Grand Rapids’ $30M Downtown Market signs first two tenants on its way to summer 2013 opening

The vetting process and the taste testing are complete and the Downtown Market’s first two businesses to sign on the dotted line are Simpatico Coffee and Love’s Ice Cream.

The two companies will fill two of the 24 indoor vendor stalls in the $30 million Downtown Market’s (435 Ionia Ave. SW) 138,000 square feet, which will include two restaurants, a microbrewery, artisan foods, locally grown fresh produce, a greenhouse, an incubator kitchen for small cuisine-based businesses, a children’s kitchen, and more. Construction on the market continues in anticipation of its opening this spring and summer.

Holland-based Simpatico Coffee, owned by Alex Fink, will offer fair-trade and sustainably roasted coffees from small farms in the Oaxaca, Mexico region. Love’s Ice Cream is a handcrafted boutique ice cream maker owned by Chris McKellar, founder of Grand Rapids Cooking School, and will pasteurize its locally produced milk and cream onsite.

“It’s not as simple as ‘we want to rent your space’ and then we say okay,” says Downtown Market President and CEO Mimi Fritz. “We want to be sure we have the right mix for the people of Grand Rapids and for the other vendors. For example, Alex can use Chris’s freshly pasteurized milk and cream at the coffee shop, and Chris can use Simpatico’s coffee in Love’s Ice Cream.”

The indoor market will open this summer, Fritz says. The goal is to have all 24 vendors in place by the time construction is done. Buildouts of the restaurants and brewery will take longer. The outdoor farmers market area with its 87 stalls opens May 4. The market will be open seven days a week.

“The impact of the market hits Grand Rapids many different ways,” Fritz says. “It’s in a food desert and low-income area, so we’ll work with social service agencies in Heartside for partnerships. It’s creating jobs and spurring future growth, and the attraction of an entity like this in Grand Rapids is significant — there aren’t other markets like ours; no market has the greenhouse, incubator kitchen, kids’ kitchen, and microbrewery all together in one space. It’s going to be amazing.”

Source: Mimi Fritz, Downtown Market
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor