The Great Southern Food Hall nears completion in the Packing District

The food hall planned in the historic Southern Box building within the Packing District is finally nearing completion, and is set to open this summer.

Dr. Phillips Charities, the community builder of The Packing District, has announced that the long-time planned 17,300 SF food hall to be built in the historic Southern Box building near the corner of Orange Blossom Trail and Princeton Street is nearing completion and will open early this summer.

Now named "The Great Southern Box Company Food Hall," this is the latest adaptive reuse project in The Packing District. Built by Dr. Phillips in the 1930’s, this building was once used to build the crates that the citrus was packaged in to ship out to destinations all over the country .

Orlando's Dap Design has preserved the original building including a gorgeous barrel ceiling and created an updated design to house a 3,600 SF micro-brewery from Orange County Brewers, an eleven vendor food hall, a a 5,254 SF event space, and an incredible 28,000 SF outdoor patio!

Acclaimed New York-based chef, Akhtar Nawab, and his company, Hospitality HQ will operate the food hall.

So far, the vendors include:

• A Lo Cubano Kitchen – Serving authentic and modern Cuban street food

• Poke Fin – Serving poke bowls using high-quality ingredients.

• Kayos Jamaican Grill – Serving traditional Jamaican dishes using locally-sourced ingredients and with a health-conscious twist.

The food hall will be one component of a larger site plan for the redevelopment of the southeast corner of Orange Blossom Trail and Princeton St.

The Packing District is a 202-acre site, preserving and recapturing a defining part of our community’s history while providing a vibrant base of living and commerce.

Historic buildings are being repurposed, integrated with new uses, and connected to dedicated public spaces by a new and bold plan for urban trails and a new 100-acre public park (gifted to the City of Orlando) dedicated to health and wellness, education, arts and community, and sustainability.

The project will continue to mature over the next 10-15 years as laid out in the four-phase master plan.

To learn more, visit www.packingdistrictorlando.com.

Most recently, Publix has opened a 27,512 square foot supermarket within the Packing District.

The brand new supermarket sits on the same location as the original Dr. Phillips packing house.

The supermarket feature traditional grocery, dairy and frozen food departments, deli, pharmacy, seafood, meat and a fresh produce department.

Of course, it would not be s Publix without a full-service bakery!

To celebrate the historical significance of the area, Publix commissioned Orlando based artist, Christian Stanley to create three murals celebrating the history of the Packing District.

The beautiful murals highlight the local citrus industry, depicting local orange groves, with freshly picked citrus in packing boxes waiting to be delivered around the world.

The murals are illuminated in the evening hours, which will really make them shine!

The supermarket sits behind the new replica Dr Phillips Juice Stand, which is home to Ravenous Pig Brewery, Kelly’s Homemade Ice Cream, and Foxtail Coffee.

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