The Sweet Auburn Municipal Market has long been a draw for tourists, downtown employees and neighborhood residents for its unique vendor spaces and popular eateries. Transformational improvements to this historic market will soon be underway with financing assistance from the City of Atlanta and a $500,000 Eastside Tax Allocation District (TAD) grant recently closed by Invest Atlanta’s Community Development team.

The grant funding will accelerate improvements that directly benefit the market’s small business tenants. These include significant system modernization along with booth redesign and reconfiguration to reduce tenant improvement burden, drive lease affordability and create space for additional vendors.

The Invest Atlanta Strategic Initiatives team is also launching a companion Curb Market Vendor Success Program supported by $275,000 in Eastside TAD funding. This program will facilitate Tenant Improvement grants as well as a Technical Assistance Program to help tenants with budgeting, lending, business planning and leasing.

The Municipal Market – also known as The Curb Market – was founded in 1918 and opened its building in 1924. It currently houses 30 local businesses, including grocery vendors, retail stores and small eateries. Since its founding, the market has served as a vital, low-barrier-to-entry for many small businesses looking to open their first brick-and-mortar space – making it the only public incubator for new food producers and entrepreneurs in the city.