A roadside sign on South Dixie Highway used to advertise Nickee's Automotive Center. It now advertises the SoSo District. Farther along the corridor, the building at 5710 S. Dixie Hwy. used to be South Palm Realty. Chelsea Viau bought it for $1.5 million in October 2022 and turned it into the studio for Chelsea Lane. Korinne Belock opened Palm Beach Regency at the same address in April 2023.
That one address now sets most of the calendar for the commercial strip south of Southern Boulevard. Wallpaper, fabric and furniture showrooms arrived first and organized themselves. The cafés and restaurants are coming in behind them. You can see that order in this fall's events.
One Address, One Nonprofit, Six Miles of Road
The owners of Chelsea Lane and Palm Beach Regency founded the SoSo Design District, and it is set up as a 501(c)(3). On the district's own site, its "SoSo" starts south of Southern Boulevard and runs six miles along South Dixie Highway and Georgia Avenue. That stretches well past the residential SoSo blocks between Flagler Drive and Dixie. Palm Beach Illustrated puts the district's reach at Southern Boulevard south to just past Forest Hill Boulevard. The magazine says the founders modeled it on the Miami Design District and similar concepts. The Palm Beach Post reported the district taking shape in September 2025.
The two founding businesses explain why the district leans toward design. Palm Beach Illustrated calls Chelsea Lane & Co. home to the largest wallpaper and fabric library in Palm Beach County, with a trade program for designers and a boutique for homeowners. Palm Beach Regency mixes Hollywood Regency style with Old Florida. The magazine reports that Belock's team sources almost 100 new pieces a week, backed by a 5,000-square-foot warehouse in Lake Park. A showroom that turns over that quickly gives people a reason to keep coming back, and that same logic now drives the district's event schedule.
What the Member Roster Shows
The district's business directory sorts members into four groups. Showrooms and shops far outnumber restaurants.
| Directory category | Members listed | A few of the names |
|---|---|---|
| Design | 14 | Schumacher, Kravet, Meg Braff Designs, Gil Walsh, Danielle Rollins, Patterson Flynn, Portside Luxury |
| Shopping | 16 | Tuke Bazaar, Mrs. Fairfax, Palm Beach Rug Gallery, Eclectic Patina, Victoria Rojas Gallery, City Girl Consignment |
| Lifestyle | 6 | The Factory, The Park, Tutu School, Play Pals, Palm Beach SOS, Moya Photography |
| Dining | 10 | The Blue Door, Mary Lou's, Mr. B's, Earth and Sugar, Field of Greens, Fresh Catch Seafood, Palm Beach Meats |
Thirty of the 46 listed members sell interiors, furnishings, art or retail goods. Ten serve food. For a homeowner, that means fabric, flooring, rugs, a painting crew and a mattress shop are all on one road. Oak Flooring Showroom, Brooks Painting and Schrader Mattress Company are all members. Some of the design names also host a bigger winter event. A photo caption in the Palm Beach Post's district gallery notes that Palm Beach Design Days held two panel discussions at the Meg Braff Designs studio in West Palm Beach.
The Sunset Market Already Has a Track Record
The SoSo Sunset Market is the district's public-facing event, and it isn't new. Event listings show it at Palm Beach Regency, 5710 S. Dixie Hwy., on these dates:
- March 30, 2024, 5 to 8 p.m., with shopping, music and food, per this listing
- November 16, 2024, at Chelsea Lane and Palm Beach Regency, billed as a family-friendly event for artists, makers and local entrepreneurs on TerraCotta House's market page
- May 10, 2025, 5 to 8 p.m., per this listing
- May 9, 2026, with 20-plus local makers and artists, complimentary cocktails, live music and bites, plus a free RSVP, on the South End Neighborhood Association calendar
Every edition listed falls in spring or late fall. The market is hosted by a wallpaper studio and a vintage furniture showroom, which explains why the vendors run toward makers and artists.
The Fall Calendar, Date by Date
The district's events page lists three dates through January. Two of them are hosted by design businesses.
| Date | Event | Where | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026 | Portside Luxury showroom grand opening | 5144 Georgia Ave. | Premium outdoor furniture; RSVP by email to [email protected] |
| Saturday, Nov. 21, 2026 | SoSo Sunset Market | 5710 S. Dixie Hwy. | Local vendors, food, drinks, live music; free with RSVP |
| Jan. 26–29, 2027 | Palm Beach Design Days | District-listed | Proceeds benefit the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach |
The November market is listed as free on Eventbrite, and the RSVP goes through that page. The district's page calls it "golden-hour hangs, tasty drinks, live music, delicious food, fabulous shopping from amazing local vendors." Portside Luxury's opening puts the next event on Georgia Avenue, the district's second road.
Road work will shape the drive to both events. The City of West Palm Beach's Oct. 14 road notice lists Georgia Avenue resurfacing between Forest Hill Boulevard and Dobbins Road. That project has intermittent lane closures through Oct. 31, so it should be finished before Portside opens. The same notice lists intermittent lane closures through December for sanitary-sewer lining on several south-end streets. They are Summa, Linda Lane, Palmetto, Bunker Ranch, Putnam Ranch, Murray, Russlyn and Rilyn, and two-way traffic is to be maintained on all of them.
The Restaurants Are Still Arriving
Food on this stretch has been filling in around the showrooms. The Blue Door opened in late January along what the Palm Beach Post calls the Dixie Corridor. It has a Mediterranean-inspired menu. It is now listed among the district's dining members. Masseria Caffe, a café and bakery, opened its West Palm Beach location in August 2025. The Post describes it as "just across the street from the 'SoSo' district."
Two more openings are scheduled for this season.
Parma Palm Beach, 7170 S. Dixie Hwy. The family behind Joseph's Classic Market is opening Parma as an Italian-inspired, all-day café. The menu includes focaccia, sourdough sandwiches, salads and coffee, according to Palm Beach Now's Sept. 16 roundup. Parma's own site still reads "Opening Fall 2026." When the Palm Beach Post covered Parma in July, the target was September. The opening has since moved to a broader fall window.
Drift Cafe, 4919 S. Dixie Hwy. Drift Cafe from Palm Beach is opening a second location across the bridge on South Dixie. Palm Beach Now also lists it as a fall 2026 opening.
Parma sits at the southern end, near Austintatious Designs at 7106 S. Dixie Hwy. Drift sits closer to Southern Boulevard. When both open, there will be a café at each end of the strip, with Chelsea Lane and Palm Beach Regency in the middle at 5710.
The Sunset Market on Nov. 21 is the easiest way to see the district at its busiest. If you're planning a renovation, the district lists Palm Beach Design Days for Jan. 26 through 29. If you're thinking about how a home south of Southern will look in listing photos, or how to describe this stretch of Dixie to a buyer, LUXE IQ Group follows these openings and can show you where the showrooms are. Get in Touch.
