RAD LAB, a urban planning group aiming to develop underused or vacant lots into outdoor gathering places for local communities, has broken ground on its first project, the East Village's Quartyard. An official ground breaking ceremony, scheduled for October 1, will be open to the public.

A 30,000-square-foot, long-empty lot on Market Street will soon be fashioned into an urban park, with an area designated for a farmer's market, a catering kitchen and outdoor event space, and downtown's only dog run. Its food tenants include Mission Hills' Meshuggah Shack Coffee Shop, whose recent Kickstarter campaign will aid in the buildout of their expansion here, as well as an outpost of S&M: Sausage and Meat, the new concept from Slater's 50/50 's.



Quartyard will also include a 10,000-square-foot beer garden, run by Best Beverage Catering that will be pouring local craft beer by the quart or half quart as well as serving wine and cocktails. And there will be a rotating roster of food trucks on site for lunch and dinner, curated by Curbside Bites.

Basile Studio is helping RAD LAB to transform recycled shipping containers into structures for each vendor. COO David Loewenstein estimates that the Quartyard should be ready to activate in 90 days, and it will be open seven days a week.

· Quartyard [Official Site]

· Quartyard Coverage on Eater [ESD]