Downtown Delray Moved West of Swinton. The Late-Night Map Stayed Put.

At happy hour on the southwest corner of Atlantic and Swinton, the bar at Barcelona Wine Bar is packed. The Coastal Star ran that scene as a photo caption in early September. A few years ago this block looked very different. Elizabeth Grace runs The Buzz Agency next door and has been in the building west of the project for 16 years. She remembers a check cashing store, a vape store, and not much else to draw a crowd.

That's Sundy Village. With Barcelona Wine Bar open since January and Double Knot since June, more downtown diners are walking west on Atlantic Avenue. The city's rules haven't followed them. Swinton Avenue is still the western edge of Delray's entertainment district. So the newest dining block downtown runs under a different set of hours and noise limits than the Atlantic Avenue blocks just east of it.

What's Actually Open on Block 61

Sundy Village covers 7 acres southwest of the Atlantic and Swinton intersection. It runs a block west of Swinton and south from Atlantic to the historic Sundy House at Southwest First Street. Locals know it as Block 61. Phase One brought about 100,000 square feet of office space, 30,000 square feet of retail and dining, and a 268-space underground garage. Restaurant announcements have come faster than opening days, so here's where each name stood in the most recent reporting.

Drinking Pig BBQ has the most-watched timeline. WhatNow reported in March that owner Raheem Sealey hoped to open in time for July Fourth. In June, the Palm Beach Post reported a September target. The September coverage we found still lists it as a planned tenant. Maman was described in February and again in May as aiming for a late-summer opening. It's in the same position. Both names belong on a watch list, not tonight's reservation list.

The leasing numbers say more openings are coming. Pebb Capital, the owner, closed a $223 million refinancing in September and said the campus is 97 percent pre-leased, with tenant buildouts and occupancy still underway.

The Old Houses Got Midnight Patios

The new three-story buildings anchor Atlantic. The part that changes evenings on Swinton is the row of restored homes. Earlier versions of the plan would have moved those homes on top of a parking garage. The City Commission objected, and they stayed at ground level. They include the former Methodist church rectory, built in 1912, and the 1903 Cathcart House. Block 61 is part of the Old School Square Historic Arts District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, so any changes to those structures have to meet preservation codes.

On Aug. 18, 2026, the City Commission passed Resolution 117-26. It allows nighttime outdoor dining until midnight at restaurants in the five historic structures along South Swinton. The approval covers decks, porches and patios that were already approved and built around those buildings. City staff put the total at 7,195 square feet of outdoor dining. The Historic Preservation Board and the Planning and Zoning Board both recommended approval 7–0, on July 1 and July 20.

"Bringing some night dining into the area will actually bring more people in," Mike Covelli of Covelli Design Associates, the project's agent, told the commission. "If anything, it will be a catalyst for other redevelopment in the area." Mayor Tom Carney called the reuse of the once-deteriorating houses "a great, such a positive development for that part of Swinton."

The resolution is about outdoor dining hours. It doesn't move the entertainment district boundary.

Swinton Is Still the Line on the Noise Map

In February, Delray replaced its old noise test, which asked whether a bar or restaurant could be heard 100 feet away, with meter-based decibel limits. The Commission passed the rewrite, Ordinance 35-25, on second reading Feb. 24, 2026. The entertainment district runs from NE 2nd Street to SE 2nd Street and from Federal Highway west to Swinton Avenue. Sundy Village sits just outside that boundary on the west side of Swinton.

Here's how the evening plays out on each side of Swinton under the code:

1. 10 p.m. Active hours end citywide. Outside the district, quiet hours start at 10:01 p.m., and commercial uses drop from a 65 dBA / 70 dBC cap to 55 dBA / 60 dBC.
2. Midnight. The Sundy Village patios approved under Resolution 117-26 reach their limit. East of Swinton, district quiet hours start at 12:01 a.m. Monday through Friday.
3. 1 a.m. On Saturdays and Sundays, active hours inside the district run until 1 a.m., and quiet hours start at 1:01 a.m. Inside the district, caps are 70 dBA / 80 dBC during active hours and 65 dBA / 75 dBC during quiet hours.

Put the two rules together, and Sundy's midnight patios spend their last two hours under the outside-the-district quiet-hour caps. On a Saturday or Sunday, a patio a block east stays in active hours until 1 a.m., with a higher ceiling the whole time. That's why Sundy Village is set up for dinner, ice cream and a glass of wine on a porch. The late-night crowd belongs to the blocks east of Swinton.

The Boundary Debate Is Still Open

The line didn't come out of nowhere. At a commission meeting the week of Feb. 27, several residents said that limiting the extended noise allowances to areas east of Swinton Avenue was unfair to businesses and residents to the west, and asked commissioners to expand the district westward. Studio 404, a frozen bar and cafe west of Swinton with a patio used for events, was among the businesses that spoke up.

Sundy Village brought new weight to that argument. The Coastal Star reported in September that the current businesses there would benefit if the area joined the entertainment district, because of the noise standards and operating hours that come with it. It said the designation could also draw future businesses, and that the City Commission was talking with the public and nearby businesses about the idea. We haven't found a proposed boundary map, a draft ordinance or a scheduled vote. The commission's Sept. 22 workshop had one item, on Development Services approval processes.

Farther West on Atlantic, the Day Shift

West of the Sundy blocks, 2026 openings on West Atlantic have leaned toward lunch, coffee and barbecue. Tropical Smokehouse opened at 524 W. Atlantic Ave. on Saturday, Jan. 10. A May release from the Downtown Development Authority listed Dip n Crepe at 301 W. Atlantic Ave. and Coffee Beans and Greens at 400 W. Atlantic Ave. as recently opened. The same release listed a Dunkin' at 540 W. Atlantic Ave. as coming soon.

Add those to Barcelona and Double Knot, and Atlantic Avenue west of Swinton is filling in with places busiest between breakfast and the end of dinner. That fits the rules on that side of the boundary.

Old School Square's Season Starts Oct. 24

Sundy Village's other neighbor is Old School Square, just across Atlantic, and its fall calendar starts in three weeks. The Delray Winter GreenMarket opens Saturday, Oct. 24, at 51 N. Swinton Ave., running 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays through May 22, 2027. The same morning, the 15th annual Witches Ride by the Witches of Delray runs from 8 to 11 a.m., starting at City Hall, 100 NW 1st Ave., and ending at Old School Square. Halloween in Downtown Delray is also that Saturday. It includes trick-or-treating along Atlantic Avenue, a parade from Federal Highway to Old School Square, and Kidsfest.

Three more dates follow:

• Oct. 23: "What a Night! with Néstor Torres" at Arts Garage, 94 NE 2nd Ave., 8 to 10 p.m.
• Nov. 1: Coco Market Wellness Festival at the Delray Beach Amphitheatre at Old School Square, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Nov. 7–8: The Cornell Art Museum's Art on the Square Fine Art Show, with about 100 artists expected, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

A GreenMarket morning that ends at 2 p.m. leaves you one block from Sundy Village's patios, and the 268-space underground garage there is up and running.

What Still Has to Open

The block's namesake is the last big piece. The 1902 Sundy House is named for John Sundy, Delray's first mayor, who served before "Beach" was added to the town's name. It will be refurbished as a hotel, restaurant, bar and event space in the project's second phase, which is expected to finish by early 2027. The next phase also includes a 79,141-square-foot office building at 100 Southeast First Avenue for DigitalBridge and a 165-space garage at 48 Southeast First Avenue with about 3,400 square feet of ground-floor retail. Pebb Capital hasn't announced a completion timeline for either building. When the Sundy House bar opens, it will be on the west side of Swinton, under the hours that apply there, unless the commission redraws the line first.

If you own near Swinton, a midnight patio permit or a possible boundary vote is a question about your home's value as much as your evenings. The Coastal Realm Group watches Delray's commission agendas as closely as its sales, and we'll walk you through what each change on Block 61 means for your street. Schedule Your Free Market Consultation.

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