Old Town's Saturday Moved One Block, and the Blocks Around Market Square Are Absorbing the Cost

Where do you park for the Old Town Farmers' Market when the garage under Market Square is gone and the market itself has moved?

The market now sets up in the 100 block of North Royal Street and the courtyard at Tavern Square, just across the street from its historic home. The Market Square Garage closed to the public on Feb. 9. The City Hall and Market Square renovation is expected to take two to three years, and The Zebra reports the current schedule points to fall 2028. The 300 block of King Street was the civic front porch of Old Town, and it has been fenced off since winter. The disruption has landed on that block.

The Saturday routine, rebuilt

The market still runs every Saturday from 7 a.m. to noon, rain or shine, with more than 70 vendors, according to the City of Alexandria. Here is the sequence that works now.

1. Park in a garage the city has made free for the market. The Tavern Square Garage at 418 Cameron St. and the Courthouse Square Garage at 111 S. Pitt St. are free on Saturdays from 6:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., per the city's February notice. Tavern Square sits directly under the market's new courtyard.
2. Take a bus if you would rather skip parking. The Old Town Trolley and DASH routes 30, 31 and 34 serve the market.
3. Leave the dog at home. Pets are not allowed inside the market boundaries during hours.
4. Bring SNAP benefits if they apply to you. The market matches SNAP dollars up to $20 through its Double Dollar program, and more than 30 vendors accept SNAP.
5. Walk down to the water. The pedestrian zone on lower King Street was permanently extended in September 2025 to include the 200 block, so the stretch from the market area toward the river now runs longer without cars.

The market has moved before. During the 1960s urban renewal it went to an empty grocery store, inside City Hall and onto Cameron Street before returning to Market Square in 1967. It has operated at Market Square since 1753, and the city says it goes back once the work is finished.

What 180 spaces takes with it

The Market Square Garage held 180 spaces. Losing them affected more than market day, and the effects show up in the accounts of the businesses closest to the fence.

The Traffic and Parking Board responded in June by repurposing curb space east of Washington Street. One change swaps a taxi stand and valet zones on the south side of the 400 block of King Street for metered parking and a pick-up area. Meter rates rose from $1.75 to $2.75 an hour on July 1, and Council declined to add Sunday meter fees. For a weeknight dinner, the Courthouse Square Garage was quoted in February at $1 an hour after 5 p.m. on weeknights and all day on weekends, capped at $5 a day. Rates change, so check the city's parking page before you rely on that number.

Valet is another option. Visit Alexandria's guidance this year lists a $12 flat rate Thursday through Sunday, with the car parked two blocks away. Participating merchants named there include The Warehouse, Il Porto, Landini's, Cooper Mill, Fish Market and Pops Ice Cream. Confirm current hours before you count on it.

The businesses beside the construction zone are the ones feeling the change most. The Warehouse at 214 King St. has long been a place for family celebrations and lunches with out-of-town guests. Its host and owner, Hossein, told The Zebra on Sept. 4 that the restaurant has "never experienced a year like this one." He connected the drop to three things at once. The garage is closed, City Hall's daily traffic is gone, and the pedestrian-only block of lower King Street means some longtime guests who cannot walk far no longer have a curb where they can be dropped at the door.

Across Market Square on the 100 block of North Fairfax Street, Today's Cargo has been open for 53 years. Manager Debra Devers told WTOP that many of its customers are older and find it harder when they cannot park nearby. Carla Clarke of Today's Cargo has asked the city to consider parking help, clearer signs, promotion and possible tax or fee relief for the merchants carrying the most disruption. The city has said it is looking at ways to help, and the outcome is still open.

The building itself will look different when the fence comes down. The 1871 exterior and clock tower stay. The 1960-61 addition comes off, the two-level garage is replaced, and the plaza above it is rebuilt. LEO A DALY leads the design team, with Rust Orling Architecture and LandDesign of Alexandria contributing on Market Square, and Grunley Construction is the construction manager.

Voting is a practical detail that moved too. Residents whose polling place was City Hall now vote at Lyles Crouch Traditional Academy, 530 S. Saint Asaph St.

The openings list runs behind the calendar

The other Old Town story of 2026 is the wave of restaurants arriving. The dates attached to them shifted more than the headlines suggest. Several roundups still list places as open that local reporting says are not.

Grazie Nonna is the clearest correction. Announced in September 2025 with an expected 2026 delivery, it is now tied to the timeline of the apartment building above it. Carr Properties told ALXnow in May that both tenants were still in the design and permitting phase, and that the eight-story, 237-unit building is expected to finish in late 2026. A restaurant on the ground floor of a building under construction opens after the building does.

Floriana's timeline deserves the same care. The plan for the Atrium space, formerly Virginia's Darling, is an all-day room with breakfast and lunch alongside the dinner service the D.C. original is known for. That is a real addition for the blocks around South Washington Street. The last confirmed target from the owner was late summer, and reservations should wait for confirmation.

The Majestic and Maman sit on King Street, and Finn & Fire is on Pitt Street. The two openings furthest out on the calendar are at South Washington and Duke streets and in Old Town North. The block that has changed most in daily use, the 300 block of King, has lost places to park rather than gained places to eat.

The fall calendar, with the market in its temporary home

Several dates fall in the next six weeks.

• Sticker Treat, Saturday, Oct. 24, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pick up a map at Pippin Toy Co., 1310 King St., and collect Halloween stickers from businesses across Old Town.
• Del Ray Halloween Parade, Sunday, Oct. 25. It steps off on Mount Vernon Avenue at E. Bellefonte Avenue, marks its 30th year, and has been named one of the country's ten best Halloween parades by USA Today. It is free.
• Old Town costume crawl, Oct. 30 and 31. The ticketed two-night crawl is centered on The Light Horse and participating bars.
• George Washington Symposium, Nov. 5 to 7. The ticketed event is held at the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon.
• Alexandria Film Festival, Nov. 13 to 15. It reaches its 20th year across venues in the city.
• Ghost and Graveyard tours. Alexandria Colonial Tours runs them through the season from the Visitor Center at Ramsay House, 221 King St. The city has said sidewalk closures near the renovation can move walking-tour meeting spots, so ask the tour operator where to gather.

The Art Festival at John Carlyle Square and the Historic Alexandria Homes Tour both wrapped on Sept. 26 and 27.

The Old Town Farmers' Market will be on North Royal Street and in the Tavern Square courtyard for every Saturday between now and the finished plaza. The Warehouse and Today's Cargo remain open for business.

The Thrive Team works with Old Town homeowners who are planning around the City Hall construction schedule. If you want to talk through what a two-to-three-year timeline means for your own plans, Start a Strategy Call.