The highly anticipated James Beard Public Market is finally coming to downtown Portland, James Beard Public Market Director Jessica Elkan confirmed in a statement on Monday, October 28.

The new development will include 40 small businesses, including a fish market, butcher, cheese shop, restaurants, teaching kitchen and more, according to the release. The first phase of the market is expected to open in 2025 near Pioneer Courthouse Square, and the entire project is expected to be completed by September 2026. The market is named after culinary icon and chef James Beard, who was born in Portland in 1903. Willamette Week reports that the market will accept the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) when it opens to make it more accessible to low-income Portlanders.

James Beard Public Market

The public market has been in development for over a decade, with land around the Morrison Bridge purchased in 2012 for a “Pike Place-style market.” The first proposals for the project date back to 2008 or 2009. In 2014, the developers organized a forum to gather public opinion, and in 2015 a first design was unveiled. In 2019, the team behind the project began looking at a new location nearby. the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) or in the South Waterfront neighborhood after problems were encountered with the proposed downtown location.

Construction is being led by BCV Architects, the group behind San Francisco’s Ferry Building and Napa’s Oxbow Public Market. The expansive market includes 38,140 square feet of space, including a rooftop terrace, and will be open seven days a week.

“We are proud that a public market is coming to Oregon at the perfect time,” Elkan said in a statement shared with Eater Portland. “James Beard had a long and celebrated career that was deeply inspired by Oregon’s natural bounty, and at his namesake market we will celebrate Oregon as the Culinary Capital of the World and highlight everything we grow, produce, make and fish under one roof . , and increase in Oregon.”

Currently, the Public Market is trying to raise $3 million in capital to purchase the building at 622 SW Alder Street; it has reached $1.5 million in funding. According to a Public Market representative, the team is currently preparing the supplier selection process and will share more details in early 2025.