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Mini Food Halls
The mini food hall is a new trend that only
began to emerge in late 2015. This project is
typically 10,000 sf or less and tends to be
located in freestanding urban locations or on
the ground floor of major urban office,
multifamily or hospitality projects. Tenant
mixes are generally weighted towards
prepared food vendors, although many of
these projects feature a healthy mix of
unprepared food vendors as well.
The real estate model for these projects is
similar to that for food halls as a whole (see
above). Deals are usually shorter term,
although in the case of mini food halls most
of the concepts in our report have leases of
one to three years with subtenants) and,
again, often include common area mainte-
nance charges for communal dining and/or
cooking, preparation, freezer/cooler or
office space.
Emporiums
Not all food emporiums are food halls, but
many larger projects definitely fit the bill.
Dean & DeLuca, for example, has 11 U.S.
locations and since 1977 has been one of
the nation’s premier culinary emporiums.
Their major retail locations typically offer
catering services and many have cafes (eat
in) as well. Our view is that they are more
emblematic of the related, but much
different, “grocerant” trend in the U.S.—the
rise of large, prepared food sections within
grocery stores, particularly more upscale
grocers such as Whole Foods and Bristol
Farms, among others.
However, just as the current food hall
movement owes much of its initial inspira-
tion to Harrods Food Hall in London, the
single purveyor concept of Eataly is what
has helped to jumpstart this movement in
the U.S. and remains a major driver. We
anticipate continued aggressive growth
from players like Eataly, Todd English and
other chef-driven concepts.
The real estate model for these projects is
substantially different than for both
FOOD HALLS OF AMERICA
Even in the U.S., this “brand
new” concept of food halls
is actually centuries old.
The sudden popularity of
food hall projects has only
muddied the waters in terms
of definitions.
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CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD