The City has been in on-going discussions with Santa Cruz Community Farmer's Market (SCCFM) since late summer 2017, working to establish a new permanent home for the Downtown Farmers’ Market with the following objectives: 

• Permanent Location and Structure 
• Improved Site and Enhanced Community Space 
• Year- round Operations & Expansion with Special Events 

Located just around the corner from the current site, a new permanent, dedicated space for the Farmers' Market is proposed for parking lot #16 on Church St. The new space will include covered space to allow for four-season functionality and other amenities, and for the market to grow with the needs of its customers and farmers.

Recent Actions: 

• 4.1.2024 The City of Santa Cruz Farmers’ Market is embarking on an exciting journey to enhance the downtown market experience and is inviting the community to voice their opinions through an online survey. This initiative aims to gather valuable feedback to inform the development of a permanent downtown market, ensuring it meets the diverse needs and preferences of local residents and visitors alike. The survey will remain open until April 24, 2024, and all responses will be kept confidential. Full press release here. 

• 10.14.22 Santa Cruz Farmers' Market and the City of Santa Cruz agree to an MOU to establish permanent home. 
  Read the Joint Statement  
  View the Press Release  

• Updated Design and Layout Presented to Farmer's Market Board - August 2022 
• MOU Submitted to Farmers Market Board - July 2022 
• $1.775M budgeted for initial phase 

The existing market location covers roughly 50,000 square feet. The proposed location is a little over 40,000 square feet, but has the potential to be combined with a portion of the adjacent New Seasons parking lot on Wednesday afternoons to provide a comparable site roughly equivalent to the current site. This combined space would be able to accommodate the existing 67 market vendors in a number of different layouts as well as their associated vendor trucks. Future efficiencies or offsite parking of vendor trucks could result in additional space for vendor growth as well as consideration of temporary street closures enabling future expansion.

Preliminary design discussions have explored multiple open air possibilities that range from a more permanent roof structure to a more temporary and adaptable canvas cover. Discussions with SCCFM are ongoing, but the board is “very excited and hopeful about the possibilities of the proposed Front Street site.”