James Beard Public Market proposes timber-forward exterior updates for Selling Building site near Pioneer Square

A long-planned public market advances into the design-review phase

Plans for the James Beard Public Market are moving through Portland’s public review process with a proposed exterior package that emphasizes wood and historically rooted storefront proportions at the market’s future downtown home. The project is planned for the block face around Southwest Sixth Avenue and Southwest Alder Street, a short walk from Pioneer Courthouse Square, in and around the historic Selling Building (610 SW Alder) and the adjacent property at 622 SW Alder.

The market is envisioned as a year-round indoor public market with roughly 40 small businesses and food-related tenants, alongside public-facing programming such as education and demonstrations. Project materials and city hearing agendas describe a set of exterior changes intended to re-establish a more traditional base on the Selling Building while also creating a unified identity across both addresses.

What the proposed exterior changes include

The design team has presented a concept that would remove existing storefront assemblies and portions of granite cladding at the lower levels of the Selling Building. The proposed replacement includes updated ground-floor storefronts with darker granite elements at the base, embossed metal cladding, sign bands, and awnings. On the second level, the proposal includes wood-framed windows and terra-cotta cladding intended to align with historic patterns visible in earlier iterations of the building.

Similar façade updates are proposed for the 622 SW Alder building, which does not carry the same historic designation as the Selling Building. In public design-review materials, the team has also indicated that modifications to sign standards may be requested, and that glazing requirements could be part of the review due to how the market frontage is being reconfigured.

Timber becomes both a design theme and a construction driver

While the exterior is being pitched with a wood-forward identity, timber has also become central to the project’s construction narrative. During demolition work tied to the former Rite Aid build-out, crews encountered substantial interior timber members that had been concealed by later renovations. Project representatives have said the discovery is prompting a preservation-oriented design adjustment to retain and incorporate the timber into the market experience.

That shift has affected the schedule. The opening timeline, previously framed around 2026, has been pushed back, with the market now anticipating a 2027 opening as design and construction sequencing are updated to accommodate preservation work.

Next steps: approvals, funding, and downtown logistics

Exterior changes to a designated historic resource require review by the city’s Historic Landmarks Commission, while broader design review applies to the adjacent building. Separately, the market has continued assembling a financing package that includes local economic development participation, as the overall renovation and build-out is projected to be a multi-million-dollar effort.

In addition to design and financing, the project’s downtown footprint brings practical considerations: storefront operability, weather protection via awnings, and the management of transit and pedestrian activity on a heavily trafficked retail corridor.

• Location: SW 6th Ave and SW Alder St., including 610 and 622 SW Alder
• Scope: Exterior façade alterations, signage approach, and interior preservation integration
• Schedule: Updated expectations point to an opening sometime in 2027

The current design direction aims to combine a civic-scale market identity with restoration of historic storefront character, while incorporating newly revealed interior timber into the final plan.