Chapel is a new development coming to Poe Mill billed as a “community hangout” that combines co-working space, a food hall, a barber shop, commercial kitchen and more.
The $10 million project, set to open its doors in late 2022 or early 2023, will emulate the classic social clubs of 20th century New York City, with all its amenities and networking opportunities housed under one roof.
“It’s first and foremost a neighborhood hangout,” said developer Matt McPheeley. “It’s a place where we want the people who live nearby to feel comfortable walking through the doors and meeting interesting people.”
Spread across 2.5 acres, the 40,000-square foot project will feature:
- Co-working space.
- Conference rooms.
- Social club.
- Barbershop and salon.
- Three restaurants.
- Coffee shop and bar.
- Taproom.
- Kitchen space.
- Playground.
The kitchen space in particular will allow restaurant entrepreneurs with limited capital to start new concepts, serving food through a takeout window, while also functioning as a “ghost kitchen” space to serve food directly to consumers via delivery apps.
Unique for the development is the concept of offering equity to tenants — from the restaurant operators down to the co-working members — much in the same way tech startups offer equity to early employees. McPheeley said equity will also be offered to the community partners in the neighborhood.
“If you look at the neighborhood, it’s something like 80% renters, which often forces people out and it means they who can’t participate in the growth in the neighborhood, so we want them to be able to truly participate in the growth with what we’re doing,” McPheeley said.
The co-working space will be open to the public, but members of Chapel will earn discounts, dedicated work spaces, offices, access to conference rooms and more.
Harper Construction is handling the buildout of the project, with site work engineering from Bluewater Civil Design and architecture from SHLTR Architects.
