A tale of two food halls

“Downtown is back,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey announced on March 25. The trigger for this euphoria was the news that a new food hall was coming to the space on the first floor of LaSalle Plaza formerly occupied by Rock Bottom Brewery, which closed in 2022.

Developments around the corner on Nicollet might burst the mayor’s bubble. The Star Tribune reports:

Five years after COVID-19 crushed its opening plans, the Dayton’s Project still houses several vacant and unfinished floors, driving the downtown Minneapolis office building’s ongoing financial struggles.

The $375 million redevelopment of the landmark department store was heralded as a boon to the central business district, promising a burst of vitality particularly for Nicollet Mall. But after the pandemic crippled its launch, expectations for the Dayton’s Project became delayed and dimmed.

Last fall, the court appointed a receiver to take on management of the 12-story building after lenders claimed the owners defaulted on a $200 million loan. Shortly after, plans for a food hall curated by celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern were canceled. Lenders advanced more than $6 million through the past six months to cover maintenance, tenant improvements and other costs.

“The property continues to operate at a significant loss,” according to a March 21 report from receiver Lighthouse Management Group.

The pandemic and the responses of state and local governments to it continue to cast a long economic shadow. Minnesota benefits from a strong Minneapolis, so we hope that the food hall on Hennepin fares better than the one on Nicollet.