As a final project, they strategized on the creation of a new Market Design and Operational (MDO) plan for Pike Place Market, which would outline a set of market, street, and sidewalk designs, and market business operational models that would be adopted by the Market as a unified 20-year development plan. The plan was to address economic, sustainability, accessibility, and safety goals; be innovative and flexible enough to adapt to the expected changes in transportation (both passenger and freight movements), retail commerce, and population that Seattle expects to experience in this time frame; be user-friendly enough to be easily administered; self-sustaining financially; and reflect Smart Growth principles—mixed uses, housing and transportation choice, certainty, fiscal responsibility, open space preservation.
Student teams presented recommendations to course co-instructors Anne Goodchild, Ed McCormack, Kirk Hovenkotter (Executive Director, Greater Redmond Transportation Management Association), and Paolo Nunes Ueno (Mobility Consultant), and “judges” Rico Quirindongo (Chair, Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority and Principal Architect, DLR Group) and Catherine Stanford (Consultant, BOMA Seattle King County and former Director of Real Estate, Pike Place Market).