If a Denver developer gets its way, Colorado Springs will get its first "food hall," replacing a downtown record store and renovating the century-old building into a revitalized marketplace.
The Downtown Review Board plans to meet with the next month or so to offer a final decision on a conditional use permit for the proposed food hall, which would include several small retail shops, a few restaurants, and a bar under one roof with a market-like vibe. A second floor would be added to the 7,000-square-foot building at 123 E. Bijou Street (which was originally built in 1920). A restaurant and two outdoor patios would be built on the second level, with the other businesses below.
"It's a concept that started in Europe and became popular here," CBRE real estate broker Whitney Johnson told KRDO News 13. "Denver has several, and you can also find them in larger cities and on major college campuses."
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The Stanley Marketplace is a food hall concept that recently opened in Aurora.(Photo courtesy of The Know/The Denver Post.)[/caption] If everything is approved, the sale of the existing Independent Records & Video store building would be finalized in July. According to KRDO, Independent Records has been in its current location for almost 40 years. It has two other locations that will remain open in the Colorado Springs area, as well as one in Pueblo.
(Food halls) really are spreading like wildfire," Johnson told The Gazette. "They're kind of indoor markets. Not only do you have food, but you have vendors as well. It becomes a gathering place. Millennials, they're more inclined to have these experiences, and so these food halls are more like 'experiential' retail, where you can gather and have friends and create memories. That's what all these millennials enjoy."Planners and developers are hopeful that the addition of a food hall will continue the revitalization of the area, which has seen tons of growth in recent years. "This is following trends that we're seeing downtown, with the repurposing of older buildings into something that's very new, new to our downtown," Laurel Prud'homme said, according to The Gazette. Prud'homme is the communications director for the Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs. "It's kind of on trend with what we see in other cities in terms of the concept that they have plans for."
We want to hear from you! Have you been to a food hall in another city? Would you visit the one on Bijou Street? Tell us in the comments below!
