Juno Beach's Four Corners Is Getting a New Morning-to-Night Corner

At the light where Donald Ross Road meets U.S. 1, the southeast corner looks the way it has for years. The Fish House sits beside the 108-room Holiday Inn Express, a former Howard Johnson, about a block from the ocean. The northwest corner looks nothing like it used to. Caretta, a four-story residential building, has been going up there and now towers over the intersection.

Most of what's new for daily life at the Four Corners will come from that one building. A coffee roaster, a fitness studio and the first U.S. restaurant from one of Europe's best-known Italian restaurant groups have all signed leases on Caretta's ground floor. The new owner of the land across the street has said he plans to leave things as they are. For anyone who already runs errands at this intersection, that means coffee, a workout and dinner will soon happen at the same corner.

Seventeen Thousand Square Feet on the Northwest Corner

In February, Bisnow reported that JDL Development had signed three retail tenants for 17,000 square feet on Caretta's ground floor. Here is how that space breaks down:

Coffee, fitness and dinner will share one ground floor. The restaurant is the largest of the three by a wide margin, at about 1.6 times the coffee roaster's space.

The Restaurant Taking the Anchor Space

Business Debut reported in June that the restaurant will be at 1011 US Highway 1, Unit C101. It is a coastal Italian concept from Big Mamma, founded by Tigrane Seydoux and Victor Lugger, and Chicago-based Ballyhoo Hospitality, led by CEO Ryan O'Donnell and partner Jon Farrer. O'Donnell told the outlet the space will cover about 7,500 square feet, with around 180 seats inside and roughly 100 to 120 more outside. That works out to somewhere between 280 and 300 seats at one address on the Four Corners.

Big Mamma's May announcement described the group behind Pink Mamma in Paris, Carlotta in London and Gloria Osteria in Milan. It was founded in 2013 and has 35 locations in 9 countries and nearly 3,000 team members. In 2018 it became the first restaurant group in Europe to be certified as a B Corp. The same announcement says the group cooks with ingredients from more than 200 artisanal producers in Italy, makes its pasta fresh on-site and serves its own Italian gelato.

The Juno Beach menu will focus on the coast. O'Donnell told Business Debut it will feature seaside-inspired dishes built on local seafood, vegetables and fruit. He also said "the majority of the food and the identity of the food is going to be Big Mamma for sure," adapted to the local market. To get to know the brand, he visited 14 Big Mamma restaurants in three or four days.

According to Business Debut, Ballyhoo got the anchor space through developer Jim Letchinger of JDL. Ballyhoo first planned a different restaurant there and changed course once its relationship with Big Mamma developed. Seydoux described the deal as a 50/50 partnership and called it "really a wedding."

Why a Paris Group Started in a Town This Size

Big Mamma is best known for restaurants in Paris, London and Milan. Its first U.S. restaurant is going into a beach town on the northern edge of Palm Beach County. In Florida Weekly, Seydoux traced the choice to people. An early meeting with Carmine Giardini introduced the group to Palm Beach County, and his connections with Giardini, O'Donnell and Farrer made Juno Beach feel right. He also named the town's neighborhood character, its closeness to the ocean and its access to local seafood.

Giardini's part matters locally. The May announcement describes Carmine's Gourmet Market & La Trattoria as a Palm Beach institution with more than 38 years of history in Italian food, and names it as the restaurant's local foundation. Seydoux has also moved his family to South Florida for the launch. That's the same approach the group took in Madrid and London. "It's just move where you want to open," he told Business Debut, adding that the group visits nearby restaurants and talks with local people before opening.

Across U.S. 1, a New Landlord Who Plans to Leave Things Alone

The southeast corner changed hands in 2025, though not in a way diners would see. Stet News reported that companies led by Josh Simon, a former owner of Abacoa Town Center, paid $13.5 million in May for the Holiday Inn Express property and $2.6 million in October for The Fish House property. Together that's 4.5 acres on the southeast corner. Simon told Stet he has no plans to redevelop and is happy to let the hotel and restaurant keep operating. "Just investing," he said. "Boring stuff."

After the story ran, The Fish House owner Teo Mendez Lynch asked Stet to tell readers the restaurant is not closing. The landlord is new, but he is making improvements and plans to stay. WPTV updated its coverage to clarify the same point. The land was sold, and both businesses still operate under their current owners.

So the intersection is set up unevenly for now. The northwest corner is adding three new businesses at once, and the southeast corner is staying as it is. Once the restaurant opens, someone heading to dinner at the Four Corners may cross U.S. 1 to choose between a long-standing seafood spot and a 300-seat Italian newcomer.

What the Town Is Still Working Out

The intersection is also at the center of Juno Beach's master planning. Stet reported in January that the town, "still stung by criticism of Caretta," was concerned that its zoning code gives owners of older commercial centers a reason to convert to housing. Town rules allow commercial property to be up to 75% residential as long as 25% stays commercial. At an Aug. 6 workshop, Dana Little, the master plan consultant from the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, told town officials:

"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."

That's the backdrop for Caretta's ground floor. The commercial part of a residential building is the part the rest of town will actually walk into. On this corner, that means a coffee roaster's first Florida shop, a fitness studio and a restaurant with close to 300 seats. Stet's map from the master plan presentation numbers the properties around the Four Corners that are zoned commercial, which allows residential development. Simon owns two of them. Those planning decisions will shape what eventually sits next to Caretta and across from it.

When the Lights Come On

Big Mamma first announced the opening for late 2026. Here's the status of each piece as of this week:

• The restaurant's name. Bisnow's February lease report called it Giacomo by Big Mamma Group, but June coverage called it yet to be named, and Seydoux said the name, menu and design would be announced closer to opening.
• The opening date. None has been announced. Big Mamma's Florida page lists Juno Beach as "Coming soon."
• Hiring. An opening-team Manager job for Juno Beach was posted in August, and the group's jobs page also lists Assistant General Manager, Sous Chef and Pastry Lead roles.
• The building. Caretta's own site still says it is under construction.
• The last retail space. About 5,000 square feet on the ground floor has no announced tenant.

Once the coffee roaster, the fitness studio and the restaurant open on the northwest corner, one building at the Four Corners will hold coffee, a workout and dinner. The Fish House and the Holiday Inn Express will still be running across the street.

If you own near U.S. 1 and Donald Ross and want to talk through what the Four Corners changes mean for your street, from Caretta's ground floor to the master plan still in progress, IJL Real Estate Group follows this intersection closely, and Ivy is glad to share what she's seeing. Book an Appointment.