There have been several attempts to open a James Beard Public Market in Portland, but organizers say they now have a space to call home downtown.
PORTLAND, Ore. — A long-held vision to open a public market in Portland similar to Seattle’s Pike Place Market has led to the James Beard Public Market Foundation securing a home for the eponymous public market. With Monday’s announcement, it is regaining a new lease of life.
The nonprofit foundation that operates the market occupies 38,000 square feet of space in a sales building on Southwest 6th Avenue near Southwest Alder Street, making it a public, open 24/7 location in downtown Portland. announced the creation of a market.
“We are the culinary capital of the world,” said Jessica Elkann, executive director of the James Beard Public Market. “We do a lot of growing, producing, manufacturing, fishing, and much more across this state, and we want to highlight that and bring it all under one roof under the James Beard Public Market. The time has come.”
The James Beard Public Marketplace will feature up to 40 vendors selling Oregon-grown food and produce, an educational kitchen, event space, a bakery, a fish market, a butcher shop, a cheese shop, a wine store, and cookbooks. Specialized bookstores will open stores. Approximately 200 jobs will also be created.
The marketplace is named after Beard, a culinary icon who was born in Portland in 1903. Beard tried acting in Hollywood, but his career never took off, and he instead pursued a career in cooking after founding a catering company in New York in 1939. OPB in the timeline of his life.
“We want this to be a gathering place and a community space for Portlanders to gather in an iconic destination in the heart of our city,” Elkann said. Ta.
The idea of a public market has been around since 1998. It was first started 26 years ago in 1998 by Portland chef and restaurateur Ron Paul. He supported the idea for more than a decade. Paul passed away in 2015, but his vision lived on.
“Ron Paul worked for years to build this before he passed away,” Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden said during Monday’s announcement. “If he were here today, he would say we’re here to celebrate a showcase of Portland’s future.”
In the years since Paul’s James Beard Public Market dream began, the project has received state funding, potential site renderings and properties, and projects such as OMSI and Morrison. An earlier spot near Street Bridge was envisioned but never materialized. Anything.
“I think what sets this apart from other efforts is a true public-private partnership,” Elkann said. “I also think we’re at a time in Portland where we need to rethink and reinvigorate and emphasize what we do best, which is the culinary arts.”
Elkann said one difference between the James Beard Public Market and Seattle’s Pike Place Market is that it doesn’t sell crafts, so it competes for business with Portland’s Saturday Market. No, he said. Related items in this market. ”
Some vendors have well-known names, while others are just making their name known to the public. Elkan hopes this will help vendors start small and someday open their own brick-and-mortar stores.
He said rents will be competitively priced, adding: “You can’t just buy a building and pass that cost on to a trader. The whole idea of a public market is to make sure rents are affordable to potential traders. It’s about making sure the price is right.” ”
The market expects a partial opening in the second half of 2025 and a full opening in 2026, with the aim of starting construction in January 2025.
