The surface parking at the northeast corner of Atlantic Boulevard and A1A has closed. It held about 230 spaces across a paved lot and an unpaved one. Those spaces are now set aside for the W Pompano Beach Hotel & Residences, a 24-story tower from Related Group and BH Group with Marriott International as the hospitality partner. The Pompano Beach Insider wrote on October 5 that beach parking "has been tighter since the W Hotel lot closed."
Losing the closest lot reads like a price increase for a beach afternoon. Under the city's current parking code, though, that corner was the most expensive hourly parking at the beach. The cheaper rate tier was always a short distance away, and the city now runs a free shuttle on the busiest days. Parking at the pier is harder to find than it was in the summer, but for a resident who adjusts, it doesn't have to cost more.
The corner was always the premium tier
Pompano Beach sorts its parking into rate zones. The beach lot and the grassy lot at Atlantic and A1A were Zone 3, alongside the meters on Atlantic Boulevard between A1A and Pompano Beach Boulevard, the east side of Pompano Beach Boulevard, and Seabreeze Way and Pier Street. Zone 3 costs $2.50 an hour on weekdays, $3.25 on weekends, and $4 on holidays and event days.
A short way up North Ocean Drive, the rate drops. The Oceanside Parking Lot at 109 North Ocean Drive and the Wells Fargo Bank lot at 199 North Ocean Drive are both Zone 1. Zone 1 charges $1.80 an hour on weekdays, $2.15 on weekends, and $2.50 on holidays. So the holiday rate at Oceanside is what the closed corner charged on an ordinary Tuesday.
The rates below come from the version of the city code labeled current for 2026.
| Location | Weekday | Weekend | Holiday/Event | Resident 20% app discount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic & A1A beach lots, now closed | $2.50/hr | $3.25/hr | $4.00/hr | Pay station listed |
| Atlantic Blvd, Pompano Beach Blvd east side, Seabreeze Way | $2.50/hr | $3.25/hr | $4.00/hr | Varies by location |
| Pier Garage | $1.80/hr | $2.50/hr | $3.25/hr | No |
| Oceanside Lot, 109 N. Ocean Dr. | $1.80/hr | $2.15/hr | $2.50/hr | Yes |
| Wells Fargo lot, 199 N. Ocean Dr. | $1.80/hr | $2.15/hr | $2.50/hr | Yes |
The garage is cheaper per hour, but residents get no discount there
The Pier Garage is the obvious fallback. The city's CRA says it added 609 spaces to the beachfront. Floors two through four are self-park and the first floor is valet. Hourly rates match the cheaper tier on weekdays and run a little higher on weekends. The code also lists flat rates of $10 to $15 on weekdays, $15 to $20 on weekends, and $20 to $25 on holidays and event days. A lost or unreadable ticket is charged the $15 all-day rate.
The table's last column matters most for residents. Pompano Beach residents who register their license plates can get 20% off hourly parking anywhere in the city they pay through the app, and the code makes one exception, the Pier Garage.
Apply the discount to a weekend afternoon:
- Oceanside Lot: $2.15 an hour becomes about $1.72
- Pier Garage: $2.50 an hour, with no discount
- The closed corner lot: $3.25 an hour at its pay station
A registered resident parking three hours at Oceanside on a Saturday pays about $5.16. The same three hours in the garage cost $7.50, and the old corner lot charged $9.75 at the listed rate. The garage is the closest structure to the sand, but for a registered resident it is no longer the cheapest place to park near the pier.
The garage does have one dedicated discount. Anglers buying an all-day fishing pass at the pier can add a $5 all-day prepaid parking pass with it. The bait shop at the entrance to the Fisher Family Pier sells bait, gear, and snacks.
On weekends, you can skip beach parking entirely
The city's other answer to the closure is a ride. Starting Friday, October 2, Pompano Beach expanded its free Ride Circuit service with a Fishing Village Shuttle. It is on-demand, not fixed-route, and runs Friday through Sunday and on holidays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
It works in one of two ways, depending on where you start.
- Inside the new service area. It's shown in green on the city's Pompano Circuit map. Riders can request a pickup at a home or business and go straight to the Fisher Family Pier and beach, then back.
- Outside it. Park free at City Hall, 100 W. Atlantic Boulevard, or at the Old Town lot at NE 2nd Street and NE 2nd Avenue, then request a direct ride to the beach.
The city describes the green zone on the map, not by street, so check the map before assuming your address qualifies. The shuttle only runs trips to and from the pier and beach. It doesn't carry riders between stops inside the expanded area.
The fleet is three vehicles, seating five, six, and 15 passengers. Wheelchair-accessible service is available, and the vehicles take beach chairs, bags, and coolers. Requests go through the Ride Circuit app. The original Circuit keeps running in its blue zone, which covers the beachfront, the Fishing Village, Harbor Village, and the beach hotels. Its hours are Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
A Friday night under the new setup
Music Under the Stars is the best test of the new pattern. The city's free concert series on the Great Lawn, at Atlantic Boulevard and Pompano Beach Boulevard, came back for fall on October 9. The next dates are November 13 with the Laura Goodstone Band and December 18 with Happy Daze. The concerts run 7 to 9 p.m. According to the Insider, the city has closed the intersection of Pompano Beach Boulevard and East Atlantic Boulevard during past shows.
The same Insider piece suggested a plan that uses the shuttle well. Park at the Old Town lot, eat dinner in Old Town first, ride to the lawn, and ride back after the last song, so the car only moves once. Both concerts fall on Fridays, inside the shuttle's 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. window, so a ride back after a 9 p.m. finish still fits.
For dinner at the water, the Fishing Village roster stays the same: Beach House Pompano, Oceanic, Lucky Fish, Baresco, Alvin's Island, BurgerFi, Kilwins, and How You Brewin Coffee Company, next to the dual-branded Tru and Home2 Suites by Hilton. On a weeknight, when the shuttle isn't running, the cheaper North Ocean Drive lots are the way to keep the evening at the $1.80 weekday rate.
When the tower opens, the corner will have fewer public spaces
This setup won't last forever, but the corner won't come back as it was. A W spokesperson told the New Pelican that the project will include 145 public parking spaces on the ground level of its garage. That's about 85 fewer than the roughly 230 the two surface lots held. The paper also reported that the site is owned by the developer, which had let the city use it for public parking.
The timeline is still a projection. In March 2026, the Sun Sentinel estimated groundbreaking for October 2026. Its August 2025 report put the opening in 2029. Until then, every weekend at the pier works the way it does now. There are fewer spaces in the premium zone, the cheaper lots are on North Ocean Drive, the garage charges residents full price, and a free shuttle runs from City Hall and Old Town on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.
The W is one of several projects changing the Atlantic Boulevard beachfront, and each one affects the parking and the blocks around the Fishing Village. If you live near the pier and want to know what the construction years could mean for your street or your building, Tim Singer and our team follow these projects closely and are glad to walk you through what we're seeing.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.