DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — The largest food hall in Florida is opening this spring in Delray Beach.

The Delray Beach Market is expected to bring 200 permanent jobs to the downtown area.

It will house 25 permanent vendors inside a 150,000 square foot building.

“We are excited for the economic impact that we will see,” said Laura Simon with the Downtown Development Authority.

The $60 million project has been in the works for three years.

“Having this addition to our community will bring an enormous opportunity for new growth for new sales growth to our downtown,” said Simon.

It’s been a rough year for the hospitality industry. Restaurants were forced to shut their doors for months at a time.

“The pandemic has hit Delray Beach along with the entire state of Florida as a tourism industry very very hard,” said Simon.

COVID-19 shut businesses down, slowed down service, and put chefs out of work for months at a time.

“Actually I’ve been out of work since June,” said Jessie Steele, one of the chefs who will be working at the market.

Steele is helping launch two plant-based restaurants in the market.

“A lot of my friends are out of work or have struggled. I have friends that own businesses that are having a hard time and this is I think a great opportunity,” said Steele.

It hasn’t been easy keeping construction on track in the middle of a pandemic.

“When Covid hit, not knowing where the world was going to be we had to make some design changes,” said Jordana Jarjura, who works for Menin Development.

The developers were able to make quick adjustments, scaling back the number of food vendors, adding large open-air, garage doors, and touchless bathrooms. Their hope is to keep everyone safe inside the food hall.

This project the developers say, a symbol of hope, community, and opportunity.

“Just excited to be going into the Delray Beach marketplace and making some good food and getting some people in there eating again,” said Steele.

The Delray Beach Market is on track to open this spring.