Time Out Group is closing large food halls in Chicago’s Fulton Market and near Fenway Park in Boston amid a national shakeup in the communal dining sector.
The London-based media and hospitality company announced Wednesday that it will close the Time Out Market at 914-926 W. Fulton. The last day of business will be Jan. 23, according to a statement on the company’s website.
In an email to CoStar News, a Time Out spokesperson also confirmed media reports in Boston that the food hall there is set to close this month.
London-based Time Out’s pending closures are the latest changes amid years in transition for food halls, the chef-driven answer to chain-focused food courts seen for decades in shopping malls.
Food halls in many cities have closed or made transitions to new operators and branding in the years following the onset of COVID-19.
In Chicago, that includes the pioneering Revival Food Hall in the Loop, which in 2024 switched from its longtime local operator to an Atlanta-based group that rebranded the space as the Sterling Food Hall.
The space housing another longtime Chicago concept, the French Market connected to the Ogilvie Transportation Center, recently went on the market for sale.
Once a mostly urban concept, food halls in recent years have branched out to environs such as suburbs and college campuses as remote work trends changed dining habits.
Time Out opened the Chicago space in 2017 as part of an expansion of its food hall format that debuted in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2014. Vendors in the spaces are curated by Time Out’s writers.
Early last year, Time Out announced the opening of a second New York location as part of plans to expand the concept globally.
“Following the pandemic, we have seen the Chicago Market recover and grow, and we have focused on initiatives driving further growth; however, footfall until today remains inconsistent in the area due to ongoing hybrid working and in addition, operating costs have increased — all of which prevents consistent profitability,” Time Out Market CEO Michael Marlay said in the statement.
The closing will leave a large hole to fill in the former meatpacking district west of the Loop business district. Filling the three-level, approximately 49,000-square-foot space will be a test for Fulton Market, which for years has been among the city’s most high-demand neighborhoods.
Time Out’s lease in the Fulton Market building was set to run through October 2028, according to marketing materials from CBRE, which brokered a sale of the building in 2023. At the time, Time Out was paying $1.75 million in annual base rent as part of a triple-net lease, with 2% annual rent escalations, according to the brochure.
Time Out did not respond to a request for comment, and Chicago real estate firm R2 declined to comment on how the remaining lease term might be resolved.
R2 is operating the building and seeking a new tenant on behalf of Lagfin, the Luxembourg-based owner of the property.
Lagfin, which manages the investments of Italy’s billionaire Garavoglia family, is the controlling shareholder of spirits giant Campari Group.
The family has invested with R2 on other Chicago real estate deals, including the purchase of the 41-story office tower at 150 N. Michigan Ave. in 2024.
In a deal not involving R2, Lagfin bought the Time Out Market property for $35.75 million in April 2023, according to Cook County property records.
R2 CEO Matt Garrison said his firm already has begun conversations with prospective tenants to take over the space.
“We think it is the best available brand space in Fulton Market and potentially all of Chicago,” Garrison said in an email. “The space is ideal for a range of uses ranging from beverage concepts to office, lab, showroom or flagship retail. The current configuration of the space is striking, with high ceilings and an atrium filled with natural light. But it can also be reconfigured in a number of ways and is really a blank canvas for a use that wants to make a statement in Fulton Market.”
Time Out Market occupies 27,000 square feet at 401 Park Drive in Boston, according to CoStar data.
The Chicago and Boston spaces are the only ones closing, the Time Out spokesperson said.
The company has 11 open markets, including in Montreal, Barcelona, Dubai and Cape Town, South Africa. The spokesperson said 2026 openings are planned in Vancouver, British Columbia; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Prague.