March 25, 2026

Renton eyes summer opening for new indoor market inside former event center

Renderings by Graham Baba Architects [enlarge]

Renton Pavilion Event Center is being renovated into a year-round indoor market.

Construction began in September on the transformation of the Renton Pavilion Event Center into a new indoor public market.

The city-owned property is at 233 Burnett Ave. S. in the downtown commercial core. It was originally constructed in 1948 as an auto dealership and has been an events center since 2002 following a prior renovation also spearheaded by the city.

The latest adaptive reuse will transform the 15,000-square-foot masonry and wood frame structure into a year-round community-focused indoor market offering a mix of food and retail vendors as well as cultural events.

The revitalized building will be called Renton Market. It will house small-scale market stalls, two larger food-and-beverage anchor tenants, and support spaces including a community kitchen classroom, meeting area and administrative office. The market spaces are designed for local food and artisans.

The structure is located next to a piazza with hardscape and landscape elements, called Piazza Park. That space is also being significantly upgraded.

Graham Baba Architects is the architect for the project. Hewitt is the landscape architect.

REALIZING THE NEW MARKET

City of Renton photo [enlarge]

Crews recently completed the concrete slab pour for the market’s floor.

At the core of the pavilion renovation is the creation of a central open volume that can accommodate twelve market stall armatures totaling 11,783 square feet of indoor market space. The structure's south-facing facade, which fronts the adjacent piazza, will receive a new canopy and vestibule. Existing facades will be enlivened by new graphics to strengthen the market's presence within the community.

The structure's east and west entries are getting new wood entry doors and vertical screen elements to improve street presence and signal activation.

The food-and-beverage anchor tenants will have dedicated outdoor seating zones, totaling 1,766 square feet.

UPDATED PARK, UPDATED CONNECTIONS

At Piazza Park, hardscape and landscaping across the site will be reconfigured to allow for better sightlines to the new market and through the park. The park has an existing riverine motif in the hardscaped ground plane. Much of that will be preserved. New understory planting will be added comprising native and drought-tolerant species. New plants, trees, and other greenery will also be added.

Schuchart Corporation is the general contractor. New utilities needed to support the market tenants have been installed. Last month crews completed the slab pour for the market floor (the old floor was plenum).

Construction is expected to be completed in either June or July.

The project team also includes SparkLab Lighting Design, lighting design; KPFF Consulting Engineers, civil and structural engineering; Arup, MEP engineering; Tenor Engineering Group, acoustical engineering; Tony Foden, specifications; DCW, cost estimating; and Studio Matthews, branding and environmental graphics.

The budget for the renovation is $9.7 million. Funding sources include a $1.5 million federal Small Business Administration grant (for work on the market) and a $1.4 million state Department of Commerce grant (for piazza work).

The city will lease the market to a private operator. That operator will be responsible for funding any tenant improvements for the market stalls, as well as the build out of the anchor vendor stalls.

A private operator hasn't been announced. A city presentation last month implied that a contract could be signed in April.

A VIBRANT DOWNTOWN

[enlarge]

Renton Market will house small-scale stalls and two larger food-and-beverage anchor tenants.

At 510 S. Third St., which is across the street from Piazza Park, the city is building another public gathering place on what was formerly a gravel lot. That new community amenity will be called Legacy Square. It will have an outdoor stage with an integrated LED screen, a mini soccer pitch, a grass gathering area, fencing, hardscaping, landscaping, seating and lighting.

Mithun is the architect. Construction should be done in May.

The first major activation of Legacy Square will coincide with the FIFA Men's World Cup this June.

Renton Market, Piazza Park and Legacy Square are the central components of an area dubbed the HEART Block which is a key feature of the Renton Downtown Civic Core and Action Plan, created in 2018.