Downtown Boston Gets a Massive Food Hall Next Spring

Downtown Boston will get nearly two dozen new dining options next year in one fell swoop, thanks to a new food hall, High Street Place. Connecting the buildings at 160 Federal St. and 100 High St., the food hall will span more than 18,000 square feet, with room for more than 20 food stalls. Construction has begun, and several vendors have already signed on. High Street Place could open in spring 2019.

Rockpoint Group, which owns both buildings, has teamed up with CanaDev (styled as CANAdev), which has food halls in development in New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC, in addition to this one. The companies have leased space to about one-third of the 22 vendors so far, according to Michael Morris, principal of CanaDev, and will start announcing vendors in the fall of 2018.

There will be more than 500 seats available for dining throughout the venue, according to the High Street Place website. Preliminary plans for the project emphasize accessibility, indicating the area’s proximity to both public transit and parking garages.

The food hall will stretch from inside the building at 160 Federal to a connected atrium between the buildings, providing an “open-air” feeling, Morris told Eater. There will be entrances from both High and Federal streets, as well as connections to the lobbies of both office buildings. The space will also have a green wall and retractable projection screen for special events.

“The food hall will have a liquor license that will allow our guests to enjoy a beer, glass of wine, or cocktail with their meal, which is meant to be an amenity and continue to make this a space that everyone can find something to enjoy and anytime,” Morris said.

The addition of a sprawling food hall may be a boon for what’s typically a quiet part of the city on weekends. Even though certain areas like Faneuil Hall and the Greenway do attract a combination of tourists and locals regardless of the day — and more recently, City Hall Plaza has become the site of seasonal pop-ups featuring food and beverage vendors, currently hosting a summertime beer garden — the city’s Financial District often feels deserted on weekends, with many restaurants closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

In the immediate area of the future High Street Place, there’s a Clover location that operates on weekends, along with Serafina, Society on High, and a brand new Blue Bottle Coffee, but not much else.

Rather than individual vendors opening piece by piece — as at Somerville’s new Bow Market — High Street Place will debut all at once, with the project remaining closed during the buildout of each stall. Look out for High Street Place around mid-2019, along with the city’s other forthcoming food halls: Time Out Market, coming to Fenway in 2019, and the Beat, which recently got approved for the former Boston Globe headquarters in Dorchester.

• High Street Place [Official Site]