Alchemist Community Development Corporation (Alchemist CDC) connects communities to land, food and opportunities toward a vision in which all Sacramento neighborhoods are vibrant, equitable, healthy and diverse.
The Alchemist team has extensive experience assisting food entrepreneurs who face systemic barriers, making farmers’ markets accessible to low-income households, and empowering neighborhoods to build community assets through the transformation of vacant spaces. Building on this expertise, Alchemist CDC is developing the Alchemist Public Market (APM), a self-sustaining, place-based infill project that brings these three programs together.
Alchemist Public Market will offer the amenities needed to empower under-served entrepreneurs to start new food businesses, provide workforce development for workers with high barriers to employment, create an attractive and energetic community gathering place, and offer neighbors access to quality food from local producers. When constructed on the .82 acres owned by Alchemist CDC in Sacramento’s River District, APM will be an all-electric campus including a shared-use incubator kitchen, a social enterprise café, a retail store featuring products from small Sacramento makers and grocery staples, and a co-working office. It will also be home to 8 small incubator restaurants with a shared outdoor food court, ample shade structures, a weekly farmers’ market, an inclusive playground, and more.
Project Status
Most Recent: On November 8, 2024, the Planning Entitlement Application package for Alchemist Public Market was submitted to the City of Sacramento for review.
Looking Ahead: Groundbreaking for the project is anticipated in spring 2025. The grand opening is expected by summer 2026.
Past Updates:
- Mid-2024: Dave Bruss was selected as construction manager.
- Early 2024: Dreyfuss + Blackford Architecture was selected as the lead for architecture and design.
- Early 2024: Shannin Stein was hired as the Special Projects Manager at Alchemist CDC to lead project implementation.
- September 2023: The US Economic Development Administration (EDA) awarded $3.9 million to Alchemist CDC for Alchemist Public Market.
- May 2023: The State of California announced the award of $8.1 million to Alchemist CDC for Alchemist Public Market through the CERF Economic Development Pilot Program.
- January 2022: The State of California awarded $450,000 to Alchemist CDC through SB170 community reinvestment funds to purchase and obtain site control of the future home of Alchemist Public Market. This funding was secured by Assemblymember Kevin McCarty and Senator Dr. Richard Pan and facilitated by the City of Sacramento.
- June 2021: Alchemist Public Market was one of three Food-Anchored Resiliency Hubs within the City of Sacramento to be selected for participation in Local Foods, Local Places (LFLP). LFLP is a federally funded program that supports community-led efforts to reinvest in existing neighborhoods, protects the environment, and improves residents’ health and quality of life through the development of the local food economy.