Quick Take
Swenson Builders granted Santa Cruz Community Farmers' Markets a 30-day extension on its lease at the East Cliff Village Shopping Center in Live Oak. The 22-year-old market will now continue at the East Cliff Drive location through April as organizers search for a new home in the Live Oak area.
Santa Cruz Community Farmers’ Markets will have an extra month to find a new home for its Live Oak market after its landlord granted the organization an extension on its lease.
On Thursday, Swenson Builders told market organizers that they would have an additional 30 days on their lease at the East Cliff Village Shopping Center in Live Oak, where the nonprofit has held a farmers market on Sunday mornings for 22 years.
Swenson extended the lease through April 28. The original lease was set to expire this Sunday. Farmers markets will be held on Sunday mornings from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through April. “That should give us a comfortable amount of time to secure our permanent site,” Sandra Ward, president of the market’s board and owner of New Natives organic microgreens, told Lookout via text message. “When we get the green light, we will move, hopefully by April 20. We have no intention of extending our stay beyond what is absolutely necessary.”
Lookout previously reported that the market was unable to agree to new lease terms with Swenson Builders, the property owner, and was looking for a new home for the market after its lease expired March 31. It’s unclear whether public outcry influenced the San Jose-based development company to issue the extension. Swenson Builders did not reply to a request for comment.
The market has held a farmers market in the parking lot of the East Cliff Village Shopping Center in Live Oak since 2002, and has operated on a month-to-month basis for more than two decades. Earlier this year, Swenson Builders presented the market with a new lease that organizers say included a significant rent increase and terms that would have limited the types of vendors at the market.
The market tried to negotiate the terms, but was unsuccessful. “The terms were final,” said Ward.
Now, the market has identified at least four possible sites near the Live Oak area for relocation and is working to set up a temporary site while a permanent home can be established. “We’re working diligently right now to see if we can do a pop-up farmers market until the ground gets laid in these different places, so we can continue the market every week without having a blackout,” said Ward.
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