City pays $49,000 to write new Renton Pavilion Market lease; let the city know what it should say

Current city drawing for Pavilion Market submitted as part of permitting process

The City of Renton is paying a consultant up to $49,000 to write a proposed lease agreement for the remodeled Renton Pavilion. As part of this work, the consultant is supposed to be asking the public what we want to see as the future of this building.  The public should be weighing in now with our thoughts on the details of what we want to see.

One detail I’m not happy about is that even though both responses to Renton’s formal RFP process in 2019 retained substantial event space, the latest market concept no longer has event space other than a cooking classroom and possible banquet seating in one of it’s anchor restaurants.

For over 20 years the Pavilion has served exclusively as an event space, drawing large groups of people to downtown, sometimes hundreds at a time visiting for the first time.  When the Spirit of Washington was operating both the dinner train and the Pavilion, Renton saw up to 200 events per year in this building, with some events bringing in 300 people or more. The Pavilion was so busy that the Renton Council had to move the “Movies in the Park” just to spread out the large gatherings we were attracting in our downtown.  The Pavilion contributed to a renaissance in our downtown, helping inspire the name of the Renaissance Apartments next door to it.  Then a frustrating deal between Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad and Washington State Department of Transportation ended our Dinner Train and sent Spirit of Washington packing.

Fortunately, Renton found a new company that would invest in furniture and catering equipment, sign a lease with the city,  and keep the events coming.  Rain City Catering developed a strong reputation for hosting great events in the pavilion, with excellent food and attentive service.  They leased the same train station kitchen that had been formerly used by Spirit of Washington.  The pavilion continued functioning as Renton’s living room, hosting many of our community events like downtown celebrations, small-business showcase events, and our annual holiday lighting, along with private events that brought hundreds of out-of-towners into Renton to discover the many businesses and attractions we had to offer.

Rain City Catering could have brought far more events to Renton, but after their five-year lease expired in 2017, they were limited by the City only giving them annual lease renewals that did not allow them to schedule events for the following year. Large events, like weddings, could typically not be scheduled.  Without this limitation, their bookings could have surpassed the Spirit of Washington’s.  Even with this limitation, Rain City Catering covered the building’s expenses and kept it maintained, hosted community functions, and gave a steady income to the City of Renton.

In 2019, the Mayor suggested Renton release a Request for Proposals, to see if the pavilion building could potentially host a full-time restaurant, cafe, or market space in addition to its event use.  The RFP would seek applicants who would invest their own funds to add these features to the pavillion.  The Council approved, and we received two RFP responses; one from the “Logan Market Team” and one from the “Pavilion 2.0 (Rain City Catering) Team,” .  The RFP responses had similar elements and received comparable scores by a three-person committee appointed by the Mayor, with the 3-person review team suggesting that the Logan Market Team proposal narrowly beating out the Rain City Catering proposal because it offered slightly more variety.  Both proposals offered to cover the expenses of remodeling.  And of special importance to me, both of the concepts preserved some significant event space.

The Logan Market Team proposal included portable market booths, that could be stored out of the way to host events and performances in the Pavilion. Their layout even includes a portable stage.

The Logan Market Team RFP response indicated they sought a 25-year lease, presumably necessary to amortize the costs of their proposed cash investments into remodeling of the building

The Pavilion 2.0 Concept included preservation of a large open space that could be switched between events and market booths.

The Pavilion 2.0 Concept added a full-time anchor cafe/restaurant, similar to the Logan Market proposal

When I left Council in 2021, the City was still reviewing the elements of both of these proposals, with the expectation that the selected team, not the city, would fund the necessary upgrades.  In my very last meeting, Dec 12, 2021, I encouraged the Council to maintain some space for events in the pavilion, preferably managed by Rain City Catering, since they had proven they could plan and cater large events downtown.

In the 3 1/2 years since I left council, the plan has changed considerably.  The city now is embarking on spending $8 million or more of taxpayer money rebuilding the Pavilion, and another $2 to $4 million re-landscaping the Piazza next to it.  The current design also does not seem to maintain any significant event space.  While the remodel sounds nice, a fully remodeled business property should return about 8-12% per year, or about $800,000 per year, to be a fair return for taxpayers.  The terms need to be fair to avoid unconstitutional gifting of taxpayer money for the benefit of a private party.  But $800,000 per year is about ten times the rent that the Logan Market RFP response suggested, and approximately 6-8 times what Renton typically got from Rain City Catering (which included revenue sharing).  While I would like to see it succeed, I’m not certain that the two restaurants and 12 market booths are going to be able to make the $800,000 annual rent payments.

Current technical drawings for the remodeled Pavilion, submitted as part of the formal permit process, show 12 market stalls, two anchor tenants, and a kitchen classroom.

With all the money the city is putting into the Pavilion, the 2019 RFP responses are presumably nullified.  A new RFP will need to be circulated when the building’s design and use is finalized.  At that point the City will need to be very transparent in their operator selection and bargaining process to ensure fairness.

The consultant’s contract calls for engaging the community in dialogue regarding how the Pavilion should be run.

From first page of consulting contract

I’m not sure what specific outreach has been done under this contract, if any.  Ideally, with an investment of this magnitude in such an important building, the outreach needs to go beyond asking people that are already downtown (at the Farmers Market, for instance) what they want to see.  Since the intent is to get MORE people to come downtown (not just the ones already there), there should be a city-wide solicitation of needs and suggestions for this building.  The consultant should also be asking past users of the Pavilion Event Center for their suggestions.

If you have ideas and suggestions for the Council and consultant, I recommend you send them to the Council now at Council@rentonwa.gov, and to the Mayor at Mayor@rentonwa.gov.  If you really want to be sure your voice is heard, please consult my post here for more suggestions about communicating with City leaders.

Additional References:

As it stands now, the following statement summarizes the City Plans for the Pavilion.

SEPA Environmental Review

The Renton Market (formerly “Pavilion”) Building is a 14,700 SF existing single-story-with- mezzanine masonry and wood-framed structure constructed ca 1948. It is situated on a 29,361 SF (0.67 acre) lot in downtown Renton, Washington. The building, historically occupied by an auto dealership, was purchased by the City, renovated in 2002 and converted into an events space. The City of Renton is remodeling the building to house a community market-based program, in order to spark a more lively, welcoming, and vibrant center for the downtown district and surrounding region. The City envisions the Market as the nucleus of the community, blending food sales, restaurants, local arts and crafts, retail operations and a community teaching kitchen/meeting space. The proposal is to establish a permanent public market with two (2) long-term “anchor tenant” spaces, twelve (12) market stalls for rotating and medium-term tenants, a kitchen classroom for community events and outreach, and an office for administrative tasks. The proposed remodel includes interior and exterior work, as well as a change-of-use from A-2 Banquet Hall to A-2 Restaurant and M Market; MEP and Structural Upgrades, and the addition of a type-1 hood. The project includes improvements to the facade and immediate areas surrounding the building such as updates to the existing pedestrian entrances, an exterior canopy at the main entry off of the Piazza Park to the south, and a new (temporary) trash enclosure to the north. Primary access to the building is proposed via the south/park facing side of the building. Parking is available at the City-owned parking garage adjacent to the site.

First page of consultant contract

Some details of consultant contract

Consultant contract approval