Located in the heart of downtown Portland, the James Beard Public Market will be “Portland’s Kitchen” next to “Portland’s Living Room”
Portland, Ore. (October 28, 2024) — The James Beard Public Market is thrilled to announce the future home of its highly anticipated public market in the heart of downtown Portland. The central city location of SW 6th Avenue and Alder Street in downtown Portland will serve as a vibrant hub for an estimated 40 new small businesses. The James Beard Public Market will encompass a teaching kitchen, event space, restaurant, bakery, fish market, butcher, cheese shop, wine merchant, local farm stalls, prepared foods, bookstore, and fast casual dining. The public market is named for James Beard, Portland’s culinary son, born (1903) and raised in Portland.
Downtown Portland’s James Beard Public Market will be a daily, year-round marketplace celebrating the bounty of the Pacific Northwest. With its mission to enhance access to fresh local food, promote sustainable agriculture and affordable nutrition, and revive Portland’s public market history, the market will provide access to healthy eating and economic opportunities. The market’s focus on equity, social responsibility, environmental stewardship, and education will foster an inclusive food space in the heart of the city. The James Beard Public Market will be a market for all.
The market’s development has gained essential momentum thanks to robust public-private partnership allowing the organization to secure the site, with lead support from the OCF Joseph E. Weston Public Foundation and a philanthropic developer partnership with the Schlesigner Family. Pre-development funding and public support have been provided by Prosper Portland, the Office of Mayor Ted Wheeler at the City of Portland, Travel Oregon, and Travel Portland, among others. The James Beard Public Market is completing the second phase of their $3M capital campaign to purchase the building located at 622 SW Alder Street and has raised $1.5M toward the building purchase to date.
Located around the corner from Pioneer Square, the James Beard Public Market will be “Portland’s Kitchen” next to “Portland’s Living Room,” and will feature:
- 40 new small businesses, including a teaching kitchen, event space, restaurant, bakery, fish market, butcher, cheese shop, wine merchant, and local farm stalls
- 38,140 square feet of market space, including a rooftop events space
- Seven-day-a-week operation to support local farmers, artisans, and entrepreneurs
The project team is led by BCV Architects, an award-winning architecture, interior design, and planning firm behind landmark projects like San Francisco’s Ferry Building and Napa’s Oxbow Public Market, and local firms Colab Architecture, Grummel Engineering, and Hoffman Construction, a leader in iconic Pacific Northwest projects.
“We are proud to share that a public market is coming to Oregon at the perfect time,” said James Beard Public Market Executive Director Jessica Elkan. “James Beard had a long and celebrated career that was heavily inspired by Oregon’s natural bounty, and at his namesake market, we will celebrate Oregon as a culinary capital of the world and highlight under one roof all that we grow, produce, make, fish, and raise in Oregon.”
The first phase of the James Beard Public Market is slated to open in 2025, with the entire project completed by September of 2026.
