James Beard Public Market | Proposed

[RED_PDXer]

The OMSI area is a no-brainer for this market. I work in south downtown and frequently cross over the Hawthorne or Tilikum bridges at lunch. I'm always impressed with the number of young professionals who work in that area doing lunch there as well.

I think the market will also create a synergy with the OMSI and Zidell redevelopment efforts. Would be super cool if the market opened in the Zidell barge building that's going to be vacated in the next year or two.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by DMH

I too was intrigued by the Morrison bridgehead site because it would energize a deadzone, be close to so many downtown workers, and be so near Saturday Market. Weekend crowds would visit both. The OMSI site might work just as Granville Island in Vancouver BC works. Granville has very difficult access. Perhaps it succeeds because it is co-located with some cultural activities. OMSI could play a role in creating a similar synergy.

One thing that really helps the OMSI area is the fact that it is pretty easy to get to with having a streetcar, light rail, bus, and having an easy pedestrian bridge located nearby. Plus combine that with if they are able to add residential to this area, along with all the residential going on along the SoWa area, it could really work out.

[RED_PDXer]

Originally Posted by pdxf

I've always been intrigued with little forgotten pieces of land, like in the image below (which is just south of Waterfront Park on Naito). According to portlandmaps.com, the top red box is owned by the city (seems like that could be an easy piece of land to devote to a better purpose), and I'm not sure who owns the lower red box. It seems like these pieces of land could be great areas for a public market. The pedestrian friendliness of the area is pretty bad, but it seems like that could be solved, and perhaps even used to create a stronger bond between the south end of downtown and the waterfront.

I did a quick writeup about this option here: http://www.drempd.com/blog/A-Better-...-Public-Market

I work across the street from this site and I can attest the pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure here is awful. I think just about any development here would help connect downtown with South Waterfront and Riverplace.

The vacant property to the south is owned in part by ODOT and in part by the PDC. The Parks bureau has some staff that report to the parking lot site with a small building. It's screaming for a redevelopment, but I'm a bit pessimistic about PDC's skills to get anything done. The PDC did a plan for this whole area in 2004 and it's been covered in dust ever since. I happen to have an electronic copy, but I can't seem to find it anywhere on the web. Currently, their website says the following about the sites:

Harbor/Naito Properties
This site has been considered as a potential future affordable housing site within the URA and the Harbor/Naito development area. The Portland-Milwaukie light rail alignment will transect this site at SW Lincoln.
Link to the PDC webpage

[cab]

Granville Island in Vancouver BC is a perfect comparison for OMSI area. I think having the market here will also open up some nice ferry service to and from DT. I think we've matured enough to have something that can take you from North DT to Riverfront to South waterfront across to OMSI. Plus the location as a unique feel and fits well with the manufacturing small business district.

[Mr. Walch]

I always though the Morrison Bridge was a terrible place for the market. The OMSI location has a lot of possibilities. My architecture masters thesis project was a market hall/production space using a site near there. As part of my research I mapped all the small food producers in the area and it is teeming with brewers, distillers, coffee roasters, commissary kitchens. A market seems like a natural fit.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by Mr. Walch

I always though the Morrison Bridge was a terrible place for the market. The OMSI location has a lot of possibilities. My architecture masters thesis project was a market hall/production space using a site near there. As part of my research I mapped all the small food producers in the area and it is teeming with brewers, distillers, coffee roasters, commissary kitchens. A market seems like a natural fit.

That is a good point, the Central Eastside Industrial has really become a collection of vendors. I have to say, I really miss doing these types of architecture projects. This one sounds like it was a fun complex project to work on.

[maccoinnich]

DJC reporter Chuck Slothower:

James Beard Public Market's move to OMSI property appears to be on track. 1/2

Says Executive Director Fred Granum: “It’s not a deal until it’s a deal, but it’s going well." 2/2

Link to tweet 1, 2

[babs]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

DJC reporter Chuck Slothower:





Link to tweet 1, 2

I'll believe it when I see a structure get built. It's been about 20 years since they have been trying to get this done.

[innovativethinking]

Originally Posted by babs

I'll believe it when I see a structure get built. It's been about 20 years since they have been trying to get this done.

Exactly

[maccoinnich]

James Beard Public Market still eyeing OMSI land



The James Beard Public Market is still looking for a home.

Executive Director Fred Granum thinks he might have found one near OMSI.

The nonprofit museum is preparing to redevelop the vacant lots that surround it, and Granum has been eyeing the land for a year now.

Plans to locate the long-sought project at the west end of the Morrison Bridge fell through last year over concerns about pedestrian access.

That wouldn't be an issue on OMSI's land, which is now situated between two pedestrian-friendly bridges.

...continues at the Oregonian.

[sopdx]

Originally Posted by PhillyPDX

Now how do you make it self-sustaining with a critical mass, rather than special events? That should be the norm, not the exception.

I think a public market would help. One that combines a farmer's market with carts or small restaurants, perhaps pop-up craft booths or stalls. I might help create a 'market district'.

It could be primarily inside and spill out to the street if necessary.

The old fentanyl hub block across from Kelly's Olympian might work or the base of the Galleria

[pdxsg34]

Originally Posted by sopdx

I think a public market would help. One that combines a farmer's market with carts or small restaurants, perhaps pop-up craft booths or stalls. I might help create a 'market district'.

It could be primarily inside and spill out to the street if necessary.

The old fentanyl hub block across from Kelly's Olympian might work or the base of the Galleria

La Boqueria in barcelona comes to mind

[dizflip]

Originally Posted by sopdx

I think a public market would help. One that combines a farmer's market with carts or small restaurants, perhaps pop-up craft booths or stalls. I might help create a 'market district'.

It could be primarily inside and spill out to the street if necessary.

The old fentanyl hub block across from Kelly's Olympian might work or the base of the Galleria

Old Greyhound Depot by Union Station hands down. Almost like it was built for it.

[DMH]

Originally Posted by dizflip

Old Greyhound Depot by Union Station hands down. Almost like it was built for it.

I agree that the former bus station would be a good public market. I am pretty sure that I wrote somewhere about this in the past. It has a mostly column-free interior with a great cantilevered canopy over the former bus platform, which would protect any outdoor produce vendors.

[sopdx]

Originally Posted by DMH

I agree that the former bus station would be a good public market. I am pretty sure that I wrote somewhere about this in the past. It has a mostly column-free interior with a great cantilevered canopy over the former bus platform, which would protect any outdoor produce vendors.

I agree, it would, however, it isn't really in the core.

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

Originally Posted by sopdx

I agree, it would, however, it isn't really in the core.

Surrounded by MAX lines, across from Union Station, and blocks from the Lan Su Garden, North Park Blocks, and hungry PNCA students is nothing to sneeze at, though. It could help catalyze more interest in that area. And probably for the majority of Pearl residents, it wouldn't be more than a 15-ish minute walk.

[downtownpdx]

Originally Posted by dizflip

Old Greyhound Depot by Union Station hands down. Almost like it was built for it.

Totally agree with the public market idea. Intermittent events and cleanups, while not the answer to revitalizing downtown, are important tools in the meantime. I’m not sure I agree with the old bus station, despite what sounds like a great building. If we had a thriving downtown with 24/7 healthy activity… maybe then. But I think something with such potential for reactivating the city center should be more centrally located. I was walking by the Morrison bridge along the waterfront today, and it would’ve been such a great spot. But also the Washington center building, or another spot in that east downtown/waterfront area. This is foodie central, we should be able to make this happen.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by sopdx

I think a public market would help. One that combines a farmer's market with carts or small restaurants, perhaps pop-up craft booths or stalls. I might help create a 'market district'.

It could be primarily inside and spill out to the street if necessary.

The old fentanyl hub block across from Kelly's Olympian might work or the base of the Galleria

The best building in Portland for this is actually the Bus Terminal building by the train station. That building is on a double block site and has a building that is a double cantilever roof, which means it could be hollowed out easily and adapted for a public market. It would be across from the train station making it a gateway building, it is a block from the Post Office site with a block in between that would be a great redevelopment block, and that whole area around the bus station building could easily be turned into a market district.

Originally Posted by downtownpdx

Totally agree with the public market idea. Intermittent events and cleanups, while not the answer to revitalizing downtown, are important tools in the meantime. I’m not sure I agree with the old bus station, despite what sounds like a great building. If we had a thriving downtown with 24/7 healthy activity… maybe then. But I think something with such potential for reactivating the city center should be more centrally located. I was walking by the Morrison bridge along the waterfront today, and it would’ve been such a great spot. But also the Washington center building, or another spot in that east downtown/waterfront area. This is foodie central, we should be able to make this happen.

My issue with the Morrison Bridgehead blocks and the Washington Center building is that those two sites would be better as residential buildings, which is what that area really needs the most, especially seeing we already have two food cart locations and a food hall near those two sites. Plus with the bus building, having a double block is rare in downtown and with one that is across from the train station, a block from a major redevelopment site, surrounded by MAX trains would make a public market a centerpiece in the city center.



added: Another thing to consider with the bus station building is the blocks around it allow for buildings as high as 325ft and some allow 425ft. This could make for a really cool residential high rise district around a public market.

[Socinus]

I selfishly would love to have a large public market in the bus station, though I fear the structure won't survive to see it - my office overlooks it and the roof is already showing significant signs of damage/entropy. While the multiple parts that are covered by tarps (for over a year!) are probably fixable, the building was not really being maintained even prior to becoming a homeless shelter.

I echo the sentiment about the tall heights allowed on the surrounding parcels - it would be great to see these empty lots / abandoned building replaced by new structures.

[AdamUrbanist]

Replacing a roof as a part of a larger renovation doesn't seem like an insurmountable obstacle to me. The larger question in my mind is whether a change in occupancy could trigger broader upgrades to the structure. That would quickly outstrip the cost of demolishing the existing building and starting over.