Downtown Milwaukee's 3rd Street Market Hall food hall plans to add a venue for private events that will accommodate 300 people − with additional space on an outdoor patio.

The venue for weddings, corporate parties and other events will use former Grand Avenue mall retail space on the first floor between the food hall and North Second Street.

The venue is to open by April, said Omar Shaikh, who oversees 3rd Street Market Hall, 275 W. Wisconsin Ave.

The food hall features around 20 local food and beverage vendors as well as Topgolf Swing Suite golf simulator and other games. It opened in January and is a key part of the former Grand Avenue conversion to The Avenue, which includes offices and apartments.

Shaikh and his partners, including The Avenue developer Josh Krsnak, decided to add the venue because of strong demand for private events at 3rd Street Market Hall.

The entire food hall can host up to 1,250 people, according to its website. Also, smaller events, such as cocktail parties, can rent the former retail corridor east of the food hall.

A portion of that corridor, and the former stores on the corridor's south side, will be transformed into the events venue, Shaikh and Krsnak told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

It will seat up to 300 people, but its space will be divisible for groups with as few as 50 people, Shaikh said.

Also, an alley between The Avenue parking structure and the Courtyard By Marriott Milwaukee Downtown hotel, 300 W. Michigan St., will be converted into the venue's patio for additional seating, Krsnak said.

3rd Street Market Hall continues to see increased activity, Shaikh said. It will have just over 20 vendors when the last two stalls are filled, he said.

The food hall's separate venue is the latest in a series of events venues opening throughout Milwaukee − a growing business that centers on weddings.

That's spurring redevelopment of historic buildings and providing additional revenue for hotels, museums and other locations − fueled in part by an influx of Chicago-area customers.

Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 3rd Street Market Hall adding downtown events venue for 300 guests