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The food hall trend is a global one that has
European roots. Major new projects opened
around the world in 2016, some of which are
already winning awards. The Markthal in
Rotterdam, the Plaza Rio Food Garden in
Tijuana and Copenhagen’s Street Food are
just three recently delivered food halls that
made
Travel + Leisure
Magazine’s list of “The
World’s Best New Food Halls” for 2016.
But while food halls appear to be the rage
almost everywhere, the sheer amount of
current activity in New York City makes it
abundantly clear that New York is
undoubtedly the indisputable food hall
capital of the world.
Cushman & Wakefield is currently tracking
18 existing food hall projects in New York
City, which account for a total of 616,000
sf of space. But those numbers do not take
into consideration projects that are on the
periphery of this trend. For example, our
food hall statistics do not include seasonal
food halls (such as Brooklyn’s
Smorgasburg), open-air markets (e.g.,
the Bowery Market in NoHo), or farmer’s
markets (like the Fulton Stall Market in the
Seaport District). Nor do they include some
projects that arguably aren’t food halls but
rather updated versions of food courts (like
Gallery 32 in Koreatown). That type of
project is a potentially problematic one.
Many operators have rebranded existing
food court projects as food halls despite the
fact that actual food vendors (unprepared
goods) are often absent. In addition, often
such projects don’t fit the tenant-mix mold,
with developers opting for fast food or
quick-service-based chains rather than
chef-driven, incubator, start-up or
authentically-themed operators. Including
all of these projects could easily double the
square footage figures presented in this
report. Still, we consider it pertinent to
monitor projects that clearly meet the
criteria of the modern food hall trend in
America today.
Additionally, as this report was being
assembled, we were informed several
developers are seriously considering
adding food hall components to a number
of possible projects but are not ready to
announce their intentions. Office and
residential developers involved in those
efforts are considering adding smaller
(“mini”) food hall projects as ground floor
retail. This trend of the “mini” or “bite-size”
food hall as a retail amenity is exploding
nationally; New York City is no exception.
EW YORK
THE FOOD HALL CAPITAL OF THE WORLD
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CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD