Construction on Hattiesburg’s first food hall is underway and hopes to open soon. Calico Station, a mixed-use development from K Moye Land Design and Development, should be finished with the first phase by mid-summer.
“It’s a historic renovation,” said owner Ken Moye. “We’ve been working on it for a little over a year now. We started back in January with some initial renovations and demolition and now we are getting into the heat of the construction.”
In addition to a food hall, the development will feature co-working areas, a private event space, a cafe, a rooftop restaurant, a daiquiri lounge, and an outdoor pool.
“We think we are filling the gap of a lot of opportunity and activity that is missing downtown, so we think we are going to be a great asset to work together with all the other business owners and bring something to the table that is unique to invite people to downtown as a whole,” Moye added.
The building is 100-years-old and first started as a meat packing plant. It was later transformed into the Calico Mall for antique enthusiasts.
“That is one of the reasons we are preserving the name Calico Station,” Moye explained. “Because it was the Calico Mall previously, so we kept that same feeling going and we want to make sure we keep the traditions of the previous owner.”
Similar to other downtown projects, like the Komp Building Lofts, Moye’s group applied for historic tax credits to help offset some of the costs.
“Tax credits are a very important part of this project,” Moye said. “It puts the equity part to make it more feasible, so you don’t have to bring as much capital. You don’t have to get as much of a loan to give this project more opportunity to take a chance on some of the different concepts that we talked about. So that aspect is very vital to this project.”
Developers are working hard to preserve the original bricks, columns, and beams throughout the building.
“We want to maintain a nostalgic feel of the building and preserve all of the historic qualities,” Moye said.
Food hall concepts can be found in larger cities like New Orleans, Birmingham, and Atlanta. The idea is to allow restaurant owners a chance to work on a business concept without the overhead cost of a facility.
“It couldn’t be done without a great team and a great working relationship with the guys that’s been on the Calico development team and the K Moye Land and Development team, and also our construction team so just want to give them a shout-out for all the great work they’ve done,” Moye said. “There’s a lot of different projects going on from residential to commercial, restaurants, retail shops, so we think we are right on time for the growth and the potential of downtown Hattiesburg.”
Crews hope to be done with the first phase of construction in June with some operations ready in July. And Moye said they are still looking for entrepreneurs to lease and join the team.
