Fairfax : Farmers Market Delay

The owners of the Farmers Market in the Fairfax District say construction plans for a regional shopping center on part of the site may be delayed as much as a year because of a weak economy and the scarcity of financing.

The City Council approved plans last year for the A. F. Gilmore Co. to build 700,000 square feet of shops, restaurants, department stores and housing for senior citizens on the 31-acre parcel that contains the 57-year-old open-air market.

The market, with its trademark clock tower and 19th-Century Gilmore Adobe, is protected by the city’s historical preservation laws.

Construction on the project had been scheduled to start early this year. But Henry L. Hilty Jr., president of the family-owned company, said the weak economy has made lenders wary of financing such large ventures.

“These are external factors I can’t control,” he said.