FOOD HALL PLANNED FOR NORTH LOOP

Food Halls are all the rage right now... North Loop is all the rage right now. Sounds like a perfect match? One company thinks so.

A long vacant site at the corner of 5th Avenue N and 4th Street N (next to Modist Brewing) could soon be home to a 17,236 sqf two story commercial building that would be the home of Graze | Provisions & Libations.

Now, the text within the planning document is so good at describing this place that we are not even going to take our chances in re-describing it to you. Just take a moment to read the text below on what Graze is meant to.

The entire space will be vibrant and tell a story within and outside of its four walls. Casual, dining, alive --- all words that describe the venue itself. Walk in, and grab a cup of coffee. Get some work done in the café/lounge area. Grab a bite to eat at lunch or after work in the communal dining areas. Head upstairs for the ambiance and beverages. Head outside to the green space on warmer days --- play and escape. All of this in one space with prominent music and artistic influences throughout the design of the space ... a food & beverage venue local Minnesotans will be proud to call theirs.

Gave you goose bumps, right?

THE DESIGN

The two story food hall would include "several, local chef-driven concepts" showcasing cuisine from some of the best chefs in Minnesota. Each level would have a full bar, the ground floor bar would even be accessible from the outside during the warmer months. That means you'll never have to leave the outdoor patio in order to get a drink.

On the ground floor there would be four kitchens, a cafe serving coffee and pastries (which would be accessible from both the interior and exterior via a window), a full bar, and restrooms. The second floor would include two additional kitchens, another full bar, restrooms, storage, and offices.

From within the building visitors will be able to dine within any of the indoor areas that features seating arrangements from intimate to communal. If you'd like to dine outside, a ground floor patio located to the left of the building next to an outdoor plaza that serves the adjacent Bookman Stacks residential building will be available. On the second floor of the building there will be a large, and we mean large is it totals over 3,000 sqf , patio with seating and beautiful views of the downtown skyline.

In addition to the patios, the ground floor will feature a large outdoor plaza with ample outdoor dining space, seating areas, and even a landscaped area that will be set up in an amphitheater style.

THE CONSTRUCTION

Designed by ESG, the structure of the building would be created using two levels of steel-framing and be clad in brick, wood, cement board, metal panels, and glass.

Now before you begin the chant that something more dense, something taller, and something more residential should go in this space, let's keep in mind a few things. The current design for the building is 30' tall and there's a good reason for that. There's actually a 40' height restriction for this plot of land making a third level nearly impossible.

There's also quite a bit going on underneath the site at the moment making an underground garage, which would be necessary for anything residential, nearly impossible.

This project will be presented to the Minneapolis Planning Commission's Committee of the Whole at their February 8th meeting. We'll have more information for you after that!