More downtown eats: Chef-driven food hall joining Made in KC on Lightwell’s ground floor
October 27, 2021 | Startland News Staff
Nearly two years after details of a chef collective at Lightwell were first teased, developers today announced the popular urban Johnson County food experience Strang Hall will indeed open a second location in downtown Kansas City.
Strang Hall, Edison District, Overland Park
“Like the original Strang Hall in downtown Overland Park, the concept will be a casual, modern space designed for community and authentic, local food,” said Shawn Craft, CEO of Menlo Food Labs, Strang Hall’s parent company. “The Lightwell location will showcase local culinary talent and be a launching point for food entrepreneurs to showcase their skills and provide true authentic chef-driven experiences to the Central Business District.”
Dubbed the “Strang Chef Collective at Lightwell,” the incoming concept is expected to bring two new food and beverage concepts in a single destination spanning 4,805 square feet in the building — the current Jason’s Deli space — plus outdoor seating on Main Street. The curated market will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner and will include an organic coffee, tea and juice shop as well as a full-service bar, according to Menlo.
Lightwell 2021
Construction is expected to start in late December 2021 at Lightwell, a mixed-use office tower and innovation hub at the corner of 11th and Main streets.
Made in KC Cafe also signed a lease to move into the ground floor of Lightwell in early 2022, taking over a space previously operated by Starbucks.
Since acquiring the tower in 2019, New York-based SomeraRoad has transformed the Lightwell building with modern amenities, a state-of-the-art conference center, a private tenant lounge, numerous event spaces, and a public art gallery in collaboration with Haw Contemporary.
Click here to read more about Lightwell’s plans to draw tech talent back to the office.
Haw Contemporary at Lightwell, downtown Kansas City
Tim Barton, Edison District, Menlo Food Labs, Strang Hall
Serial entrepreneur Tim Barton, Menlo co-founder and Strang Hall founder, first mentioned plans for the chef collective concept’s expansion to Lightwell in February 2020, telling a crowd at Startland News’ Innovation Exchange event that the space would likely cap the ongoing renovation at the 30-story, 657,070-square-foot downtown building — notably home to WeWork, BacklotCars, PayIt, and the Kansas City Tech Council, among other firms and businesses.
Click here to read more about Barton’s early vision for the Lightwell-based food hall.
Initially planned as a 13,500-square-foot food hall with five chef concepts, designs were scaled back amid the building’s renovation, as well as shifting trends and priorities during the pandemic, developers told Startland News previously.
SomeraRoad worked with JE Dunn, AREA Real Estate Advisors, and HOK to bring the Lightwell project to fruition with efforts like the new Strang Chef Collective meant to appeal to a new generation of workers, they said.
Tim Schaffer, AREA Real Estate Advisors; and Basel Bataineh, Somera Road
“From the beginning, we wanted the building’s transformation to emphasize health and wellness, and high-quality food is a key component of that vision,” said Basel Bataineh, director at SomeraRoad. “This chef-driven experience will add value and ease for both our tenants and the downtown community alike. We are excited to welcome the Strang Chef Collective as our newest tenant at lightwell, addressing what has long been a food desert in the CBD.”
KC Tech Council’s new headquarters above Jason’s Deli, Lightwell building downtown, March 2020
Jason’s Deli is relocating across the street to Town Pavilion, 1111 Main St., in the former Mama Tio’s space to accommodate the new food concept’s arrival.
“We know how beloved Jason’s was to the people in our building and so we took an active role in helping them find a location in the same neighborhood that would continue to serve lightwell tenants and the downtown community,” said Tim Schaffer, president of AREA Real Estate Advisors.
The new Jason’s Deli location is expected to open by March, he added.
Featured Business
2021 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
In second term, Mayor Q says he’ll help get City Hall out of entrepreneurs’ way as they build a more diverse economy
Creating economic equity in Kansas City goes hand in hand with building a sustainable city, said Mayor Quinton Lucas. “We will not be the city that we need to be — we won’t have the workforce, the entrepreneurs that we need — if we’re not actually investing in equitable tools in any number of ways,”…
Sandlot Goods takes a swing at a brick and mortar; new JoCo storefront expected to be a home run with brand’s fans
Sandlot Goods — Kansas City’s only local hat manufacturer — is hoping to score big with its first, dedicated, standalone retail space. The new location at Park Place in Leawood — 11530 Ash Street — is slated for a soft opening Aug. 15 and a grand opening Sept. 16, shared Garret Prather, Sandlot vice president…
‘Oppenheimer’ actor says new Missouri tax incentives could bring investors, more film productions to KC
David Dastmalchian’s screenplays for movies set in Kansas City now have a realistic chance to be filmed in and around his hometown, said the acclaimed actor, writer, and producer who grew up in Overland Park. Recently-signed legislation paves the way for increased film production in Missouri by reauthorizing — and strengthening — tax credit incentives…
She witnessed short-staffed hospitals as a COVID patient; How her ‘Airbnb for health care workers’ could save lives like hers
After her own hospitalization with COVID-19, Shapree’ Marshall set out to make sure local hospitals have adequate staffing to care for the community, she shared. In February 2022, Marshall — now a 2023 Pipeline Pathfinder cohort member — founded A Traveled Path Homes, which she describes as Airbnb for the medical industry. She plans to…