A rendering of the planned interior.

The food hall is one of the hot food/dining concepts around the country at the moment, and it's popped up here, too -- in Troy with Troy Kitchen, and Latham with Galleria 7.

There's another new-school food court on the way: GoodMRKT -- "Good Market" -- planned for the Nipper Building conversion in Albany's Warehouse District. Word of the project first surfaced in late 2015 as part of the state's Regional Economic Development Council grant process.

Roughly a year and a half later the project is still on, and the backer is planning to open later this year.

Here are a few bits about what's up...

Where

GoodMRKT is planned for space int the first floor of The Nipper Building, on Broadway at the intersection with Loudonville Rd in the Warehouse District. A developer -- Bill Barber -- is converting the upper floors of the building to apartments. (He's also the same developer doing the residential/restaurant conversion of building just down the street at 960 Broadway.)

Who's behind it

The backer of GoodMRKT is Ross Goodman. He says the idea is for the market to be a place people can have a meal or pick up ingredients for a meal at home, while also serving a gathering spot in the Warehouse District, especially as space there is converted to residential.

Goodman doesn't currently work in the food industry -- he's an attorney -- though he worked in restaurants in the past. He sees his role as the project backer as one of setting the stage for vendors -- designing the layout, assembling a good mix of vendors, and fitting up the space with utilities.

"I don't see it fully as a food venture," he said of the Good Market, "I'm coordinating and aggregating."

Goodman said the overall project cost is in the $500k-$600k range. The REDC grant is 20-percent match worth up to $260k.

The vendor lineup

Here are the vendors Goodman said he's lined up as of last week:

+ Fin - Your Fishmonger

+ Stacks Espresso

+ Hudson Valley BBQ Co.

+ Empanada Llama

+ Mugzy's Barkery

+ Lucky Clover Artisanal Bakery

He said a seventh vendor is in the works. And he'd ultimately like to have 10 to 12. Among the options he'd like to add: prepared food vendors selling woodfired pizza, Mediterranean, sushi, and tacos, along with merchants selling ingredients such as produce and cheese.

What he's looking for in vendors: "I like ones that are creative, ones that are willing to work together with other merchants, ones that generally have existing infrastructure so that Good Market would act as a satellite location."

Timeline

Goodman said he's hoping construction with start in the next few weeks. And if that happens, an opening would be targed for mid summer.

Preview event

The Good Market has a preview event set for May 9 at The Palace Theater at 5:30 pm. Vendors will be there offering samples and answering questions what they have planned for their booth in the food hall. It's free to attend, though space is limited (see that link to register).

Proceeds from a cash bar at the event will benefit The Palace.