Thursday, June 1, 2006

Market vendors find new home

By TUX TURKEL, Portland Press Herald Writer

A vacant storefront in Monument Square will become the new home for four of the original vendors in the soon-to-be-sold Portland Public Market.

The group has signed a letter of intent with the owner of 28 Monument Square . The space was occupied by the Surplus Store, which closed in 2004.

The businesses have organized as Market Vendors LLC. The corporation includes Maine Beer & Beverage Co., K. Horton's Specialty Foods and A Country Bouquet. Big Sky Bakery is the fourth member.

The group expects to sign a lease next month and move in by year's end, Bill Milliken, co-owner of Maine Beer & Beverage, said Wednesday.

Other companies and small enterprises have expressed interest in joining the group, Milliken said. "Wine, beer, cheese, bread and flowers. It's a great nucleus of products to build on," he said.

The recent agreement ends a three-month search by vendors who wanted to retain a public market setting after learning that the Libra Foundation, which owns the Portland Public Market, would sell off its real estate holdings in the city.

The Portland Public Market had 24 businesses at its peak, a few years ago. Today, it has 11.

Four of those have given notice that they plan to leave soon, according to Libra Foundation. That is in addition to the three that plan to leave the market for Monument Square .

Details of the group's lease are still being negotiated, but Milliken said he expects them to sign a five-year agreement with options to renew. The vendors are still discussing what to name their enterprise.

"We aren't going to call ourselves the Portland Public Market," he said.

The market vendors plan to occupy the basement, ground and first floor of the building, a total of roughly 6,900 square feet. The building's owner, Alex Tessman, plans upgrades to the old brick structure, Milliken said, including an elevator.

Eventually, Milliken said, the new market might have a commercial kitchen and a walk-in cooler that farmers and cart vendors could use to prepare food. The space also could be rented to crafts people during holidays.

Milliken and his colleagues looked at a handful of other potential sites in the city, including a vacant garage on Washington Avenue . But the Monument Square building is perfect, he said. It's within a block of their current location and adjacent to where farmers set up their outdoor market every Wednesday during the growing season.

"We're very excited," said Kris Horton, who owns the specialty cheese shop. "We wanted to maintain a downtown market. We think it's a dream come true."

Milliken and Horton acknowledge that they face two uncertainties: parking and timing.

Unlike the Portland Public Market, the Monument Square space lacks dedicated parking, although garages are nearby.

Timing is uncertain because the vendors don't know for sure when their new space will be ready, or when they will have to leave the Portland Public Market.

Owen Wells, president of the Libra Foundation, said Wednesday that most of the vendors have leases that a buyer would have to honor. But Horton is operating now as a tenant at will and wouldn't have that protection.