On 49ers Sundays, Mountain View's Farmers' Market Moves to Hope Street, a Lot With a Hotel Application on File

Mountain View's Sunday farmers' market runs year-round in the Caltrain station lot at 600 W. Evelyn Ave., from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the California Farmers' Markets Association operates it. On a few Sundays a year the market has to move. Its backup site has already changed once in 2026, because the old backup lot is being built over. The current backup, two city lots on Hope Street, is now tied to a hotel application under city review.

There are two move Sundays left this year. The real story is that the market's fallback depends on downtown parking lots, and those lots are slowly turning into buildings.

The two Sundays left in 2026

The market has already moved four times this fall: Sept. 20, Sept. 27, Oct. 4 and Nov. 8. The other two Sundays are still on the calendar:

The 49ers' official schedule shows both games starting at 1:25 p.m. That's close enough to market hours that fans are parking at the station while shoppers would normally be there.

The association calls the moves limited, usually four or five Sundays a year, and says the market is not leaving the Caltrain lot for good. This year is busier than that range, with four move Sundays already behind us and two to go, six in all. The extra dates fall in the stretch of the year when most shoppers will come out regardless of the weather.

Why the station lot turns into stadium parking

The market association's FAQ gives the reason directly. When the 49ers play early-afternoon home games, the Caltrain lot is used for access to Levi's Stadium on the VTA Orange Line.

VTA says the Orange Line connects with Caltrain at Mountain View and serves Levi's Stadium. Caltrain's directions tell riders to walk to the Mountain View VTA platform, take the Orange Line toward Alum Rock and get off at Great America. The same page lists standard station parking at $5.50 for up to 24 hours.

For a Sunday game, a large lot right at the transfer point is worth more as parking than as a market. So the question each season is which nearby lot can take the market for a morning.

What a Hope Street Sunday looks like

On move days, the market sets up on Hope Street between West Evelyn Avenue and Villa Street. Lots 4 and 8 face each other there, at 190 Hope St. The market association lists these details:

• Hours: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the same as usual. No one can enter the alternate site before 9 a.m. If you usually shop the early stalls at the Caltrain lot, plan to arrive right at opening instead.
• Vendors: All of the regular vendors move to Hope Street. Staff at the information booth can help you find a particular stand.
• Driving: Hope Street stays open to cars, but access is limited. The association suggests skipping the block between Evelyn and Villa from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and using View Street instead.
• Parking: Free customer parking is available in the Bryant Street garage between Villa Street and Evelyn Avenue, in city Lots 5, 6 and 9 on Hope Street, and on nearby streets. Paid parking is still available in the Caltrain lot.

On move days, the market moves a few blocks closer to Castro Street, between the station and the downtown restaurant blocks. The association also posts move dates through its email newsletter and the market's Instagram account.

The first backup became Corso

Until the end of 2025, game-day markets went somewhere else. As the Mountain View Voice reported in December 2025, the market used Lot 12, across from City Hall, whenever the 49ers played at home. That opened up the station lot for fans riding light rail to Santa Clara. The market association's FAQ now says the old site at California and Bryant streets "is no longer available due to development of that lot." Starting in January 2026, every move day has been on Hope Street.

According to the City of Mountain View, Lot 12 closed to the public for good on Feb. 20, 2026. The lot is becoming Corso, a 120-apartment affordable housing development at 424 Bryant St. built jointly by Related California and Alta Housing. The Voice reported in May that construction technically started in March, followed by a public groundbreaking on May 27. The developer expects to finish in the first quarter of 2028.

Moving to Hope Street was a practical choice. In its December report, the Voice said the city had found two nearby lots after Lot 12's closure was set and before Levi's Stadium hosted the Super Bowl in February. Under the arrangement the City Council considered that month, the association would pay the city $430 per event to use them and would also handle setup, including posting no-parking signs.

Hope Street has its own development plan

The same Voice article explained why Hope Street may not last as the backup either. In 2016, the city picked RGC Mountain View, a commercial real estate company, to build a hotel on Lot 4 and an office building with ground-floor retail on Lot 8. The council report said that if the project went ahead, the city would need to find other temporary sites for the market.

That project was stalled for years. The Voice reported in April that the original plan ran into trouble with the hotel market and construction loans during the pandemic. That led to new lease negotiations and a revised hotel proposal. On March 24, 2026, the City Council approved amended development and ground-lease terms with RGC Mountain View I, LLC. The city's Hope Street Lots project page says The Robert Green Company filed a new permit request for Lot 4 on Aug. 12, 2026. The request is for a five-story, 179-room hotel with no underground parking, and the city is reviewing it.

The March council report sets out a long, phased timeline:

1. Lot 4 hotel first. Under the amended schedule, the hotel could open as early as mid-2029 and no later than spring 2031.
2. Lot 8 office second. RGC has until June 30, 2029, to file the office building's Planned Community Permit application. If the hotel isn't built, the office project won't go forward.
3. What Lot 8 would hold. Roughly 50,000 square feet of office space, 2,725 square feet of ground-floor retail and about 110 underground parking spaces.

For market shoppers, this means Hope Street is the backup for the next few seasons, not a permanent one. Lot 12 closed in February 2026, and Corso is expected to be finished in early 2028. The Lot 4 hotel schedule runs from the current permit review to an opening between mid-2029 and spring 2031. For now, every move Sunday this year, and probably more after that, goes to Lots 4 and 8. Once construction fences go up on Lot 4, the city will have to find the market another site, as its own council report expected.

The Caltrain lot itself is unaffected. The association says the market will keep running year-round on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the station. Only the backup is changing, and each move puts the market on a lot that is next in line for development.

The rest of downtown's late-fall calendar

The two Hope Street Sundays come in the middle of a busy month or so downtown, mostly within a few blocks of the station:

• Mountain View Makers Market, Friday, Nov. 20, 3 to 8 p.m., on the 300 block of Castro Street. The city's listing promises more than 50 vendors, with more than half of them new to the market scene. The fall series ends Dec. 18.
• Holiday Bazaar, Saturday, Nov. 21, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Mountain View Senior Center, 266 Escuela Ave. The city lists more than 40 vendors selling handmade goods, and admission is free.
• Farmers' market on Hope Street, Sunday, Nov. 29, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the morning of the Seahawks game.
• Community Tree Lighting Celebration, Monday, Dec. 7, 5:30 to 8 p.m., at Civic Center Plaza, 500 Castro St. That's across the street from where Corso is going up.
• Farmers' market on Hope Street, Sunday, Dec. 13, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the morning of the Rams game and the last move of 2026.

One weekend stands out: the Makers Market on Friday, Nov. 20, and the Holiday Bazaar the next morning are the closest pair of downtown shopping events this season.

If you'd like to know what Corso, the Hope Street hotel or other projects near the station could mean for a home you own or are thinking about buying nearby, Red Door Real Estate is happy to go through the details with you. Let's Talk.