The city’s first “market hall” is set to open in Automobile Alley, complete with a brewery and plans for a food hall, shops, a cocktail bar and coffee shop.
The renovation of the 70-year-old warehouse building at 3 NE 8th Street is anchored by Prairie Artisan Ales, which will be the first business to open in the space next month.
Developer Brandon Lodge said 8th Street Market would open from morning until night, with a view to creating a place where “people go and stay.”
He adds, “Getting the tenant mix right in the building is crucial, and we’ve been intentionally slow and steady with talking to people.”
A food hall, set across from the brewery, is due to open three to four months after Prairie with other businesses to follow, according to Lodge.
“We’re looking for the right mix – so obviously Prairie, a couple of food options, a cocktail bar, a coffee shop, maybe somewhere to get a dessert and then somewhere to get your hair cut and go shopping,” he says. “We want to find tenants that activate the building from morning to night.”
Architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) created the design for the space, which also includes plans for a 400-square-foot deck on the southwest corner of the building, visible from Broadway.
Photo courtesy of Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
Lodge bought the building with Cale Coulter and Patrick Murnam, with a view to putting a brewery in it – a lifelong dream for Lodge. However, the building they bought was capable of holding more than a brewery. Lodge said it wasn’t until they got together with AHMM that the market hall idea came about.
Plans show the heart of the building is an internal street surrounded by tropical trees and plants which thrive in a temperate climate. All businesses open out onto this path including Prairie, which occupies one of the prime spots. Above is a mezzanine level with an additional tenant space.
Lodge says that 8th Street Market has the added advantage of being in the “fantastic location” of Automobile Alley, easily accessible by car or bike and close to the new streetcar platform at 8th and Broadway.
“The proximity of 8th St. Market to the Metropolitan and all of the other residential units on the east side of downtown, and the fact that we’re so near Broadway, was certainly a consideration,” he says. “It’s off the beaten path of Broadway a little bit, but we felt a unique project like this could blaze the trail of Auto Alley’s last undeveloped area.”
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