A new parking policy is coming to Dairy Market, following years of pushback from patrons and vendors about paying for parking. Inside the food hall, things are also changing, with several businesses and attractions arriving at the Grady Avenue spot after a wave of restaurant closures.
While Citizen Burger Stand, 434th Street, and South and Central have closed, Michael Rosen, director of hospitality assets for Tiger Lily Capital, says a certain amount of turnover is normal for a food hall.
“Food halls are interesting,” he says. “You’ve got to keep people on their toes.” The end of several three-year leases has led to a number of restaurants exiting around the same time, but another reason for the closures has been ownership fine-tuning its selection of vendors.
Some restaurants, like South and Central, decided Dairy Market wasn’t the best location for their concept. Tiger Lily Capital, the parent company of Stony Point Development Group (the developer behind Dairy Market), owns both South and Central and Milkman’s Bar, but it ultimately decided the upscale Latin American restaurant didn’t fit at the food hall, which opened in late 2020.
“South and Central from the beginning was an awesome concept, and it was just kind of an unfortunate location,” says Ashleigh Gorry, managing director of South and Central and Milkman’s Bar. “A concept like this would have thrived somewhere on Main Street, where people are going out in fancy clothes, looking for a nice place to eat.”
According to Gorry, South and Central chef Kelvino Barrera is looking to open another restaurant in Charlottesville sometime in the next six months to a year.
Other factors that contributed to the August 31 closure of South and Central include the restaurant’s location in the market, price of seasonal menu items, and cost of renting the large space, says Gorry.
Current and outgoing vendors, along with Rosen, confirmed that rents at Dairy Market have not increased since businesses signed their original leases—though there has been some adjustment in the structuring of stall agreements. Rent rates also vary dramatically from location to location, from $1,000 to “possibly into double digits.”
New restaurants coming to the market include an Americana burger concept, Sizzle Shack, a Nepalese and Indian street food restaurant, Currylicious, and two unnamed-but-known concepts—a smoothie place and a coffee-shop-and-bakery combo. The businesses are set to open soon, although Rosen could not give an exact timeline.
Other additions include a kids room, yoga studio, and lobby renovation, though the most intriguing and untested concept is slated to be, as of press time, an unnamed diner-tainment venue in the South and Central space.
“There’s something very exciting coming over there that I think will benefit everybody at the Dairy Market,” says Rosen. “You need something more than just food to draw people in.”
Currently, the average visitor spends roughly 68 minutes at the food hall. With the addition of the diner-tainment concept later this winter, and events like the University of Virginia Coaches’ Corner, Rosen hopes to increase the average time spent at Dairy Market to between 90 minutes and two hours.
“Here in Charlottesville, you’ve got a couple places you can shoot pool. Darts, not really, there’s not really any place in Charlottesville. If you want to go bowling, you’ve got to go all the way out to 29,” says Rosen. “We’re going to have something over here that will benefit all ages.”
Several restaurants and bars in the Charlottesville area host darts, including Decipher Brewing, Belmont Pizza, and Lazy Parrot, and there is also the Charlottesville Dart League.
One of the most exciting changes coming to Dairy Market for vendors and visitors alike is the move to free parking.
“We’ve heard people loud and clear,” says Rosen. “In the very near future [we’re] going to a free parking structure here.”
Restaurateurs like Dino Hoxhaj have been pushing for free parking at Dairy Market for a while and are excited for the change.
“The only reason why the landlord wanted to have paid parking was because we were worried that neighboring businesses will park here,” says the Dino’s Pizza owner. “We have one hour of parking now anyways, and then on Monday, it’s two hours of parking.”
Milkman’s Bar Manager Addison Philpott says free parking has been a priority for a long time, with the topic coming up frequently at monthly vendor meetings. Rosen could not give an exact date for when the parking policy will change, but confirmed it is in the works.