strategy to Stet News.
"Everything's changing in this industry. YouTubers and streamers sometimes want to sell tickets to their podcasts. We've done it in the past, and it's been super successful. When those opportunities arise, we jump on them."
On the day this post goes up, Thursday, Oct. 22, Carlos Mencia is on the Palm Beach Improv schedule. Craig Conant follows on Oct. 23 and 24. Damon Wayans plays four dates, Dec. 3 through 6.
Copper Blues Turns a Show Into an Evening
The second piece of the corner opened last weekend. According to the mall's announcement, published by citybiz, Copper Blues Rock Pub & Kitchen set its public grand opening for Friday, Oct. 16, and Saturday, Oct. 17. It is on the upper level next to the Improv and seats up to 275 people, counting the bar and outdoor seating.
Copper Blues is the Improv's official bar and restaurant, so you can eat there before a show or stop in after one. It also serves people who aren't going to the show. The menu runs to American pub food such as Copper Nachos and Steak Frites, with cocktails named Strawberry Fields and Champagne Supernova. There are happy hour specials, and brunch is planned. Co-founder Robby Day told citybiz he wants it to be a place for "dinner, drinks, live music or a show next door."
Copper Blues lists its music as acoustic acts at happy hour, bands on weekends and cover bands with no cover charge, plus DJs, tribute bands and special events. In August, Carbo told Stet News that the family-friendly restaurant becomes a "nighttime club" after sunset, with live music on the patio.
That fills in the corner. Within a few steps you have a movie at CMX Cinemas Wellington 10, which is still showing films, a comedy set and a band, and the pub's food covers dinner for all three.
The Afternoon Shift Came First
The evening venues arrived after the mall's afternoon business had already started to change. Two family venues opened over the summer, both on the busy paths through the building.
- Arcade Time. Boca Post reported that the new location opened June 27 at Unit 122, near the food-court entrance. The Town-Crier covered the official ribbon-cutting on July 8. It describes more than 13,000 square feet across from the food court, with hundreds of retro and modern games, billiards, immersive attractions and a full-service restaurant and bar.
- Kids Empire. Boca Post reported a July 4 opening at Suite 268. The size depends on the source. Boca Post says the chain described the location as more than 15,000 square feet, while the Town-Crier describes a 10,223-square-foot indoor playground near the second-floor Grand Court. It has climbing walls, ball pits, slides, go-karts, a toddler area, a dance room and a snack bar.
In July, WPTV reported that summer had become one of the mall's busiest seasons. Mall marketing manager Julie Schalm described a deliberate shift toward movies, comedy and arcade play. Arcade Time owner Jonathan Demare told the station that entertainment paired with dining can bring people into a mall.
Arcade Time and Kids Empire brought in the summer crowd, and the Improv and Copper Blues now carry that into the evening.
The Anchors Make the Bet Possible
The entertainment tenants opened alongside department stores that are still performing. The same WPTV report described the Macy's at Wellington Green as the chain's highest-performing store in Florida. WFLX reported that Wellington's Village manager called Macy's, Dillard's and JCPenney high-performing anchors in July.
The new tenants went into empty space beside those anchors. Starwood Capital Group bought a majority of the property in 2014 for $341.1 million, and Spinoso Real Estate Group runs the mall today.
The Holiday Calendar Runs on Both Schedules
Through the holidays, the mall's family events and the Improv's shows run on separate calendars, and several of the Santa events fall in the early evening. Here are the dates currently posted on the mall's events page and the Improv schedule.
| Date | Event | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 13 | Giving Tree | Mall |
| Nov. 14 | Santa's Arrival and Kid's Club | Mall, 5 to 7 p.m. |
| Nov. 27 | Black Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. | Extended mall hours |
| Nov. 30 | Pet Photos with Santa | Mall, 5 to 7 p.m. |
| Dec. 3 to 6 | Damon Wayans | Evening, Palm Beach Improv |
| Dec. 5 | Musicthon | Mall |
| Dec. 6 | Sensory Santa and Hanukkah Celebration | Mall |
| Dec. 7 | Pet Photos with Santa | Mall, 5 to 7 p.m. |
| Dec. 12 | Holiday Gift Workshop, Kid's Club | Mall |
| Dec. 16 | Storytime with Mrs. Claus | Mall |
The mall's posted "Holiday Hours" page still shows last year's date. Black Friday is the only 2026 extended-hours listing on the calendar so far.
What Is Still Behind the Fence
The largest dark space on the property is the former Nordstrom. It has been closed since 2019 and has been used mostly for storage and seasonal pop-ups. A 2019 entertainment proposal for the site never moved forward.
The Town-Crier reported that Bainbridge Companies filed a Village application on March 31, 2026. It would demolish the building and put up 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 recreation space. The proposal needs a master-plan amendment and has to go through advisory boards and the Village Council. In July, Village staff said the plans had not been approved and that there was no timeline or cost estimate. The Oct. 13 Village Council agenda had no item on it. Macy's, Dillard's and JCPenney own their own store space and parking areas, so those parcels are not part of the Nordstrom proposal.
So this holiday season, the empty Nordstrom building sits at one end of the property while the southeast corner hosts the Improv and Copper Blues every week.
When a long-vacant anchor moves through the Village review process, it changes how the land around it gets priced well before any construction starts. Listings & Leases follows Wellington applications like the Nordstrom site from filing to council vote for clients who own nearby or are thinking about buying. To talk through what the Wellington Green redevelopment could mean for your property, Request Private Market Access.
