One barbecue joint sits alone at the Centre of Tallahassee, waiting for more tenants to fill storefront spaces. Major developments are coming by the end of the year.
155,000 square feet of the former Tallahassee Mall have been reconfigured into an urban entertainment center, but it’s still silent and empty. The only people around are the Dreamland barbecue crew and a few construction workers. TJ Lewis, founder of the website Urban Tallahassee, says this will change when Urban Food Market and Tallahassee Brewing Company open in a few months. He believes more potential tenants may be attracted once the School of Arts & Sciences moves into the old Dillard’s wing.
“The teachers, students, those are all bodies that count when it comes to traffic, and parents picking up their kids. So imagine services that cater to schools, stores that cater to schools, and they say ‘Oh, we can be right there at the Center of Tallahassee, open up a store, and people won’t have to go too far to buy what they need,” says Lewis.
For now, while Tallahassee Brewing Company and Urban Food Market finish interior construction, the Centre of Tallahassee is relying on just Dreamland, the Pavilion concert venue, and the few existing stores left to attract locals to the area.
