Wet winter weather, including a December snowfall and January ice storm, have delayed completion of the mixed-use development Square 46 on Government Street and its anchor tenant, White Star Market, a gourmet food hall concept.
Developers had hoped to have the 25,000-square-foot facility—which will include eight, two-bedroom apartment units, retail and office space, and the food hall—open for business by January. Now, they’re shooting for completion by the end of the first quarter or early second quarter.
“We need a run of dry weather,” says Josh Hoffpauir, architect for the project and developer of Square 46. “We don’t just need one dry day but several dry days.”
Dry weather is needed so work crews can pour the parking lot, the last major unfinished component of the development. Once the parking lot is complete, Hoffpauir and White Star Market’s developer Clark Gaines estimate it will be about a month before everything else is finalized and tenants can move in.
“Our interior is about 85 or 90 percent complete,” Gaines says. “The rest is just trim, cosmetic stuff and getting some kitchen equipment in here. Then it just comes down to the parking lot and permits.”
White Star Market will comprise 6,000 square feet of Square 46 and house nine eateries, including Gov’t Tacos, the Big Squeezy, Jolie Pearl Oyster Bar, Fete Au Fete, and Reve Coffee Roasters.
Square 46’s eight second- and third-floor apartments, which range in size from 1,600 to 1,800 square feet, are also nearly complete, Hoffpauir says. Though none of the units are preleased, Hoffpauir says he has a waiting list of potential tenants that he will contact once he has a better handle on when the units will be ready.
Additionally, the development will include 5,000 square feet of office space and some 3,000 square feet of retail space. Hoffpauir says he has letters of intent or signed leases for most of those spaces and plans to announce the tenants soon. Square 46 has been under construction since mid 2016.
