Stalled Johnston County food hall brings in a national operator to open and run it
Stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Old North State Food Hall in Johnston County is showing signs of life.
This week, the planned food hall in Selma announced national food hall operator Hospitality HQ would take over the future running of the project. Hospitality HQ is based in Brooklyn and is in charge of opening and running multiple food halls throughout the country, including projects in Houston; Knoxville, Tennessee; Omaha, Nebraska; Chicago and Portland, Maine.
The Old North State Food Hall is owned by Selma firm AdVenture Development, which is turning a former JR Cigars warehouse into a dining destination along Interstate 95. It is now slated to open in early 2022.
“We are thrilled to partner with Hospitality HQ on this exciting project and look forward to bringing the Old North State Food Hall to the residents of Johnston County and travelers alike,” said AdVenture Development president Kevin Dougherty in a news release.
Hospitality HQ is owned by chef and restaurateur Akhtar Nawab, who has opened restaurants in New York and New Orleans and is part of at least nine other food hall projects in the works in some of the foodiest cities in the country. So far, Hospitality HQ has opened Dr. Murphy’s Food Hall in Chicago, Inner Rail Food Hall in Omaha and is working on projects in Houston, Knoxville, Salt Lake City, Fargo, North Dakota, and other cities.
In a statement, Nawab suggests North Carolina’s farming roots will be showcased in the new food hall.
“The eastern part of the Triangle has strong agricultural roots,” Nawab said in a release. “Farm to table has always been a way of life for many locals. Residents and visitors to the area crave all kinds of cuisines, which make the possibilities endless for a food hall. We are excited to have the opportunity to be in this region and serve such a dynamic community.”
Vendors in the food hall
The vendors previously announced by the food hall include Luna Pizza Cafe out of Greenville, Burger and Barley from Rocky Mount and coffee shop Boulevard East from Clayton.
The Old North State Food Hall was first announced in 2019 and planned to open the following year. Richard Williams, who owns Luna Pizza with John Jefferson, said that despite the delay, they remain enthusiastic about the project.
“It’s a chance for us to develop a counter-service concept and really just focus on the pizza,” Williams said. “It’s an interesting project, and it’ll get a lot of interest in the public. We’ve liked the concept from the start.”
A spokesperson for Hospitality HQ said a more complete list of vendors will be released soon, once all vendors are signed.
Initially, the Old North State Food Hall looked to have 10 vendors and a craft beer bar, built in the old JR Cigars humidor.
The food hall trend
The national food hall trend has taken hold of the Triangle in a big way, debuting in 2018 in Raleigh with the Morgan Street Food Hall and Transfer Co. Last year, the Durham Food Hall opened in the middle of the pandemic and over the summer began allowing in-person dining.
There are even more are on the way. And though they began in downtowns, the next wave of food halls will open in the Triangle’s suburbs, including multiple locations of food hall concept Craften in Clayton and Knightdale and a future food hall in North Hills.
The Old North State Food Hall looks to be another evolution of the trend, combining the fast casual craze, the Triangle’s continued population growth and the roadside travel plaza.
In building the new food hall, AdVenture owner Kevin Dougherty said the project will feed the millions of travelers passing north and south through Selma each year, calling the I-95 corridor a rare corner of the country for a food hall.
“We’re at the center of the Eastern Seaboard,” Dougherty said in a 2019 interview. “It’s a great location to reach 200 million people. There are not too many sites in the U.S. where you can say that. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve been through here.”
Dougherty has compared the Triangle’s growth to the growth in Charlotte in previous decades. While the I-95 corridor and Johnston County are on the edge of what can be considered the Triangle, he believes development will soon connect the dots.
“There are 200,000 people here and there will be 100,000 more in the next 10 years,” Dougherty said of Johnston County during a 2019 interview. “When I lived in Charlotte in the ‘80s, outside you had Concord and Kannapolis. Today they’re Charlotte. That’s where we are. This proximity to Raleigh, we are Raleigh.”
This story was originally published August 5, 2021 at 8:00 AM.
