GRUB HUBS.

• Author: Leggett, Page
• Position: FIRST TAKE

A NEW TYPE OF DINING DESTINATION IS GAINING GROUND. JUST DON'T CONFUSE IT WITH ITS MALL COUSIN.

Ask Jay Levell of Charlotte's White Point Partners and Merritt Lancaster of Atlanta's Paces Properties how a food hall is similar to a food court, and you'll get stunned silence. Lancaster finally says, "A food hall isn't an afterthought. It is the experience."

Unlike mall food courts filled with national chains, food halls typically mix local artisan restaurants with boutique shops and other eats-oriented vendors under one roof. Their ability to draw crowds is appealing to landlords battling the growth of e-commerce or looking to land more tenants in office buildings. Food halls are one of the newest and hottest ways to combine dining and entertainment in one place.

The two real-estate developers are bringing the idea to the former Tompkins Mill in Charlotte's gentrifying Optimist Park neighborhood north of downtown. In downtown Raleigh, restaurateur Niall Hanley plans to open Morgan Street Food Hall & Market next month in a 22,000-square-foot space that will be home to more than 60 tenants. They're part of a trend that migrated to the U.S. from Europe, with as many as 300 halls opening by the end of this year, about triple the number online in late 2016, according to brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield.

Tompkins Hall will be more than a food hall when it opens later this year. Its three sections will include 80,005 square feet of office space pre-leased by Duke Energy, 33,470 square feet of bars and full-scale restaurants, and a 22,250-square-foot hall of food. Paces, one of the developers behind the $50 million project, also developed Krog Street Market in a 1920s Atlanta warehouse, which has become a foodie destination since its 2014 opening.

The concept isn't new. Chelsea Market in New York and Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market, a National Historic Landmark building, are favorite tourist attractions. After an indoor market opened in the basement of New York's Plaza Hotel, such markets were rechristened and other food halls began to flourish, large and small. There are 16 in Manhattan alone.

But food halls can be found in cities of all sizes, often representing the best local restaurateurs. "People are craving authenticity," Levell says. "Food halls bring together local chefs and food-truck operators already known in the community. They have soul."

In Raleigh, Hanley believes Morgan Street will fill a void in food retail and revitalize a...