Pike Place Market is growing with the new “MarketFront,” the Market’s new Waterfront Entrance. This is the first expansion of Seattle’s iconic public market in 40 years! The western-facing entrance to the Market is the result of a decades-long vision to complete the final piece of the Market Historic District. Construction is currently scheduled to commence in 2015.
What is now a surface parking lot on the Market’s western edge will be revitalized into a public plaza where farmers, artisans and buskers will set up daily. A new portal will open up to the waterfront, creating easier pedestrian access from the Market to and from the water. This portal also restores a historic connection between the waterfront and the Market, where goods were off-loaded onto the docks and hauled uphill to the bustling Market, the center for trade in early 20th century Seattle.
Facing west, the MarketFront will provide Market-goers with spectacular views of Puget Sound, Mt. Rainier and the Olympic Mountains from a public viewing deck. Additional retail space will provide more access to market artisans and local food purveyors allowing shoppers to “meet the producer,” as they have done at the Market for more than a century.
Social services and housing for low-income seniors has long been a part of our mission and the new MarketFront will have both, allowing the Market to continue to care for those in our community and neighborhood who are most vulnerable. Covered parking will allow for convenient access to Pike Place Market and the waterfront.
The MarketFront is slated to be completed before the removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct in 2016. Construction on the new MarketFront will begin in 2015. The Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority (PDA) is currently negotiating a development agreement with the City of Seattle, obtaining the necessary permits and finalizing construction documents.
Funding for the approximately $66 million project comes from the City of Seattle, the PDA, AWV Parking Mitigation Funds, Low-Income Housing Grants and Tax Credits and a capital fundraising campaign led by the Pike Place Market Foundation.