A long contemplated plan to provide long-term space for a farmers market at the Marin County Civic Center moved a step forward Tuesday.
The Board of Supervisors authorized County Executive Derek Johnson to execute a 40-year agreement with the Agricultural Institute of Marin to lease a 3.7-acre parcel at the complex. The parcel, located just north of the Civic Center building, is sometimes referred to as the “Christmas tree lot.”
The Agricultural Institute of Marin has farmers markets at the site on Thursdays and Sundays, and plans a third market on Tuesdays.
In the first phase of the project, the institute plans to install permeable pavers on the bulk of the parcel. The new market space will include restrooms, seating, drinking water and tensile canopies to provide shelter from sun, rain and wind.
The second phase of the project calls for constructing three buildings totaling 6,635 square feet in the northeast corner of the parcel. They would include a one story, 900-square-foot visitors center with a cafe; a two-story, 2,725-square-foot building with kitchen space and meeting rooms; and a two-story, 3,010-square-foot building that would be the organization’s office.
“What started the farmers market 40 years ago is not what is going to keep it going for the next 40 years,” said Andy Naja-Riese, chief executive officer of the institute. “It’s time for us to put down our roots and a permanent infrastructure to maintain a thriving home for our local food system for the next 40 years and beyond.”
Naja-Riese estimated that the organization generates $52 million in annual sales for local farmers and food makers, with about half coming from its farmers markets in Marin. He said the project would add another $6 million in annual sales and produce 192 jobs in food and agriculture.
Marin County signed a memorandum of understanding with the institute in 2017 that envisioned a similar but more ambitious project. That project also called for a 40-year lease and a long-term farmers market on the lot.
The plan included a 30,000-square-foot, two-story indoor market with a restaurant, a bakery, a butcher shop, a cheese shop, an ice cream shop and a commercial kitchen.
The agreement expired in 2020, however, when the institute failed to meet a condition that it raise at least $15 million by that date.
Under the new plan, the organization expects to complete paving of the lot and addition of the amenities by May 1, 2027, but no timetable has been established for building construction during phase two.
Naja-Riese says the nonprofit has raised $6.8 million. He declined to provide a cost estimate for either of the project’s two phases.
“We are about to start active negotiations with contractors and do not want to publicize our own internal cost estimates that would impact the bidding process,” Naja-Riese said. “Bidding will take place later this year.”
”The way that we have this agreement structured with the county, there is no public funding going towards this project,” he said.
That is an important detail because Marin County and the institute had to get voter approval for the parcel lease. A voter initiative passed in 1992 requires voter approval prior to construction of any building more than 250 square feet on the Civic Center grounds.
In 2014, Marin voters granted that approval through Measure B. However, the measure specified that the project must come “at no cost to Marin taxpayers.”
The 40-year lease approved by supervisors on Tuesday sets the rent at $16,875 per month, increasing 3% annually. The agreement includes two five-year optional extensions that must be mutually agreed upon. Over 40 years, that amounts to well over $8 million, even without figuring in the 3% escalator.
Naja-Riese said the planned visitors center will provide information and exhibits on the history of agriculture within the county and the region. In one of the two-story buildings, the institute will create a “food innovation hub,” a space for training programs, small business support, agricultural education and culinary training for students.
“This new hub,” Naja-Riese said, “is designed to be a place to support income diversification for farmers and small food businesses, provide agricultural education for learners of all ages, as well as support food systems and climate education for both students and shoppers.”
Several Marin residents involved in agriculture spoke in favor of the project Tuesday.
Monica Rocchino, an Agricultural Institute of Marin board member who lives near the Civic Center, said, “I go to the farmer’s market every week. It’s where I meet friends, catch up with neighbors and connect with my community. The market is more than a place to buy local food.”
Peggy Smith, the co-founder of Cowgirl Creamery, said, “The new center, which we’re working to build, will provide a place for both new and established ag people to come for guidance in navigating complicated procedures.”