The corner of First Street and Brown Avenue looks different on a Saturday this fall. The Parking Corral, where the farmers market set up its tents for years, is now a fenced construction site. The Scottsdale Progress put it plainly: shoppers who go looking for the market at its longtime home "will only find a fenced-off construction site."
The market opened its season on Oct. 3 at the City Hall parking lot, 3939 N. Drinkwater Blvd. It's open Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. through fall, winter and early spring. The operator shortens the hours to 8 a.m. to noon in May and 7 to 10 a.m. in June. That makes Civic Center, not Brown Avenue, the place Old Town's Saturday morning starts. Based on the construction schedule, it stays that way for the entire season.
The Garage Timeline Covers the Whole Market Season
The fenced corral is the city's Brown Avenue Parking Structure Expansion, a $20.9 million project funded by the 2019 bond election. Crews are adding two levels and 185 parking stalls to the existing structure. On its project page, the city says the new stalls will open in spring 2027 and the remaining work will continue through summer 2027.
The operator's market page lists the season as October 2026 through June 2027. That means the new stalls aren't due until late in the season, and the city's completion date of "summer 2027" lands around or after the last market Saturdays in June.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| Oct. 3, 2026 | Market season opens at the City Hall lot |
| Oct. 16, 2026 | First Street reopens to traffic beside the garage |
| Mid-October to mid-November 2026 | Second Street closes along the south side of the garage for crane work |
| Nov. 6–15, 2026 | Canal Convergence at the Scottsdale Waterfront |
| Spring 2027 | New garage stalls expected to open |
| June 2027 | Market season ends |
| Summer 2027 | Garage construction expected to be complete |
The Second Street dates come with a caveat. The city's construction update gives the closure as Oct. 16 through Nov. 16. The phase timeline on the same page has the crane moving to Second Street on Oct. 21 and panel work on the south half running through Nov. 20. Expect Second Street beside the garage to be closed from about mid-October to mid-November, and check the city page before a Saturday walk.
The City Upgraded the New Lot Before the Market Moved In
The City Hall lot was upgraded before the market moved in. The city's Sept. 28 announcement calls the site a "new, larger location." It says the lot now has two solar shade canopies to keep shoppers and vendors cooler on hot days, plus new electrical access paid for by the voter-approved bond project to support the market and other community events.
The canopies also do a second job. The city expects their solar panels to come online later this year, offset about 75% of City Hall's electricity use and save about $46,000 a year in energy costs.
The city describes the move as a chance for the market to expand, not a stopgap. As the Scottsdale Progress reported, City Manager Greg Caton said:
"The farmers market has become a Saturday tradition for residents and visitors, and we're excited to help it grow."
The same release says the move from Brown Avenue gives the market "room to grow while keeping it close to Old Town shops, restaurants and Civic Center." Neither the city nor the operator has said whether the market will go back to Brown Avenue once the garage opens.
The practical details for this season:
- Parking: The One Civic Center surface lot is directly across the street from the market.
- Wayfinding: For the market's first month, Old Town ambassadors are stationed along the route from Brown Avenue through Civic Center to direct visitors.
- Hours: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays for now. The operator lists earlier closing times for May and June.
Same Vendors at a New Address
The market itself hasn't changed. Arizona Community Farmers Markets runs it, and the operator's page lists Laura Minnick as market manager and Michael Reid as site manager. The market started in October 2008 and now features more than 100 growers and specialty food producers.
The operator's current vendor list includes:
- Farms and ranches: AK Pride, AZ Farms Cheese, Blue Pine Ranch, Cesan Farms, Henry's Egg Farm, Ocotillo Farms
- Bakeries: Arizona Bread Co., Noble Bread, Proof Bread, Sonsons Pies & Pasty Co.
- Produce: Abby Lee Farms, AZ Microgreens, Big Daddy Produce, Black Orchard Farms, Kelley Farms
The operator says which vendors show up can vary from week to week, so not every name will be there every Saturday.
A Saturday Loop That Starts on Drinkwater
The new address shifts what's within walking distance. At the old corral, the market sat among the Brown Avenue storefronts. The City Hall lot shares an address with Scottsdale Civic Center, and the city's park page lists the LOVE sculpture, museums, shops and restaurants, Civic Center Library and Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts among its features.
Lined up by opening time, a morning around the market can look like this:
| Time | Stop | Address |
|---|---|---|
| 7 a.m. | Daily Dose Grill, open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays | 4020 N. Scottsdale Road |
| 7 a.m. | JOJO Coffeehouse Breakfast & Brunch, listed hours 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. | 3712 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 110 |
| Morning | Experiment Coffee & Pastry, for coffee, pastries and breakfast sandwiches | 7109 E. Second St. |
| 8 a.m. | Farmers market opens | 3939 N. Drinkwater Blvd. |
| 10 a.m. | Civic Center Library opens | 3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd. |
| 10 a.m. | Holla Brunch Girl, Saturday-only rooftop brunch until 3 p.m. | 7320 E. Indian Plaza |
| 11 a.m. | Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art opens, until 5 p.m. | 7374 E. Second St. |
| 1 p.m. | Market closes, under current fall hours |
Holla Brunch Girl is the newest stop on the list. Axios Scottsdale reported in late September that it was opening as a rooftop brunch that only serves on Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. SMoCA's official page lists exhibitions running this fall, and its 11 a.m. opening gives shoppers time to drop their bags off before going in.
Brown Avenue Is Still Open Behind the Fencing
The market is gone from the corral, but Brown Avenue's restaurants and shops are still there. During construction, the streets around the garage stay open to traffic, but the Brown Avenue, First Street and Second Street sidewalks next to the site are closed. Getting to those storefronts now takes a slight detour on foot.
According to Scottsdale Progress reporting on the construction, nearby restaurant owners said the Parking Corral closure at the end of June had cut into their business. The ambassadors' route from Brown Avenue through Civic Center goes the other way too, and a market morning can easily end with lunch back on Brown.
The heaviest construction work happens overnight. The city says precast concrete panels are lifted into place by crane every night between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., and the work was running ahead of schedule as of the latest update. Overnight installation keeps daytime closures to a minimum, but a Saturday walk in late October or early November will still find Second Street closed beside the garage.
The fall calendar fills up around that closure. Canal Convergence returns to the Scottsdale Waterfront Nov. 6–15 with the theme "Western Nature." Scottsdale Arts describes it as a free 10-night event. Those nights fall inside the Second Street closure window, while the market keeps setting up every Saturday morning on Drinkwater.
The new garage and the market's move to Civic Center will change parking and foot traffic around Brown Avenue and Drinkwater. If you own a home near Old Town and want to know how those changes could affect its value, Logan Lewis can walk you through it. Get your free home valuation and a direct answer on what this construction season means for your property.
