Project for Public Spaces Awards $1,000,000 for Public Markets

Project for Public Spaces (www.pps.org) is pleased to award nine grants totaling over $1 million to help fund the development of public markets in low- and moderate-income communities around the country.

This innovative grant program is being managed by PPS as part of our ongoing partnership with the Ford Foundation to promote the role of public markets as vehicles for social integration and upward mobility.

This effort began in 2002 with research conducted by PPS that demonstrated how public markets provide both a low-cost entry point for new businesses and a focal point for bringing diverse groups of people together. Using these findings as a departure point, and PPS worked with a diverse group of community development experts and public market operators (informally known as the Public Markets Advisory Group) to develop a new paradigm and national funding program for markets in low- and moderate-income communities.

The program sought out projects where the public market would serve a "shifting sands" community – i.e. one undergoing substantial changes in demographics or real estate values. This new approach to public markets seeks to balance the goal of financial sustainability for the market itself with broad community goals, including:


Developing local entrepreneurs
Creating active public spaces
Revitalizing neighborhoods
Building urban/rural linkages
Improving health and nutrition


The first year funding program was developed in collaboration with the federal Office of Community Services (OCS), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which also awarded $1,000,000 in grants under its special public markets initiative.

"I believe all of us involved with this new initiative – PPS, HHS/OCS and the Public Markets Advisory Group – are pleasantly surprised at the degree of interest by applicants for funding," said Miguel Garcia, Acting Deputy Director of the Community Resource Development Unit at the Ford Foundation. "Clearly, we have uncovered a ripe investing venue for both public and private funders."

Grantees
More than 110 proposals were received in response to both the Ford Foundation and OCS RfPs.

$65,000 Planning Grants

ACEnet, Athens, Ohio
Design and plan an indoor public market centered on local goods in a part of town dominated by big box chain stores.

Camden Area Health Education Center, Camden, NJ Plan for an expanded and enhanced public market in Camden City's Central Business District

Community Farm Alliance, Louisville, KY Plan for the development of a local food market with a value-added processing facility and distribution center, jointly owned and operated by farmers and inner city residents

$200,000 Implementation Grant

Neighborhood Development Center, Minneapolis, MN Develop the Global Marketplace, a 60,000 plus square foot international marketplace on Lake Street in S. Minneapolis

$200,000 Implementation Grants with OCS grant

Valley Economic Development Center, Panorama City, CA Catalyze creation of new businesses and jobs in Plaza del Valle, a privately owned shopping center and secure its role as a social, cultural and economic center. Some programs include entrepreneurship training, cultural festivals, outdoor movies and sports events, and the area's first farmer's market.

East Harlem Business Capital Corporation, New York, NY Restore La Marqueta, a historic city-owned market

Unity Council, Oakland, CA
Create the Fruitvale Village Public Market, an indoor/outdoor market at the main entrance to a light rail station and the heart of a newly constructed housing development

$30,000 Advancement Grants

The Market Foundation, Seattle, WA
To further the adoption of a stored value electronic benefits card, the Quest Card, at Pike Place Market

Eastern Market Advancement Coalition, Detroit, MI In support of a Urban Land Institute Panel to identify strategies for improvement of Eastern Market

Project for Public Spaces is a non-profit that creates and sustains places that build community. Visit our web site at www.pps.org.

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