PORTLAND -- A team hoping to create a public market in Portland won exclusive rights Thursday to a key piece of land downtown. The four-block parcel is located right next to the west end of the Morrison Bridge.
Multnomah County has agreed to sell the land to developer Melvin Mark for $10 million. It would cost the development team about $20 million to build the public market and millions more to construct a proposed 17-story commercial tower next to it.
Both parts of the development would feed off each other's potential success with some of the potential property tax revenue from the tower, for example, feeding into the market's funding.
In selecting developer Melvin Mark, Multnomah County Commissioners unanimously green-lighted exclusive negotiations with the company.
"I can't tell you how thrilled we are," said company president Dan Petrusich. "We think we've identified the best location."
Lead advocate Ron Paul has been pushing for a Portland public market for a decade, a market resembling the offerings of Seattle's famed Pike Place Market with its fish mongers, meat butchers and fresh locally grown food.
"But, also, we can focus on the beverages of the region, the other important food groups, the beer, wine, spirits the coffees and teas," said Paul. Farmer's markets in the Portland area already sell certain fresh local foods to neighborhoods. But Paul says these small markets account for only three percent of total produce sales in the city.
Portland Farmer's Market executive director Trudy Toliver agrees that a permanent public market would add needed hierarchy to the overall cause.
"When the public market opens up some of our larger vendors might actually choose to locate there and that'll just free up more opportunities for the smaller businesses to participate in the farmer's markets," she said.
Toliver has a long waiting list of vendors hoping to break into the local farmer's market scene. County leaders see additional reasons to approve the land deal for a big public market.
"I think it's more than past due for the county to get out of the business of operating surface parking lots in downtown Portland," said County Chair Jeff Cogen. "This is an opportunity for us to take this prime property and put it back on the tax rolls and put it to work in revitalizing downtown Portland."
Assuming developers can raise enough money to launch this project, it could lead to hundreds of jobs and give a huge boost local tourism and downtown retail. If all goes well, the James Beard Public Market - as it would be named - could open by 2016.
