As reported by Scottsdale.org, Mayor Lisa Borowsky told the council in January, "I do not want the farmers market to relocate." She added, "I want them to stay right where they are."
The market's new home opens October 3. If you've spent Saturday mornings walking the aisles at Brown Avenue for produce and tamales since the market planted itself there in 2009, you already know the short version: the parking structure that's housed the market for sixteen years is getting two more levels, so the market has to go. The council's November 2025 vote also addressed the transition date, a useful detail as you plan a new Saturday routine around the market.
What Actually Changes on October 3
The new site is the surface lot at 75th Street and Bennie Gonzales Way, right next to Scottsdale's Civic Center. The market's own operator, Arizona Community Farmers Markets, already lists the new location on its site with an October 3 opening and the familiar 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday window running through April, then shortening in May and June the way it always has for the summer heat.
Here's what carries over intact:
- The same roughly 100 vendors, including names regulars already know like Mama's Cold Brew, Milly Moon Kombucha, and McClendon Select
- The same Saturday-morning format, dog-friendly and stroller-friendly
- The same SNAP, WIC, and Arizona Farmers Market Nutrition Program voucher acceptance
- The same role in Old Town's calendar, including Western Week, Scottsdazzle, and June Days
Here's what's different: the setting. Brown Avenue put the market on top of a parking structure. City Hall puts it on a surface lot next to the Civic Center's lawns and the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts grounds, a greener backdrop than a garage deck, even if "parking lot" is the phrase that stuck in council meetings and made some longtime shoppers wince before they'd seen it. According to Citizen Portal, city staffer Rachel Spentana said when presenting the site plan to council: "We are excited to have them move closer to the Civic Center."
Not everyone shares that excitement. At the same meeting, Citizen Portal reported that resident Steve Sutton told the council, "My customers do not want to go to the farmers market at the City Hall parking lot." Whether that skepticism holds once people actually walk the new lot on October 3 is the kind of thing you find out by showing up, not by reading a press release.
The Agreement and Transition Date
According to Citizen Portal, when the council voted November 17, 2025 to approve the City Hall relocation, the original contract language would have terminated the market's existing agreement at Brown Avenue immediately, with the new site not kicking in until October 2026. That's an eleven-month gap with no market at all. The city attorney caught the drafting error during the meeting itself, and council amended the motion on the spot to keep the market running at its current site until both sides agreed on a transition date.
According to Citizen Portal, Councilmember Solange Whitehead moved to tie the current agreement's expiration to "a mutually acceptable date" rather than a fixed calendar deadline. The amendment allowed the market to continue at Brown Avenue until the transition date was set.
Officials' Statements on the Relocation
City Manager Greg Caton's official line, repeated in press materials, is that the move "keeps it close to the heart of Old Town and gives vendors and visitors the space they need while we make improvements elsewhere."
Councilmembers have described their roles in the relocation differently. As reported by Scottsdale.org, at a January "downtown summit," Whitehead said she, Councilwoman Maryanne McAllen, and Mayor Borowsky led the charge to find the new site. Borowsky called that characterization inaccurate. Her actual position, on the record, is that she never wanted the market to move in the first place and that the parking garage forcing the move is unnecessary. She's called the garage's location "terrible" and said "no one wants to see them displaced by an unsightly parking garage which is set to be built in a terrible location."
Mayor Borowsky has publicly opposed the garage project at the market's former Brown Avenue site. The garage itself has drawn a certified citizen petition with more than 4,500 signatures and an active advocacy campaign from a group calling itself Save Old Town Scottsdale, which has labeled the planned structure a "monstrosity." Crews began the first phase of work on the Brown Avenue structure on June 29, 2026, and in July the council approved the final construction contract, bringing the project's total guaranteed maximum cost to $16.28 million for 185 new public parking spaces, with completion targeted for spring 2027 in time for spring training crowds.
The Market's Move and What to Expect
The City Hall lot is scheduled to host the market beginning October 3. The November amendment tied the current agreement's expiration to a mutually acceptable date. Mayor Borowsky has publicly opposed the garage project at the Brown Avenue site, while a resident group continues to campaign against the project as construction proceeds.
None of that should keep you from showing up October 3. The vendors are the same, the hours are the same, and by most accounts the new lot's proximity to the Civic Center lawns might turn out to be a nicer morning than a parking deck ever was. If you plan a Saturday around the market, its new location and transition terms are worth following through the season.
If you're settling into Old Town life and want a longtime local's read on the neighborhood beyond Saturday mornings, the team at ROCO Luxury Homes spends as much time following Scottsdale city council as we do walking these blocks ourselves. Book a Private Consultation with us if you'd like a conversation grounded in what's actually happening on the ground here, not just what the listing photos show.
