"With the opening of Lucchese later this year, the project will be fully built out." First Street Napa's leadership said this in a Q&A the City of Napa posted on July 29, 2026, and added that the center was already more than 90% occupied.
For anyone who remembers the years when the 1300 block of First Street was a construction site, that sentence closes a long chapter. It also changes which part of downtown is still in progress. The center has filled up. The block around it has not. Across First and Main, two seven-story buildings now stand. A few doors down, the county-owned Carithers building is waiting for a buyer. Over the next year, the downtown that residents walk through will change most in the gaps between these projects.
The Year the Suites Filled
The 2026 openings came in a steady sequence, most of them before the summer was out. The City's July Q&A gives the lineup and the timing.
| Business | Location | Opened | Who is behind it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Napa Fragrance | 1252 First St., under the Archer Hotel | February | Jean-Charles Boisset and Ashley Pengilly |
| Flora Springs Wine Lounge | 1142 First St., the historic Gordon Building | February | Reimagined by Gina Gallo-Boisset and Jean-Charles Boisset |
| Hopscotch & Bark | Suite 335 | June | Local owner Susan Melendez of The Bennington Napa Valley |
| Don Perico Mexican Restaurant & Bar | Suite 201 | Late June soft opening, official reopening July 15 | Marco and Berenice Castañeda |
| Nude Medical Aesthetics | Suite 252 | Early July | Non-surgical aesthetics practice |
| BACI | Suite 221 | Mid- to late July | Architect Taylor Silleman |
| Lucchese Bootmaker | Suite 202 | Slated for fall 2026 | Texas bootmaker founded in 1883 |
Most of these names have roots nearby. Melendez already owned The Bennington. She based Hopscotch & Bark, a boutique for children and their dogs, on an idea from her sister, who is a veterinarian. Silleman runs BACI as a home and design studio "for the sentimentalist." It is a sister brand to Tay & Grace, the boutique her mother founded. Napa Fragrance builds its scents around the regions of Napa Valley, and it runs blending sessions where guests make their own. Flora Springs serves its wines alongside a menu of wine-based cocktails, in a room designed around the four seasons.
Don Perico Moves Downtown
Don Perico may be the opening longtime residents care about most. The center's leadership called it "a longtime Napa favorite known just as much for its heart as for its food," with owners "who are there every day." It reopened after a 10-month break. The Napa Valley Register reported that the new menu at Suite 201 adds aguachiles, birria tacos and more plant-based dishes. The City described a late-June opening and the Register reported an official reopening on July 15, which suggests a soft opening came before the formal date.
The center's management was open about why it wanted the restaurant. They said they expect Don Perico to "bring even more locals into First Street Napa." That fits the rest of the year's tenants. The center already offered hands-on activities, including candle making at Bougie, custom lipstick at Lip Lab, kids' terrarium workshops at Riza Plants and live music at Tonewood & Courage. The 2026 openings added more of the same kind of thing: a restaurant locals already knew, a shop for kids and dogs, a design studio and a fragrance bar where you make something yourself.
Lucchese Takes the Last Suite
Lucchese will fill the last suite. It will be the company's first and only store in California. The center's leadership pointed to the brand's existing ties to Napa through Live in the Vineyard and several local wineries, and said Lucchese is already looking at hosting events along the pedestrian pathway and Artist Alley. The center's directory, last updated in early September, still listed Suite 202 as "Opening Fall 2026." Treat the store as coming soon until the doors open.
The Walkway Gets an Upgrade
Once a center is fully leased, the work shifts from finding tenants to improving the space between the shops. Management said it was "in the final stages" of choosing new furniture for the pedestrian pathway. The plan calls for seating for outdoor lunches and community gatherings, better lighting and more greenery along the "artist alley" path and around the fire pit. The same Q&A lists recurring community events, including makers markets, Toys for Tots, pet adoptions and dine-and-donate fundraisers.
This matters because of what is happening next door. The walkway will soon connect to a larger network of pedestrian space being built across the street.
Across the Street, Phase II Rises
Phase II of First Street Napa sits at the corner of First and Main. It has two seven-story buildings: a 161-room hotel with a restaurant, retail, a spa, a pool and ballroom space, and a 78-unit residential building with ground-floor retail. The project is estimated to cost $300 million. Both buildings topped out in May, and crews have been closing in the exteriors with glass, stone and metal. Kameron Klotz of developer 300 Venture Group put construction at about 40% complete in the Register's latest progress report. He expects the project to open "as soon as early summer 2027." He also said a new name for Phase II will be announced, though none had been made public as of the sources available.
The building will be Napa's tallest commercial structure. Klotz said its seventh floor will give visitors a view of downtown "few people have ever experienced," and he called it "the best advertising for downtown Napa there is."
Residents will feel the changes at street level more than the height. The project's approval report calls for these public improvements:
- Rebuilding the Brown Street corridor as a pedestrian walkway with landscaping and public art
- A new mid-block crossing on Main Street
- Improvements to the 9/11 Memorial Garden
In a January 2026 update, the City described the Brown Street paseo as publicly accessible. The same update warned of temporary street closures while heavy foundation work was underway. No artist or installation schedule for the public art has been announced yet.
Carithers Is the Open Question
Directly across from Phase II stands the former Carithers department store at 1127 First St. On June 16, 2026, Napa County supervisors voted unanimously to declare it surplus property, which is a required step before any sale. The Register reported a $10 million minimum price and said the county had received no formal purchase requests or offers at that point. Local developer Jim Keller has described a half-block idea that would combine his adjacent parcel, the Carithers building and the city-owned Second Street garage. The Register's report did not describe it as a formal bid.
Klotz has said publicly that he hopes to see the site move forward. "We'd love to see more progress, however that comes," he told the Register. Until a buyer emerges, Carithers is the largest unanswered question on this part of First Street.
Dates on This Stretch Before Year's End
- Saturday, October 3, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Makers Market's fall Local Artist Fair at First Street Napa, 1300 First St. It is free, open to kids and pets, and expects more than 25 local and Bay Area makers.
- Thursday, October 15, 5 to 7 p.m. The Downtown Napa Association's Shop, Sip & Stroll. Pick up wristbands at Filippi's, then walk the Oxbow District stretch of First Street.
- Saturday, November 7, 3 to 8 p.m. Napa's Día de los Muertos celebration at Veterans Park and Brown Street, the same street whose corridor Phase II plans to rebuild. The program focuses on art, tradition, music, dance and food.
Lucchese is expected to open at some point during these weeks. It will be the last suite to fill at 1300 First St. before work across the street takes over the story.
New openings like these, along with what eventually happens to Carithers, will shape how the blocks around First and Main feel to live near. If you own a home within walking distance of downtown and want to know how these changes affect its value, Caroline Sebastiani offers a private, no-cost home valuation.
