The block of South County Road across from Town Hall is coming back one piece at a time this season. The island's only gas station closed for renovation on June 28, with a phased return planned to start in October. C. Orrico, the longtime fashion retailer next door, closed at the end of May. Further down the street, the former Le Bar a Vin building at 380 S. County Road now has a Town Council approval for a new restaurant and night spot. Each of these addresses is on its own clock, and only two of them have announced dates.
Two of the three neighboring parcels now share an owner, so much of the block's timing comes from one renovation plan. With the dates in hand, it's easier to tell what's open now and what's still a schedule.
The calendar as announced
In June, the station's co-owner gave the Palm Beach Daily News a phased reopening plan for what will now be called Palm Petrol. Combined with C. Orrico's own posted status, the block's season looks like this:
- October 1: Fuel service was scheduled to resume at 340 S. County Road.
- November: C. Orrico's location page for 336 S. County Road reads "Closed till November 2026."
- November 1: Palm Petrol's vehicle service shop was scheduled to open.
- December 1: The expanded convenience store was scheduled to open.
- January: A grand opening celebration is planned for the station.
These are plans. Every date on the list came from the owners before the work was done. As of October 12, we haven't found any reporting or statement from the business confirming that the pumps came back on October 1. The latest coverage we found was a July 16 Palm Beach Post roundup, which said the station would be closed "until at least October." It also said residents, workers and household staff were crossing the bridges to fill up in the meantime. If you're planning a fill-up on the island this week, call ahead.
Why two of these dates move together
The order makes more sense once you know who owns the buildings. A Delaware company named for the station's address bought the station for $11.94 million in March 2025. The Palm Beach Daily News reported that the company is managed by Armata Holdings Management Corp., which is controlled by real estate investor Alex Griswold. A separate Griswold-controlled entity, 336 S County LLC, then paid a recorded $9.5 million for the building immediately to the north. That's the longtime home of C. Orrico, and the deed was recorded June 5.
That puts more than $21 million in recorded purchases behind two neighboring storefronts across from Town Hall. One ownership group is now behind both of the block's renovation clocks. C. Orrico closed first, at the end of May. The station followed on June 28. Both were set to come back in the fall.
Griswold described the project to the Palm Beach Daily News as preservation:
"When you grow up in a place like Palm Beach, you feel a deep sense of obligation to protect what makes it special."
He also told the paper he grew up filling his bike tires at the station and buying candy bars there after school. He had previously told the Town Council that the purchase happened after he and a larger group of residents pooled money when the station was rumored to be for sale.
What comes back at 340, and what changes
For decades the station was Gray's Sunoco. When it reopens it will be called Palm Petrol, and it will keep the full-service pumping the Palm Beach Daily News describes as a rarity in Florida. The building opened in 1956, and the renovation brings back that era's look:
- The Mediterranean-style "S-type" roof tiles come off, and a flat roof goes on to match the original.
- The exterior is painted white, with some sections in white porcelain tile and green-and-white detailing.
- One of the four garage stalls becomes retail space, which adds 1,094 square feet to the convenience store.
- The other three stalls get paneled-glass doors to match the store's new windows.
Losing one stall means a slightly smaller vehicle-service operation, but Griswold said the services themselves stay the same. That covers tire nail removal, oil changes and diagnostics, which is why the November 1 date matters to anyone who has been taking a car off the island for small repairs.
The December 1 store will carry the usual candy, snacks and drinks. Griswold said it will also stock a curated selection of gifts, baked goods, wines and specialty items, with a focus on goods from long-established local purveyors. So the last phase changes the station the most. In December it becomes a place to pick up a bottle or a gift on the way home.
C. Orrico returns smaller, at the same address
The phased schedule at 340 belongs to the station. The retailer next door has its own timeline. Co-owner Kathie Orrico told the Palm Beach Post in early June that she expected the Palm Beach shop to come back in November in a smaller space. The store's own location page still lists the same month. It doesn't give a specific day.
So November is the busiest month on this block. If both owners hold to their stated plans, the shop reopens and the station's service bays come back that month, with a fuel restart already scheduled ahead of them. With the station and the shop back, the block has its daytime businesses again.
The evening piece at 380 S. County Road is still a plan
The block's third change is the furthest from finished, and it's also the biggest change to what the block does. The two-story building at 380 S. County Road, the former home of Le Bar a Vin, is proposed to become "George x Avenue 31." It would be a Mediterranean-theme restaurant with a nightclub component near Worth Avenue.
The Palm Beach Post reported on October 7 that the Town Council voted 4–1 to approve a second-floor seating expansion. The approval came with two conditions. The upstairs needs at least 24 seats, and the operators need to sign a declaration-of-use agreement covering day-to-day matters including hours and traffic mitigation. No date has been set to discuss that agreement. In other words, the rules that matter most to the neighbors, such as closing time and how traffic is handled, haven't been written yet.
The project's partner is restaurateur Stefano Frittella, a co-founder of Avenue 31 and a stakeholder in Bice, the Worth Avenue restaurant. The project's website says "Opening 2026" and "coming soon," with no month or day. The Post described the plan as early-stage on October 7, so it's safer to treat that date as a hope than as a reservation.
Taken together, the everyday services are the ones with dates attached: fuel scheduled for October, then car service and the shop in November, then the expanded store in December. The evening venue at 380 has no announced date at all. A use agreement on hours and traffic still stands between it and an opening night.
Getting there in the meantime
The block's renovations aren't the only work on this street right now. On October 10, the Town of Palm Beach posted a traffic bulletin listing lane closures and flaggers on South County Road, plus work on stretches of South Ocean Boulevard and other island streets. The same bulletin listed sewer lining at Sloan's Curve on A1A on October 12 and 15. If you're timing an errand to the station or a stop at the shop once it reopens, check the Town's weekly bulletin first. It's the quickest way to know whether you'll be waiting at a flagger in Midtown.
There are four milestones still ahead. November 1 is the station's service bays. November is also C. Orrico's month, though no day has been posted. December 1 is Palm Petrol's new store. In June, Griswold told the Palm Beach Daily News that he expected the renovation to be done by the end of the year, with a grand opening celebration slated for January.
Phased reopenings like this one, with a fixed sequence, set start dates and a historic exterior to bring back, are the kind of project Triple Crown Group manages for owners across Palm Beach. If you're planning a renovation on the island and want the schedule and scope set out clearly before work starts, we'd be glad to talk it through. Schedule a Consultation: Start Your Property Journey.
