New Food Hall Concept Planned For Northeast D.C.
A developer with a penchant for building in D.C.'s emerging markets has plans to build a catalyst to create the next one.
Adrian Washington, the CEO and founder of Neighborhood Development Co., is planning to build Benning Market, an 11K SF food hall in the River Terrace neighborhood in D.C.'s Ward 7, the Washington Business Journal reports. Washington has launched a crowdfunding page for the project on the site Small Change, which is intended to let small investors, including unaccredited ones from the community, buy into and help fund the project.
The market would include permanent stalls for high-quality food truck operators who want stable space. It could also include a brewery or cidery, and will have shared seating and shared kitchen space for the vendors.
The project raised $194K on Small Change as of Friday afternoon, exceeding its minimum goal by $94K and hitting 32% of its stated maximum goal of $600K. Washington told the WBJ that the crowdfunding offering is an experiment, and the project — expected to open in late 2019 — will go forward no matter what crowdfunding number it hits.
“The main reason was to broaden the community ownership of the project to allow small investors, people in D.C. and in the neighborhood who believe in the project to be a part of it as well,” Washington told the WBJ. “We’re very hopeful for that.”
