"It's never the same market. We're always changing." Co-market master Stephanie Goodrich told the Chicago Tribune that on May 25, the market's opening weekend, and the 2026 season backed her up. For the first time, the Park Ridge Farmers Market opened without the former AT&T parking lot at 36 S. Prairie Ave. The market is a 36-year-old institution, and it spent the season on city-owned ground plus a stretch of Garden Street.
Four Saturdays are left: Oct. 10, 17, 24 and 31. The market runs 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 15 Prairie Ave. in Uptown, and its scheduled last day falls on Halloween. The real story this fall is what the season showed about the land next door. The city's January resolution says it wants the AT&T lots for public parking, the Farmers Market and community event space. All year, the city-owned half of Prairie Avenue was a working sample of that third use.
How the market lost the lots it had used for decades
AT&T and later Reign Capital, which bought the site from AT&T in 2021, let the market use the private lots for vendor and customer parking for decades. In 2025, Reign said it would stop allowing that use because it wanted to redevelop the property. After that, events moved quickly:
- July 30, 2025. The Farmers Market Committee voted 8-0, with one abstention, to recommend keeping the market on Prairie Avenue and entirely on public property.
- Jan. 9, 2026. Journal & Topics reported that Hubbard Street Group, Reign's development partner, had proposed 39 rental townhomes: 12 on the 36 S. Prairie lot and 27 on the 40 S. Prairie lot, with estimated rents around $5,000 a month.
- Jan. 20, 2026. The City Council approved a resolution to acquire the property through condemnation if the two sides couldn't agree on a price. The resolution says the city offered the appraised value and no agreement was reached.
- Jan. 27, 2026. The Planning & Zoning Commission voted 4-3 against recommending the townhome plan. The hearing record shows the developer's managing partner, John McLinden, cited a $30 million private investment and offered $10,000 to the Farmers Market and $100,000 to the Park District for Cumberland Park.
- Feb. 25, 2026. McLinden proposed selling the 36 S. Prairie parcel to the city and building 27 townhomes on 40 S. Prairie. Mayor Marty Maloney said the idea didn't have council support and that the city was continuing with eminent domain.
- Feb. 17 and March 2, 2026. Both council agendas list the applicant's request for a continuance, so the council held no debate or vote either time.
- April 21, 2026. Journal & Topics reported that the city had started eminent domain proceedings against Reign and that the litigation was ongoing.
No later public report or court filing turned up showing a settlement, a ruling or a council vote on the townhomes, and the application doesn't appear on later council agendas, including Sept. 21. The April report said the city's goal went beyond market space to "a long-term solution to ongoing parking issues south of the Metra tracks." As of today, who will control those lots is undecided.
What the market built on the ground it kept
With the private lots closed, the city reworked the layout around the space it controls. The market stayed on Prairie Avenue north of Garden Street, took about half of the city-owned lot at 15 S. Prairie Ave., and added the part of Garden Street between Prairie and the end of the AT&T lots.
The smaller space still held 59 vendors. The music tent and kids tent went on the south side of Garden Street. A Farmers Market tent, a tent for Park Ridge businesses and a tent for local community organizations lined Prairie Avenue. The Park Ridge Park District paid $12,000 for 12 picnic tables, two of them ADA-compliant, for a new dining area on the north end of Cumberland Park. The city agreed to secure and maintain them.
Parking was handled the way Uptown usually solves problems, through deals with neighbors. Community Preservation & Development Director Drew Awsumb told the council the city had secured some off-site customer parking. It also worked out an agreement with several Uptown business owners that lets vendors and market volunteers use some of their employee spaces.
The new layout also brought a new kind of booth. Elia Cafe, the Mediterranean-inspired brunch spot run by brothers Billy and Taso Pyroulis at 90 N. Northwest Hwy., asked to serve mimosas at the market. The city created a Class S-5 Farmers Market On-Site Consumption License for the purpose on April 6. On May 18, five days before opening day, the council skipped the first reading and approved Elia's license in one meeting. Ald. Lauren Rapisand voted no because the booth sat right next to Cumberland Park, and Ald. Joe Steinfels said he wanted to see how it worked before next year.
In August, the market committee did something you'd expect from an operation planning to stay put. At its Aug. 19 meeting, it approved branded canopies for a Market Tent, a Community Tent and a Kids Activity Tent, and voted to trademark the market's logo. The agenda also included new rules for how vendors and partners can use the logo.
The lot that stayed busy after 1 p.m.
The city's acquisition resolution names "community event space" as a public purpose alongside parking and the market. In 2026, that phrase described something real. The Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce held its Market After Dark series at 15 Prairie Ave. on May 30, July 25 and Aug. 22, with food, artisans, small-business pop-ups, music and drinks.
Yesterday, Oct. 3, the Chamber planned the first Park Ridge Pumpkin Palooza at the same site, 15 S. Prairie Ave., from 4 to 10:30 p.m. It was free and billed as a community-wide fall festival. The lineup called for a Kid Zone with a petting zoo, face painting, pumpkin decorating and bounce houses, plus food from Park Ridge area restaurants and food trucks. Artisans signed up included JK's Wood Creations, BombShell Creations Soapery, Not All Thumbs Woodcrafts, JushShop and Cas Candles. Skokie cover band StoneDrift, Chicago band Rural Jurors, and Natalie Lynch with The Hired Guns were scheduled to play, and an inflatable screen was set to show kids' Halloween movies after sunset. The Chamber said it hopes Pumpkin Palooza becomes an annual event.
Put those dates beside the market schedule and the city-owned lot is scheduled for something on all 24 Saturdays of the May 23 to Oct. 31 market season, plus four Saturday nights. That's the case the city laid out in January. The resolution says the market had operated on the AT&T property for more than 25 years. This year showed how much the Prairie and Garden block can handle without it, and where it runs short, mainly in parking.
Garden Street has a second open question. Victory Ground's proposed Third Street project between Touhy Avenue and Garden Street includes The Ember hotel, housing and about 17,300 square feet of commercial space, including a proposed cafe. The Planning & Zoning Commission scheduled a continued hearing on the hotel for Sept. 29. No outcome from that meeting has been reported yet.
The meeting to put on your calendar
The Farmers Market Committee meets Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 6:30 p.m., and the September council summary lists next year's market location on its agenda. By then, 22 of the season's 24 Saturdays will be done, with Oct. 24 and Oct. 31 still to come. It will be planning with the AT&T lots still in court, as far as public reporting shows.
Here's what's left in Uptown and nearby this fall, besides the remaining market Saturdays:
- Oct. 10, 3 to 7 p.m. Harvest Fest at Olson's Ace Hardware, 700 N. Northwest Hwy., at Village Green Plaza.
- Oct. 11, 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The annual Chili Cook-Off at Harp & Fiddle, 110 Main St.
- Oct. 30, 6 to 7:30 p.m. The Park District's Walk Thru Trunk or Treat in the Centennial Fitness Center parking lot.
- Oct. 31, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The last Farmers Market Saturday of the season at 15 Prairie Ave.
- Nov. 14, 6 to 9 p.m. Harp Wine and Art at Harp & Fiddle.
- Nov. 27. The Chamber's Winterfest across Uptown, South Park and North Park. The program and hours haven't been posted yet.
- Dec. 6, 10 a.m. ChristFiddle Market at Harp & Fiddle.
If you live near Prairie and Garden and wonder how the Uptown changes could affect your home's value, Holly Connors and the GetBurbed team are watching the Oct. 21 meeting and the AT&T lots case closely. Request a Free Home Valuation, and we'll give you a clear, data-backed read on your property and what nearby projects could mean for it.
