This is a two-part feature. Part 2 will be posted next week on May 24, 2022.
As Americans leave the memory of quarantines behind them, they now have a thirst for social camaraderie when dining out. Today’s consumers also want to continue dabbling in all varieties of food tastes available that encompass all types of ethnic representations. This openness to different food flavors stems from a reliance, during the restaurant lockdown era, on home delivery apps that made ordering new, unique food options easy and fun. When combining a love of gathering together with a love of eating and drinking from a wide variety of establishments, the modern-day food hall is ready to serve the needs of today’s customer. This configuration is perfect for up-and-coming food tenants who are testing out expansion and want to promote their brand without a large restaurant lease commitment.
This food hall concept trend is especially strong in repurposed urban landmark buildings that have been underutilized, and many of these modern food halls will be combined with other retail tenants, especially in the entertainment and service segments. Downtown environments undergoing revitalization efforts are especially sought after for these food halls, and all demographics are targeted, from the lunch office worker to the millennial or empty nester who occupies the neighboring multifamily properties to the family and tourist segment visiting the destination for the day or evening. Food hall projects currently in the works, in varying stages of completion, include the Miramar Food Hall in San Clemente, Calif., the Mosaic at Eastern Market in Detroit, the One Union Station food hall in Providence, R.I., the Privi in Atlanta, the Sanctuary Food Hall in Columbia, S.C., and the food hall in the former Kress department store in El Paso, Texas.
The Miramar Food Hall in San Clemente, developed by Landmark Food Halls in conjunction with restaurateur and site owner, James Markham, is expected to be completed by this summer. It encompasses the rebuild of the former 5,200-s.f. San Clemente Bowling Alley, originally constructed in 1946. The property is in the North Beach neighborhood, which was designated as a national historic district in January of 2021. The food hall will include an outdoor patio area and rooftop seating with ocean views and will specifically house 15 food and beverage tenants that are locally known and specific to the greater Southern California community. Brands already signed on include Rolled Up, El Cacho Fish Taco Stand, The Paleta Bar, Crepes Avenue, Cosmos Burgers, The Plant Stand, ZebraHouse Coffee, Slurp Thai, Gelati and Peccati, Beachside Mediterranean and FB Nashville Hot Chicken. The food hall will also feature special events such as art exhibits and live musical performances. The former bowling alley was built as an addition to another landmark building, the two-story 7,836-s.f. Miramar Theater that was originally erected in 1938 in the Spanish colonial style. The theater will be repurposed into a concert hall/events venue, tentatively called the Miramar Event Center, expected to open by late 2022/early 2023. The developers are anticipating that the food hall and event center will be a great draw for the community and will fit in nicely with other restaurant/bar tenants in the vicinity.
The Mosiac at Eastern Market is a mixed-use redevelopment project of the former 105,000-s.f. Water and Sewerage Department building in Detroit, originally constructed in 1945. The redevelopment will feature a 25,000-s.f. food hall with an additional 10,000-s.f. courtyard area, as well as a 4,000-s.f. rooftop bar with a roughly 2,500-s.f. covered patio section. Set to open in 2023, the food hall will have 34 different food and beverage vendors, consisting of beloved Detroit-based owner-operated mom-and-pop brands. Robert Montwaid, the developer overseeing the food hall portion of the redevelopment project in conjunction with Halcor Developers and Ventra Group, has previously created similar food hall concepts in both Atlanta and New York City. This food hall will have seating to accommodate approximately 500-plus guests and will include a large screen to view special events, plus complimentary WiFi and live music entertainment.
The location is in an industrial area that is beginning to gentrify, which should benefit from the 2 million annual visitors who attend the open-air public farmer’s market, located two blocks away from the site. The building is also near a DYNO Detroit rock climbing venue, close to the Detroit Medical Center and will be in the vicinity of the upcoming iHeartMedia Inc. studio offices. The site also abuts the Dequindre Cut, a two-mile long paved pedestrian/bicycle path that leads to the Detroit River. By 2024, Mosaic expects to also have additional family friendly retail tenants, such as immersive gaming concepts and arcade brands, as well as office tenants.
One Union Station in downtown Providence, a non-operating train station originally built in 1848 and enlarged in 1898, will feature a food hall that will take up 19,000 s.f. of the ground-floor space, with 11,000 s.f. for an outdoor garden plaza area. Completion is expected by May 2023. The city of Providence’s Capital Center Commission approved the development plans in April, and this will be the first food hall in the state of Rhode Island. Marsella Development Corporation, in partnership with MK Global Hospitality Group, expects to have about 13 local food vendors and two different bar brands that will take up the space previously occupied by the Bar Louie and The Capital Grille restaurants. One additional separate restaurant will also occupy space. The new tenants are expected to better reflect the tastes of the various cultural ethnicities within the greater Rhode Island area.
Check back next week for part 2 of this feature!
