Downtown Vancouver will soon boast a huge "food hall" concept, featuring a market-style culinary and retail marketplace.
The food hall will be located at The Post, which is the name for the massive redevelopment of the city's former central post office on Georgia Street.
Behind the food hall is Fraser Valley-based The Joseph Richard Group (JRG), the hospitality company behind concepts like the Townhall and S+L Kitchen restaurants, as well as other pub operations.
Occupying 26,000 square feet of the 185,000 square foot retail footprint of The Post, the food hall will feature "a mix of full service, sit-down, table service and quick service restaurants which together will create an experience unique to Canada," according to developer QuadReal.
"As with any of our venues, guests can expect unique experiences which include top-quality offerings, notable talent and uncompromising commitment to every guest," said Ryan "Richard" Moreno, CEO and Co-Founder of The Joseph Richard Group.
Food halls have grown in popularity over the past few years, and are often attractive draws at redevelopment, like in Victoria at the Hudson Bay building, or in Portland, Oregon. Globally-recognized specialty food halls, like Eataly, have also seen growth in the last decade, including here in Canada.
The food hall joins other food tenants moving into the development, like Deville Coffee and Buro The Espresso Bar, as well as The Post's anchor tenants, Loblaws City Market and Amazon.
There has been the intention to include a food hall operation within The Post from its earlier stages. QuadReal says the feature will serve as the "heart" of the project.
The Canada Post building was originally completed in 1958. The West Georgia Street historic structure’s redevelopment is large-scale and noteworthy for several reasons.
“The Post is one of the most ambitious heritage redevelopments in Canada’s history,” said QuadReal in 2019. “It celebrates the location’s Canada Post legacy through sustainable and adaptive reuse while at the same time prioritizing the needs of Vancouver’s emerging knowledge economy. Located at 349 West Georgia Street in a high-traffic area of Vancouver, The Post will include 1.13 million square feet of state-of-the-art office space in two new towers, surrounded by retail and public spaces.”
The food hall at The Post is aiming to open in Fall 2023.
