For years, "downtown Ocala" meant the Square. If you were meeting friends for dinner, you parked near Magnolia, walked past the Marion Theatre, and picked from the same handful of rooms. That map is out of date. The Square is still the Square, but between the Midtown District waking up and a new food and entertainment complex opening its doors this summer, the walkable core of the city now extends a few blocks north on First Avenue. This fall is the first calendar where the two districts function as one loop, and the practical question for anyone who already lives here is which pieces are actually open, which are still under construction, and how to string a Saturday together without driving twice.
What actually opened at 343 NE 1st Avenue
The Forge is the biggest single change to the near-downtown food scene in years. Located at 343 NE First Ave., The Forge is currently open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The food and entertainment destination occupies the former WMOP property, a nearly 3-acre site that has been redeveloped into a gathering place featuring multiple restaurants, bars and community event space. The Forge has officially entered its soft opening phase, with six restaurant concepts now open and additional businesses planned in the coming weeks and months.
Here is what is actually serving food and drinks right now, and what to expect from each:
- Ignite — An Asian-fusion restaurant featuring sushi and contemporary dishes.
- The Blind Eye — A two-story 1920s speakeasy pouring Southern-inspired plates and whiskey.
- The Hammock — A Mediterranean-style tapas bar emphasizing shareable plates.
- Parting Lines Pizza — a casual counter concept in the current tenant lineup.
- Just Desserts — Where indulgence meets creativity! Our boutique offers a delightful range of premium desserts, shakes, ice cream, alongside healthy options and energizing drinks.
- The sixth counter rounds out the current six.
Two more are worth putting on your radar rather than your dinner plan. Management said additional concepts are planned in the coming weeks, including a Colombian coffee shop and a healthy bowl restaurant, with the on-site brewery expected to open in October. That brewery timing lines up with the front half of the fall calendar, which is the piece most residents have not clocked yet.
One detail that changes how the property actually feels once you are inside it: one of the site's standout features is a special liquor license that will allow patrons to carry alcoholic beverages throughout the property, a rarity in the Ocala area. The developers have emphasized that the campus-style layout is designed to encourage exploration between venues without interrupting the guest experience.
The building it replaces, and the neighbor it now has
If you have driven past that block for years and never registered it, the site has history. A new major dining and entertainment destination called The Forge is slated to open this winter in Ocala's Midtown District, transforming the former WMOP radio building into a multi-venue community hub. The redevelopment preserved the shell and dropped a 46,775-square-foot food and event complex inside.
It is also not alone on that stretch. When The Forge opens its doors, it will be situated just a couple of blocks away from Midtown Station, a similar dining concept that opened in late 2024. Two food destinations within a two-block walk is a genuinely new pattern for Ocala north of the Square. Add the Paddock Market, celebrating the opening of its new artisan market at the site of the former Sears in Paddock Mall, and there are three separate multi-vendor food or retail concepts that did not exist here five years ago.
The other new address worth knowing
Not everything new is downtown. On the SW College Road corridor, Sushi Feast recently opened its doors at 3500 SW College Road, Suite 400, following an extensive renovation of the former site of Yummy House. The restaurant runs an all-you-can-eat model, and the significance for locals is less about that one room and more about what has stacked up around it. Sushi Feast joins a growing number of Japanese dining options that have opened in Ocala recently. Over the past year, Samurai Hibachi and Ramen opened at 2606 SW 19th Avenue Road and Koto Japanese Steakhouse opened at 3811 SW College Road. Three Japanese-forward openings within a mile of each other in roughly a year is a pattern, not a coincidence.
The fall calendar between now and Halloween
Downtown programming leans heavy this fall. If you plan around one weekend, plan around the last one in October. Here is the short list worth writing down:
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2 | First Friday Art Walk, 6:00–9:00 p.m. | Downtown Ocala |
| Oct 9 | Sunset Songs Series, 7:00–9:00 p.m. | Downtown Ocala |
| Oct 24–25 | The 59th annual Ocala Arts Festival takes place October 24-25, 2026 in downtown Ocala, Florida. | Downtown Square |
FAFO is the anchor. Fine Arts for Ocala hosts the 59th Annual Ocala Arts Festival in the downtown historic district, presenting artworks from over 150 national artists. The scale matters when you are deciding whether to walk from home or Uber in: the 59th annual Ocala Arts Festival takes place October 24-25, 2026 in downtown Ocala, Florida. This two-day festival draws over 30,000 visitors. That is a significant fraction of the county on a two-block footprint. Park early or park north.
The construction you'll route around
If you have not been down Silver Springs Boulevard in a few weeks, the streetscape has shifted. A new parking garage will be underway, providing parking for the new AC Hotel and additional parking spaces for convenient downtown Ocala access. The garage will be taking the place of the now-demolished Mt. Moriah Baptist Church at 55 SW 3rd Ave. The garage is expected to open in the summer of 2026.
The hotel it feeds is on a longer timeline. Accompanying the forthcoming parking garage in downtown Ocala is the new AC hotel currently under construction in downtown Ocala. The hotel will provide more space for visitors to comfortably stay in the area with an addition of over 150 rooms at 210 W Silver Springs Blvd. The hotel is slated to open in late 2026. Two practical takeaways for residents: parking supply near the Square is going up in the same season Forge traffic is ramping, and by the time FAFO weekend arrives, the block around 3rd Avenue may still be an active site rather than a clean walkway.
A locals' Saturday, retooled for the new footprint
The old default was park at the Square, eat on the Square, walk to the Marion Theatre, drive home. Here is a version that uses what has actually changed.
- Late afternoon on the Square. Start at Citizens' Circle or the historic block on Magnolia. If it is a First Friday, the Art Walk pulls the sidewalks into the street after six.
- Walk First Avenue north. Three blocks. This is the walk that did not exist as an evening loop two years ago. The Forge is located at 343 NE First Ave, Ocala FL 34470, just 3 blocks North of the Square on First Avenue.
- Pick a room at The Forge, not a restaurant. Because of the campus liquor license, you can grab a cocktail at The Blind Eye and eat tapas at The Hammock without closing a tab twice. Treat the whole complex as one room.
- Detour to Midtown Station if the Forge is packed. It is a two-block walk, and it opened for exactly this kind of overflow night.
- End at Reilly Arts Center or Circle Square Cultural Center if there is a show. The World Equestrian Center hosts weekly hunter/jumper competitions, grand prix events, and dressage shows. Ocala's live music scene has grown significantly in recent years. The Reilly Arts Center in downtown Ocala hosts intimate concerts ranging from acoustic sets and jazz to national touring acts.
Why the shift matters if you already live here
If you own a home within a fifteen-minute drive of downtown, the practical value of that address just went up in a way that is not showing up on any listing description yet. A walkable evening loop is a different amenity than a single restaurant. It is what people mean when they say a downtown "works." Two years ago, the honest answer for a Friday night in Ocala was the Square or the World Equestrian Center. This fall, the honest answer is the Square, Midtown, WEC, or a rotating set of shows at Reilly and Circle Square. Four options is not four times better than one. It is a different city.
The Forge is the visible piece. The quieter piece is the pattern underneath it: a former radio building, a former Sears, a former Chinese restaurant on College Road, a demolished church footprint about to be a parking garage. Ocala is not adding new buildings on empty lots. It is reusing the ones that were already here, which is what growth looks like in a place that residents actually recognize when they drive home.
If you have been thinking about what your home is worth in a market where the downtown story is genuinely changing, or you know someone weighing a move from a farther-out corner of Marion County into a shorter commute, Sanchez Homes is happy to talk through what the last few months of sales in your specific pocket of Ocala have actually looked like. Start with a free home valuation and we will take it from there.
