Public market proposed for downtown Madison
The nonprofit Common Wealth Development is asking the city to put up $500,000 to purchase land for a public market, an indoor foodstuff and crafts mall in the manner of Pike Place Market in Seattle and Midtown Public Market in Minneapolis envisioned for downtown Madison.
Marianne Morton, executive director of Common Wealth, and Jim Bower, director of Blue Planet Partners, made their pitch Monday to the Community Development Block Grant Commission, which administers federal funds earmarked for economic development, community development and housing projects.
"A public market is one of the most extraordinary public spaces you can imagine," Bower told commissioners. "CDBG money is a really critical piece of the puzzle."
To meet the $19 million capital campaign goal of the project, each CDBG dollar would be leveraged into $37 in additional monies from federal, state and private sources, he said.
The public market concept has been under study since 2006 by a group including city and county officials and gaining support in recent months, including that of Mayor Dave Cieslewicz. But staff of the CDBG office raised concerns about Common Wealth's capacity to take on the project, while CDBG commissioners wondered if the return in jobs was worth the investment being sought.
The combination of stores, stall, carts and "day tables" would eventually create 300 jobs, 51 percent of which would be held by low- or moderate-income people, according to the project's application to CDBG. That's over $1,600 per job.
"How much should we pay to create a job?" mused east side Ald. Marsha Rummel, a member of the commission. Rummel also was concerned about the $19 million fundraising goal for the project, on top of Common Wealth's $16 million fundraising tab for redevelopment of the former Garver Feed Mill at Olbrich Gardens as an arts incubator. CDBG staff in its analysis noted Common Wealth difficulties in the past in obtaining needed project funding.
"It's very ambitious," Rummel said.
Real estate opportunities must be grasped while they are available, Morton said. Through its partnerships and by tapping such options as new market tax credits, Common Wealth can muster the capacity, she said. "There is strong community support behind both projects."
The projected site is the Brayton Parking Lot, 1 S. Butler St., two blocks off the Capitol Square at East Washington Avenue. Two-thirds of the site is owned by the city, which is willing to convey the land, and one-third by the state of Wisconsin, with which talks are under way, Bower said. Plans are being drawn to develop the market with and without the state-owned portion, he said.
Commissioners heard Monday from several other applicants requesting economic development funds, including the Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corp., the Northside Planning Council and the Latino Chamber of Commerce. Local neighborhood center representatives also presented applications for CDBG funds for facility operation and programming.
The commission will hear from applicants at six additional hearings throughout the month of July to gain information to guide the appropriation of an estimated $1.86 million in CDBG funds and $1.5 million in HOME funds, federal funds dedicated for housing.
