Mercado Central
Bloomington Avenue and Lake Street
The Mercado Central, which opened in 1999, includes a Hispanic-themed open market on the first floor. Forty Hispanic and Latino vendors sell a variety of items and food from small stalls. The second floor of the 28,000-square-foot building is office space.
The market was designed as a business incubator for Hispanic and Latino entrepreneurs who have graduated from an entrepreneurial training program. As an incubator, the market aims to provide support services to start-up businesses to help them succeed and grow out of the initial small space into something larger, perhaps with a storefront.
Partners working on the project included Project for Pride in Living, Interfaith Action, Hispanic Organizing and Outreach Council, Catholic Charities, Whittier CDC, Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association, and the Neighborhood Development Center.
| Developer: | Project for Pride in Living (PPL) |
| City Investment: | $320,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Loan
$218,000 Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association NRP Loan $109,000 Phillips NRP Loan $25,000 CDBG Accessibility Improvement Grant |
| Other funding: | $350,000 Federal Community Services Agency Grant
$30,000 MCDA Grant $200,000 McKnight Foundation Grant $75,000 Minneapolis Foundation Grant Loans and Grants from TCF Foundation, Marquette Bank, U.S. Bank, General Mills, Pohlad Family |
| Total Development Cost: | $2.5 million |
| Construction Began: | 1989 |
| Completion Date: | August 1999 |
Information subject to change.
February 2007
Last updated Apr. 4, 2012