ESCONDIDO PUBLIC MARKET: CAN IT HAPPEN?

I wrote yesterday about the idea of a Permanent Public Market on Grand and emailed the idea to a number of city folks.  As usual, almost all my responses came through emails, except for Richard Barron--you can read his comments online.  Today, I'd like to clarify my vision for the Escondido Public Market which would not supplant the weekly Farmers' Market but add to it.  In fact, if all went well there might be a reason to have the Farmers' Market twice a week, with the second time on the weekend.

So, here's what I've been thinking about, based upon locating the Market at 224 & 228 Grand--flyer describing the property is here.  (I will let everyone know now I do not have the money or financial wherewithal to buy and/or renovate this property.  Figuring out how to make that happen is a whole different kettle of fish, though I believe $2 million would cover everything nicely--and we could even make it GREEN.)

The property is 100 feet across the front and goes back about 130/140 feet.  I would "square off" the space--the back area would include administration, restrooms, a walk in frig--so 100' x 100' would be available for permanent vendors.  We could easily have two wide aisles for customers and display coupled with four rows of vendors, one against each wall, two back to back in the middle.  These would not be tables set up and taken down each day, these would be permanent spaces that the same vendor would return to each day. (The photograph above is of K. Horton Specilaty Foods at the Portland Maine Public Market House.  Go to that site and you will also find many articles on how they made their market happen.)

There would need to be "anchors" in the Market just like there is in a mall.  I would think a Fish Shop at the back would be an excellent start along with a good size cheese shop.  Of course, an artisan bakery or two would be perfect as well as a tortilleria, and then let's add a chocolate/candy shop and a shop that makes fresh pasta.  Maybe the DBA would have a spot or the various museums could handle a small booth.  While the anchors and most spots along the walls would be fairly set in size, those in the center would offer greater flexibility so more sizes would be available, from tiny for a "startup" to large for someone who wanted to expand.  Final number could be anywhere from 20 to 40 vendors.

By opening it right in the block where the FM now occurs, we could expand the offerings for shoppers.  On FM days, the vendors that can only afford $25 will be able to set up their booth right outside the Public Market, with each generating customers for the other.  As you would expect, rents in the Public Market will not be cheap. It is impossible to come up with any "real" numbers but looking at other places in the country I would think spaces would start at about $500 and go up from there.  Yes that is far above the $100 a month weekly vendors pay at the FM, but tmost of them travel the FM circuit, paying out about that much over the course of a month of market days.  Maybe a few of them would decide to settle down and make Escondido Public Market their "home." 

Well, those are my thoughts for now.  This is only the germ of an idea and there are a thousand steps that would need to be taken before it could happen.  Name an important issue and I don't know how it would be handled.  Parking, permits, financing, renovation...it is all just a pipe dream for now so feel free to bring me down to earth.  Tell me why it can't work.  Tell me how it can.  I look forward to hearing from you.  See you tomorrow. 

FIGS FROM THE MARKET, ALREADY ATE TWO.

WHAT IF EVERY DAY WAS ESCONDIDO MARKET DAY?

I go to the Farmers' Market most Tuesdays, but not all.  Sometimes it's too hot or I have something else to do or I just don't feel like it.  So then I end up going to TJs or Major Market where odds are the produce won't be local. So I began to wonder what it would take to have a Permanent Farmers' Market.  When I Goggled those three words the number of entries astounded me.  In city after city, state after state, even country after country, people are looking for ways to create their markets.  

When I talked about this on this blog before, I knew less than I do now.  One thing I have learned is that many of these large empty buildings on Grand and nearby are not divideable.  They were created for another era of retail when big stores like Sears ruled downtown.  So that leads me to believe these dinosaurs should be sold at a reasonable price that allows for adaptive reuse.  My first choice is 224 & 228 East Grand. It's on the market for $1.25 million---is that a fair price?  The flyer says it's 13,500 sq. ft. with some post and beam construction.  As far as zoning, it says "APN / Zoning: 229-431-20 & 229-431-21 / S-P (SPECIFIC PLAN) Central/Tier 1 Downtown Revitalization Area, B.I.D. (Zone1), Downtown Retail District (DR), Economic Incentive Zone, Downtown Redevelopment Area."

My vision for this market would be for it to become The Escondido Public Market.  It would sell some of the things we see each week on Grand as well as other food that requires the kind of refrigeration not available outside.  How about milk fresh from a local dairy?  Fresh cheese?  Maybe even local wines and beers?  Seafood for sure.  For some of the year it could be airconditioned, but most of the time it would be wide open front with stalls.  Sure it wouldn't be as big as the famous Pike Place Market I've pictured, but it would certainly be a draw.  How shall we begin to make this happen?  See you tomorrow. 

FRIDAY NIGHTS. HOW ABOUT GRILLS AND GRILLIN'?

The times I've been at Cruisin" Grand I've seen two things.  Lots of people at some of the restaurants.  Lots of people with their own coolers, having a picnic.  The third group, and what I figured would be the largest, hasn't materialized.  And that's folks walking down the street with something yummy in their hands.  Sure, Bristo 221 offers pizza by the slice, but that certainly doesn't set my heart aflutter. 

Why haven't any of the restaurants started grilling on Friday night, giving people a reason to leave their own food at home?  Make it street food at a good price and I think it could take off.  How about hot dogs, carne asada tacos, lamb kebabs on pita?  Now it may be tough for restaurants to do that and offer outdoor seating--the smoke could get a little thick and off putting.  So how about making a "food court " in the lot where Mr. Kettle Corn plies his wares?  Is there some reason why he gets to be the only street vendor in town?  And if the restaurants on Grand aren't interested, I bet there are other Escondido eateries that would be happy to do the job.  Wish it was lunchtime, I've made myself hungry.  See you tomorrow.