Consultant: Downtown Block Best Suited for Public Market
A multi-tenant indoor market focused on local food and paired with a specialty grocery store is a viable option for downtown Eau Claire, according to a feasibility study recently presented to the Eau Claire City Council.
Specifically, the plot now known as Block 7 – a parking lot at the corner of North Barstow and Wisconsin streets, across from The Livery – “holds the highest potential for an indoor market,” according to Portland, Maine-based Market Ventures, which conducted the study on behalf of the city.
Originally, city planners had considered the Cannery District – a newer redevelopment area on the west bank of the Chippewa River, north of Madison Street – as a potential location for a larger-scale market. However, the report advises against this location as well as the large-scale approach.
Originally, city planners had considered the Cannery District – a newer redevelopment area on the west bank of the Chippewa River, north of Madison Street – as a potential location for a larger-scale market. However, the report advises against this location as well as the large-scale approach.
“The research and analysis suggest that a ‘traditional’ public market hall populated with numerous, small, independent food retailers and with dedicated market management (like the Milwaukee Public Market) is not a feasible approach for Eau Claire,” the report states. Instead, the city should consider two “interrelated strategies.” First would be “Developing a local food-focused, multi-tenant indoor market on the ground floor of a new building on Block 7, with an independent specialty grocery such as a food coop as the anchor tenant, several independent prepared and fresh food retailers as complementary tenants, and common event and education space.” These “complementary tenants” could include bakers, butchers, coffee roasters, florists, or others, the report says.
The report’s second suggested strategy is to create “a multi-block market district around Phoenix Park which highlights the area’s existing and proposed food- and event-related assets while adding new market-related functions over time.” Those existing assets include the Eau Claire Downtown Farmers Market, the Artist Market, community gardens, nearby restaurants and breweries, and the soon-to-be-built Confluence performing arts center and its adjacent plaza.
The City Council voted unanimously Sept. 13 to accept the report. City Councilman Andrew Werthmann said he hopes the vote encourages private-sector action on the public market concept. “What that does is it sends a signal to potential developers that the council would like to see proposals that include the public market plan, and I think it shows the viability of doing the public market,” Werthmann said.
The 1.67-acre Block 7 is owned by the city’s Redevelopment Authority, which intends eventually to sell it to a private developer. Twice the RDA has issued a request for proposals, but neither of them led to a development agreement.
“Does this preclude other ideas (for Block 7)?” Werthmann said of the report’s emphasis on a public market on the site. “Absolutely not. But it does signal that we prefer it.”
Ned Noel, associate planner for the City of Eau Claire, agreed that the plan now needs a private-sector champion. “We would really like to see the private sector businesses step up to fill this sort of vision,” he said. The report, he noted, can serve as a form of market research for potential developers.
A developer would likely need financial help to make the project a success. Noel expects that such a developer would pursue grants, as the Menomonie Market Food Co-op did last year to fund its successful expansion. The report details numerous avenues for funding, including private equity, corporate donations, capital campaign, federal and state tax credits, and a variety of grant programs.
The study was funded through grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Group Health Cooperative, Marshfield Clinic, and Mayo Clinic Health System.
To learn more about the public market project and to read the report, visit eauclairewi.gov/departments/community-development/public-market.
