Wilmington’s First Food Hall

Seaboard Social Hall, a food hall, music hall, maker’s market and more, is coming to Wilmington and is seeking vendors and members.

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The creators of Raleigh’s Transfer Co. Food Hall are bringing their innovative social hall concept to Wilmington. Bringing together the talents of local chefs, food entrepreneurs, musicians and makers, Seaboard Social Hall will be a combination food hall, music hall, commissary kitchen, ghost kitchen, maker’s market and more.

Monarch Property Co., creators of Raleigh’s Transfer Co. Food Hall, have designed Seaboard Social Hall to include multiple venues in the 43,0000-square-foot historic National Linen Service Building at 1315 South 5th Avenue in downtown Wilmington. The project is currently estimated to create more than 100 jobs when the development opens in late 2022/early 2023.

“We’re excited to introduce Seaboard Social Hall to an already thriving culinary and social scene in Wilmington,” says Jason Queen, founder at Monarch Property Co. “This will be a key addition as the city’s first and only food hall and will go beyond that to offer a 16,000-square-foot music and events venue with a capacity of up to 1,200 people. Additionally, Seaboard Social Hall will host a commissary kitchen, a food production hub and a maker’s market with more to be announced soon.” 

Seaboard Social Hall’s culinary component is envisioned as a collaborative, community-driven, coworking initiative to support the local food ecosystem. The complex is purposefully designed to accommodate a range of food business models including dedicated food hall stalls for established chefs and bakers, ghost kitchens to support delivery/pick-up and other off-site models and commissary memberships (with or without food hall presence) for start-ups, caterers, food truck operators and like-minded entrepreneurs. Collectively these spaces will provide culinary creatives, food producers and food industry leaders opportunities to interact and innovate on offerings for Wilmington and beyond.

“Seaboard Social Hall will be a transformative addition to the Greenfield Park/South Front neighborhood,” says Ben Knight, owner of Benny’s Big Time Pizzeria. “We at Benny’s Big Time Pizzeria in Wilmington love being a part of a growing community of businesses that provide economic opportunities, especially including locally sourced food purveyors. Plus, the addition of a concert hall helping to promote and share music from artists makes this project nothing short of amazing.”

Just minutes from the beach and next to downtown, Seaboard Social Hall is perfectly situated to serve as a community gathering place for locals and a regional destination for visitors.

“I am thrilled for this food hall to come into fruition!” says Ana Shellum of Shell’em Seafood Company. “The location is ideal with our quickly expanding downtown area, and the building itself has such charm and character. It is full of opportunity and will open up so many jobs to our community. Already, the chefs that have been selected to be a part of this project bring a lot to the table.”

Interested in Participating?

Monarch Property Co. is now accepting applications for food hall vendors and commissary members who are interested in pushing the boundaries of culinary arts and showcasing their unique offerings as part of this collective food community and will announce the first round of food hall vendors in the coming weeks. Apply now and become a part of Wilmington’s first social hall.

For information visit the website or follow along on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.