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In 2016, the city  closing the segment of between Genesee and North streets and building a Riverside Regional Public Market there. The market would become the permanent home of the Auburn Farmers Market, showcase regional food and beverage production and complement the nearby Owasco River Greenway Trail, which is now under .

"We believe downtown Auburn's next great chapter will be written where the Owasco River meets the Harriet Tubman Memorial Highway — commonly known as Route 34 — with projects designed to provide economic transformation for our city center that will significantly contribute to regional economic growth," Mayor Michael Quill said that year.

Quill's remarks came as Auburn revealed its application for the first round of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, a state competition that awards $10 million to the cities, one in each region, with the best ideas how to invest that money in their urban centers. The market was one of many proposals in Auburn's application. Shortly after the application was filed, the market got another anchor tenant in Prison City Pub & Brewery, whose owners plans to build a production facility there to meet demand for the brewpub's Ìý²ú±ð±ð°ù²õ.

Auburn  the first round of the competition to Oswego. But its for the second round last summer refined the riverside market concept.

Front and center in the application was Prison City's brewery, which would have raised its annual production by more than 1,000 percent and included a tasting room, canning line, event space and more. The application also revealed the site of the proposed facility: 39 Genesee St., the former Nolan's Sporting Goods store that now houses Pawn King and other businesses.

The brewery would've been joined in the area by a permanent home for the farmers market and "public waterfront, green, and event space that is currently lacking in the heart of our downtown," the application said. About $1 million of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative award would have gone to the project if Auburn won its region of the competition. But Cortland  instead.

Meanwhile, the city funding for the market from the state Environmental Protection Fund Local Waterfront Revitalization Program. And in December 2016, the program a $289,750 grant that the city would have to match. The grant would have funded land appraisal and acquisition strategies, as well as studies of parking capacity and the impact of closing Loop Road on traffic.

However, the waterfront grant was also awarded to fund construction documents for another downtown project: a welcome center.

Also a proposal in the city's application for the first round of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, the welcome center was conceived in response to the tourist traffic the city anticipates for the newly established . The application only said that the center should be located downtown near Route 34, the Harriet Tubman Memorial Highway.

It wasn't until the city applied for the grant in 2016 that the center was tied to the riverside market area. But in October 2016, Auburn's center was worked into a $55 million state  to establish welcome centers in each of its 10 regions. And becoming part of that project put Auburn's center on a more accelerated timeline than the market, City Clerk Chuck Mason said.

"If we built the welcome center on that section of Loop Road, we'd have to go through the process of closing the road," he said. "It wouldn't meet the timeline."

That's why, in early 2017, the city decided to use the grant to what has been named the  on South Street. Mason said the city did so after realizing the grant wasn't limited to the literal riverfront area, but most of downtown. And because the city owns the where the center is being built, "we could move as fast as possible" there, he said.

Still, Mason supports developing the riverside. The area's current design almost disguises the Owasco River, he said, but the goal of any future development is to showcase it.

So the city applied for another waterfront grant for the market in 2017, Mason said, but was unsuccessful. If the grant is available this year, he "wouldn't be surprised" if the city applies for it again. And though there's still a month for the Downtown Revitalization Initiative application to take shape, Mason also guessed that the market would be part of the city's third round of proposals. 

If it's not, the project isn't necessarily dead, said Jennifer Haines, director of the city's Office of Planning & Economic Development. The city could determine that the project has a better shot at securing funding elsewhere. And though the city's engineering and police departments have concerns about closing Loop Road, she continued, both the public and her own office support the project.

"As a planner, I love the idea of making that area available for riverside development," she said. "And the public is always involved, as we look for their input. This idea for sure has been popular."

And if the market is included on the city's next Downtown Revitalization Initiative application, the proposal will probably look different than last year's.

One anchor tenant, Prison City, is out: Owners Dawn and Marc Schulz said 39 Genesee St. is no longer on the list of sites they're considering for their new brewery.

The Schulzes were working with KyleCroft Development to buy the building, but its owner, Joseph Catalfano, asked for too much — about $850,000 — KyleCroft President Grant Kyle said. Its 2018 assessed value is $465,000, according to Cayuga County . One of the city's funding applications announced the Schulzes' and Kyle's intention to buy the building before they did so.

Catalfano, who owns and operates J&J Limousine Service out of the building, said he did talk with the Schulzes and Kyle about selling it, but he wasn't sure what the price was going to be. Catalfano added that he's still willing to sell the building, but just as willing to stay there. And he hopes to see the market happen: "Anything to bring people downtown is good for downtown," he said.

One of Catalfano's tenants, the Arc of Seneca Cayuga, isn't worried about its future in the building should it be sold. Ed Sayles, director of the Arc's arts space in the building, said "we'd be a very attractive tenant" to new ownership. But if the studio is forced to make way for the riverside market's development, he continued, it wouldn't have trouble finding another location.

KyleCroft buying 39 Genesee St. would seem like a natural next step for the developer: It already owns 63, 53, 43-51 and 41 Genesee St. KyleCroft  those in 2016, first developing 63 — the  where Marine Midland and HSBC banks were once located — into ABC Cayuga's , and  the following year.

Development on KyleCroft's other Genesee Street properties, known collectively as the "Nolan block" because they were once the site of Nolan's Shoes, with asbestos abatement this month. The block will be developed into 14 apartments and five storefronts, one of which will be occupied by , a coffeehouse with live music, educational spaces and more.

Kyle called the market "a great idea." The green space alongside the Owasco River would provide a scenic location for downtown Auburn festivals like and , he said. Kyle also believes that in the process of building the market, the city could work with the area's landowners to realign property lines and increase the number of parking spaces there.

"I think the only way to move forward with the project is having all the property owners on board," he said.

Another stakeholder that has to be on board the riverside market project, Kyle said, is the Auburn Farmers Market. The market's board of directors has expressed support for the project in the city's past funding applications, saying in 2017 that a permanent market structure would create "a downtown gathering place" that would encourage people to visit nearby businesses and attractions.

However, when contacted about the future of the project and the possibility of relocating from the parking lot opposite Curley's Restaurant, the market's board declined comment.

Haines said she would also like to see the Auburn Farmers Market move to the riverfront area, but added that its board could decide staying put is in its best interest. And as the city prepares its next funding application this month, Haines continued, more possible uses may emerge for both the market and the downtown riverside area it was designed to showcase.

"We haven't thought much beyond what we had in last year's application," she said. "We'd have to put a lot of thought into other ideas that may be compatible with the riverside market concept."