A waterfront market in Edgewater is carving out space for small businesses, families, and young entrepreneurs — and reshaping how the neighborhood gathers.
At the center of it is the Margaret Pace Park Farmers Market, a relatively new but steadily growing presence that has turned a stretch of waterfront green space into a weekly gathering point for locals and visitors.
Launched by East Coast Marketplace, the market is part of a broader effort to rethink what a neighborhood market can be. Founder Lucia Martinelli wants the marketplace to be not just a place for transactions but also one of connections.
(Photo courtesy of East Coast Marketplace)
A vendor sells flowers at the Margaret Pace Park Farmers Market.
“This is not just a farmers market, it’s a community platform,” said Martinelli who lives in the neighborhood where she wanted her marketplace to make a difference. “Our goal is to build something that creates real opportunities and long-term impact, not just a place to sell products.”
That distinction is subtle with the usual set up — prepared foods, local vendors, tents lined in rows — but the experience unfolds differently. The market leans into its setting, with Biscayne Bay just steps away, and into the rhythms of the neighborhood itself, where high-rise living can often feel disconnected from street-level life.
Growing up in Milan, Italy, Martinelli left her home country and moved to Miami in 2015 to open a food truck, “Made in Italy,” where she wanted to share the flavors and culture of Italy. With Juan Peñaloza, co-founder and chef, the truck launched in 2017 in Edgewater serving Neapolitan style pizzas, Angus beef burgers, and empanadas. It combined her culinary background with his Venezuelan training. Martinelli described the menu as an “artful blend of Italian and Venezuelan cuisine.”
(Photo courtesy of East Coast Marketplace)
With the presence of the water, the openness of the park, and the sense of belonging, the farmers market offers respite in a high-rise rich vertical neighborhood.
After her experience where she saw the joy of sharing her food with her community, she wanted to grow something larger.
“After building Made in Italy, I began organizing my own farmers’ markets, starting with several pop-up markets,” Martinelli said.
(Photo courtesy of East Coast Marketplace)
Micro bakery Craave House serves up fresh baked goods at the Margaret Pace Park Farmers Market.
Building on that foundation, Martinelli partnered with Damian Pardo (the Miami City Commissioner representing District 2) and the City of Miami to launch the Margaret Pace Park Farmers Market in 2025, as a place to support entrepreneurs and the neighborhood.
“What truly sets us apart is our commitment to building something with real social impact,” Martinelli said.
Part of that commitment is visible in how space is used. Each week, nonprofit organizations are offered free booths, an intentional decision that shifts the purpose of the market beyond commerce.
“A market should also give back to the community,” Martinelli said.
Another initiative, the Young Makers Hub, invites children to become participants. The program provides free space for kids to create, display, and sell their own products, introducing them to entrepreneurship at an early age.
(Photo courtesy of East Coast Marketplace)
The park itself — a long, open stretch facing Biscayne Bay — has long been a neighborhood asset, but the addition of a recurring market has amplified its function as a social space.
“It’s about confidence, creativity, and teaching them they can build something of their own,” Martinelli said.
Since its launch, the vendor mix has evolved into what Martinelli describes as a curated ecosystem, with many small businesses returning week after week. That consistency has helped shape the market’s identity — not a revolving door of pop-ups, but a stable network of vendors building relationships with customers and with each other.
At the same time, a loyal audience has taken shape, particularly among families who now treat Sunday mornings at the park as routine.
The stakes for vendors, however, often run deeper than a single day’s sales.
“The market serves as a real launching and survival platform for many small businesses,” Martinelli said. “Behind many of our vendors there are families building something from the ground up.”
(Photo courtesy of East Coast Marketplace)
A vendor at the Margaret Pace Park Farmers Market gets his juice on.
In some cases, she added, the income generated at the market is not supplemental, it is essential. By offering structure, visibility and a consistent schedule, the marketplace creates what she describes as “a real-world environment” for businesses to test, refine, and grow.
That kind of support has become increasingly important in Miami, where rising costs and limited access to brick-and-mortar space can make it difficult for emerging entrepreneurs to gain traction.
Against that backdrop, the setting at Margaret Pace Park plays a defining role. The park itself, a long, open stretch facing Biscayne Bay, has long been a neighborhood asset, but the addition of a recurring market has amplified its function as a social space.
(Photo courtesy of East Coast Marketplace)
The Margaret Pace Park Farmers Market features local vendors serving up a wide variety of enticing food.
“We consistently receive feedback from the community thanking us for creating a space where they can enjoy high-quality food, live music, activities, and a vibrant atmosphere in one of the most beautiful locations in Miami,” Martinelli said.
And then there is the presence of the water, the openness of the park, and the sense of belonging that is increasingly rare in a high-rise rich vertical neighborhood.
Martinell said that there’s something that visitors mention to her so many times. They’ll say, “There’s something special about being on the bay. It creates an experience you don’t find everywhere.”
From what she learned in her challenge of moving from Milan to Miami and running her small business food truck dream, Martinelli hopes Margaret Pace Park Farmer’s Market can be a safe haven and a launch pad for entrepreneurs.
Martinelli also started the Green Market on Flagler in February.
“We’re not building markets,” Martinelli said. “We’re building community,”
FRESH AND FRIENDLY FINDS
MARKET ROUNDUP
In and around Edgewater, markets cluster around the weekend, with the Sunday waterfront market at Margaret Pace Park, a Friday evening pop-up along Bayshore Drive, and a more established Saturday market at Legion Park, as well as Green
Market on Flagler on Saturday.
Margaret Pace Park Farmers Market (Edgewater)
Margaret Pace Park, 1745 N. Bayshore Drive, Miami
9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sundays
Waterfront market with produce, prepared foods, and local vendors
Edgewater Farmers Market
1540 N. Bayshore Drive, Miami
Fridays, 4-9 p.m.
Evening pop-up with food vendors and artisan goods along Biscayne Bay
cityofedgewater.org or edgwaterfarmersmarketinc@gmail.com
Legion Park Farmers Market (Upper East Side)
6301 Biscayne Blvd., Miami
Saturdays 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Long-running neighborhood market focused on fresh produce and local vendors
Green Market on Flagler (Downtown Miami)
200 E. Flagler St., Miami
Saturdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.,
Weekly open-air market featuring fresh produce, plants, artisan goods, and prepared foods. Street is typically closed to traffic during market hours to create a pedestrian-friendly environment.
Wynwood Marketplace (Wynwood)
2250 NW 2 Ave, Miami
Hours vary (typically afternoons to late night, weekends)
Outdoor open-air venue featuring rotating food vendors and trucks, bars, live music, and pop-up markets.