DELAWARE — A large vacant space on the first floor of the Miller Building is set to become a market hall featuring restaurants, local vendors, artists and more — with a target opening by Thanksgiving.
It’s the final phase of a complete renovation of the 172-year-old building, which sat empty for four years before being purchased by Liz Hauswald and Christopher Collins in June 2024.
The pair own Nvironment, a national design and architecture firm specializing in restaurant and food halls. They officially cut the ribbon on their headquarters at 18 N. Sandusky St. on Thursday.
Hauswald and Collins said they took on the project after deciding to relocate their business from Columbus to Delaware, and restore the building’s historic character.
The Nvironment team moved into the third floor of the Miller Building last summer after a year of renovation, which cost $1.5 million and countless hours of work, Collins said.
“The second and third floor was storage, so the last time anybody used it for an office or inhabited it was around 1940. So, it’s been empty since World War II,” Collins said.
Studio 201 Hair Company and Lewis Rachel Insurance have since moved into other upstairs spaces.
With the upper floors complete, attention has shifted to the 10,000-square-foot ground floor.
The space will become 1854 Market Hall — named for the building’s construction year — and is expected to include a wine bar, a full bar, golf simulators, up to four food stalls and open gathering space.
Collins said the concept is designed to lower the barrier for small food businesses.
“You attract people that say, have a food truck and they want to get brick and mortar, but they can’t really afford to do that. Instead of building it themselves, this way we just lease out five, 600 square-foot spaces with a hood,” Collins said.
Construction may be phased, similar to the rest of the building’s renovation, but Collins said he has already received letters of intent for the bar and is seeking additional tenants for the remaining spaces.
“This building and the building across the street, historically, were always the center of the community, so we’re hoping to bring that back,” Collins said.
History of the Miller Building
Before Nvironment took over the building, the Delaware Antique Mall occupied the space from 2000 to 2020. But the building’s history stretches back more than 150 years.
It starts in 1854, when Baker Martin Miller — the building’s namesake — purchased the parcel. He later expanded it to become a large public gather space, known as Miller’s Hall.
Between 1870 and 1900, the building housed a mix of businesses, including restaurants, saloons, a barber shop and even a cigar manufacturer.
It continued to be a hub for restaurants and shops throughout the early to mid-1900s, with tenants including Fleck’s Restaurant, Gottfried Mayer, Louis Swope and others.
After 1950, the space shifted to offices, including use by the Delaware Township Trustees — a piece of history Hauswald and Collins honored by preserving the original office door.
Then came department stores before the antique mall claimed the space for two decades.
Much of that history is still visible today, reflected in unique features preserved by Hauswald and Collins, such as wall-mounted phones and original signage.
