As the opening date for Madison Public Market has been pushed back once again – this time to late June or July – Madison365 has learned that vendors are being required to spend up to $100,000 each to build out their spaces, and to do so without being able to choose their plumbing and electrical contractors.
The City of Madison has made $50,000 in grant funds available to each food-related business to offset those costs, and the city’s MarketReady program provides some additional funds for some of those vendors, but most food businesses will still incur significant expenses to get up and running.
Madison365 spoke with several vendors, most of whom eagerly anticipate opening and speak highly of Madison Public Market staff. Others expressed frustration at being forced to use both City grant funds and their own money on specific contractors when they feel they could get better prices elsewhere.
Carmell Jackson, owner of Melly Mel’s who has long been an outspoken champion of the public market, said she’d think twice about joining if she was just starting today, knowing now that she’d have to pay specific contractors for a buildout.
But as it is, she’s in for the long haul.
“I’ve come too far and for too long to walk away,” she said. “No, I’m here to the end, until the walls fall off.”
Mission undermined?
Madison Public Market began as an idea nearly 20 years ago, and was nearly set to open just as the COVID-19 pandemic brought the restaurant and retail sector to a grinding halt.
Now, the former City of Madison Fleet Services Building at 202 North First Street has been transformed into a modern shared market space, and was supposed to open last fall; then last month; then next month; now, it’s said to be later this summer.
Regardless of the opening date, the public market is run by a mission-oriented nonprofit organization who says its first priority is to support its vendors: small, locally owned businesses.
On its website, Madison Public Market touts itself as a mission-driven enterprise “emphasizing equity through entrepreneurship … where businesses owned and operated by people of color, women, and first generation immigrants can get their start.”
But its Merchant FAQ page, in response to the question “Who pays to build out the space,” says “As is typical in commercially leased rentals, the lessee (merchant) is solely financially responsible for building out the leased space, within the guidelines set by the landlord/operator (Market administration).”
But it’s not necessarily supposed to be a typical commercial rental, said University of Wisconsin Professor of Urban and Regional Planning Alfonso Morales, an expert on public markets.
“Typically, some organization will cover the cost of the build out, whether the organizations are nonprofit or whether organizations are for-profit, they will typically build out on behalf of the vendors,” he said. “I would have to stop and think for a while to think of a market that doesn’t do everything in advance of the vendors, and then build the cost into the market, whether it’s mission driven or otherwise … They set up a turnkey operation.”
He added that the public market movement is still relatively new, so it’s difficult to compare MPM to what is “typical.”
“This isn’t like most commercial development,” he said. “These markets are not [standardized], so in every circumstance, they’re dealing with the particulars of that context.”
Still, Morales agreed that requiring vendors to fund their own build-out seems to undermine the mission, especially when they’re also forced to use specific contractors.
The contractors in question are Forward Electric and Hooper Corporation, who installed the electrical and plumbing infrastructure for the initial build inside the building. MPM CEO Keisha Harrison confirmed that vendors are required to use those two subcontractors, regardless of who they hire as a general contractor.
Harrison declined to speak with Madison365, but submitted written responses to questions and a statement.
“These two companies have been designated, as they did the buildout of the shell, so are most familiar with the layout of the facility,” she wrote.
In an email obtained by Madison365, Michelle Hammerling of project management firm Huffman Keel, which is acting as an owner’s representative to coordinate vendor build-outs, listed electrical and plumbing estimates for four vendors ranging from $23,001 to $45,680.
For example, Forward Electric quoted one vendor $24,735 to install power for bar equipment, four refrigerators, dishwasher, deli case, slushy machine, three data drops and lighting. Hooper Corporation quoted the same business $20,945 to provide sinks and connect owner-purchased dishwasher, glasswasher and underbar components to existing plumbing.
One local contractor who wanted to work on the Public Market said those prices are too high.
“I could have gotten people to do it for half the price,” said the contractor, who asked not to be named.
“It is on the high end,” said Rutger Schiesor, co-owner of Cinn City Smash, the churro-and-smash-burger food truck that will find its first permanent home in the Public Market. “But everything’s kind of on the high end, to be honest. … I wouldn’t even necessarily blame the contractors on that. It’s just, everybody’s got to eat.”
Morales, the public market expert, said it’s not typical for a public market to dictate which contractors vendors may use.
“Any good contractor, given a spec sheet, will do the work, will execute the work as indicated,” he said.
Morales also said it’s a “missed opportunity” not to extend the market’s mission of supporting minority-owned businesses to the contractors working on the space.
Typically, city projects require some documentation that a portion of bids come from certified Minority Business Enterprises. There’s no evidence that MPM staff sought diversity in the contractors it’s recommending or requiring.’
“We feel extremely supported”
Scheisor added that he understood why the market required specific contractors.
“If you have some hack come in and do the wiring and they do something wrong, it can not only cost you your space, it can cost everybody’s space in the entire building,” he said.
He also said Harrison told him that city licensing requirements were tying the market staff’s hands.
“They all have to be city-licensed contractors and subcontractors. That’s just the red tape that has to be crossed that we’re aware of,” he said. “They are tying hands … it’s not even the market, it’s just the … rules that the city of Madison has in place for this style of building zoned this way.”
City staff, however, tell Madison365 that’s not true. Even though the building is city-owned, there are no restrictions on what contractors the private, nonprofit Madison Public Market can use.
Harrison acknowledged that she initially told vendors they had to use Forward Electric and Hooper Corporation due to City of Madison licensing requirements, as the building is still owned by the city.
“At first we did (tell vendors they had to use specific subcontractors due to city requirements) because that was our initial understanding. However we figured out this wasn’t the case and indicated as much,” Harrison said.
Harrison said staff have worked to help control costs and find funding to cover them.
“We have provided tenant improvement allowances to help offset build out costs, and negotiated more cost savings on their behalf,” she said.
Schiesor confirmed that.
“The market has been doing everything they can in all regards to get this open as quickly as they can and to help us,” he said. “The people that we know that work at the public market probably are up most nights, doing whatever they can to get this going as quick as they can. They all have a lot of fight in them. They all advocate on our behalf … They advocated a lot with contractors for us as well … to keep the price reasonable.”
“We wouldn’t have been able to do this in any other situation,” said Max Perdomo, Cinn City Smash’s other co-owner. ”We feel extremely supported by the market.”
Scheisor and Perdomo said they’ve joined forces with four other food vendors to contract with Elite Builders to build out all of their spaces.
Excitement and optimism for retail spaces
When fully populated, Madison Public Market will house nearly 20 retail businesses that aren’t producing food, and therefore don’t have the same requirements for electrical and plumbing.
“The public market would be my first ever actual physical location,” said Lonell Richardson, owner of Ancestral Tribe Custom Apparel. He’s been selling custom clothing at pop-ups, festivals and vendor events for years, and is excited to have a permanent location. He’ll share 135 square feet with his wife Lakisha Johnson and her business, Unique Hair Accessories.
He also said he doesn’t mind the delayed opening.
“This is something that’s totally new for me. It gives me more time to get stuff I need ready,” he said.
Richardson said he and Johnson will both still work the pop-ups and festivals, and their four children will help staff the Public Market location.
“It’s a family business. That’s the direction that it is going, because we’re constantly building, constantly growing, constantly improving,” Richardson said. He added that the business is “something that they (his children) can pick up and carry on.”
That’s one of the non-economic benefits of a public market, Morales said.
“It is very hard to estimate the value of entrepreneurship, … children’s experience in business and the informal education that happens,” he said.
The public market will also place an emphasis on art, with murals by local artists already adorning exterior and interior walls. Additionally, the nonprofit organization ArtWorking, which supports artists with developmental disabilities, will place an arts vending machine in the space.
ArtWorking founder Lance Owens said postcards and other artistic items will be available for prices from $3 to $20, with most being in the $5 range.
“All we need over there is an electrical outlet,” he said. “We’ve been involved off and on in the project for like the last 12 years … We always knew we wanted to have a presence there.”
In a statement emailed to Madison365, Harrison expressed joy and optimism despite any stressors.
“There have been setbacks and surprises on the road to Madison Public Market’s great opening. My team and I are working tenaciously, and tirelessly to address all issues that come our way, and anticipate other potential issues so they never materialize,” she wrote. “That’s our job, and we are honored to serve in that capacity. With all that stated, there’s been exciting progress, and strong growth as well. This week alone, we have started construction on five new merchant build outs, which is as joyful as it is welcome. There’s a lot of passion and anticipation around Madison Public Market. People already care about this place that hasn’t served a plate of food, or sold a yard of yarn. That’s fantastic. And I sincerely thank the community, and stakeholders for their passion for, and interest in Madison Public Market. I see a bright day, very soon, where folks from across the globe and Madison alike, will make Madison Public Market their must-go destination, or part of their daily routine.”
