TAMPA, Fla. — Next year’s scheduled Super Bowl weekend in Tampa will also be opening weekend for a brand new multi-million dollar development: Midtown Tampa. 

And some Tampa residents will be familiar with a food hall expanding to Midtown.

Inside the Hall on Franklin (Street), guests get a full dining experience from multiple restaurants. 

It’s what 45-year-old Jamal Wilson envisioned when he created the eatery just north of downtown Tampa.

“I traveled around the world,” Wilson said. “I liked the diversity of the different food, but I didn’t like the experience of running around to get my (food).

“So what I thought about was merge the two together, the diversity of a food hall.” 

The Hall has been open since august 2017. Now it’s expanding to Midtown. 

It’ll be part of the $500 million mixed-used development that’s being built off of I-275 and Dale Mabry Highway. 

Developer Nicholas Haines said the project has been moving forward despite the pandemic.

"It’s going to be this really dynamic pedestrian atmosphere," he said. 

The popular outdoor lifestyle concept was already planned before the pandemic.  

In fact, Haines said he believes the outdoor retail and residential concept is what has helped the project move forward during the pandemic. 

He added  they’ve been able to get more workers to help speed up some aspects of the job. 

Haines said the project is on time to be completed by January 2021, just before the scheduled Feb. 7 Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium.

“Midtown is built for the long term,” Haines said. “(The) Super Bowl is a way to launch a new project and such but we’re doing everything for the long term.” 

Wilson said he is excited about the new venture.

“Business has been slow in the restaurant industry since Covid-19,” he said. “The Hall on Franklin has felt the financial blow.

“You have to just realize if you’re in the restaurant business it’s going to thrive or not. If it is, you just have to keep pushing forwards.”