Fresh off multiple events that drew thousands to downtown Gilroy, a group of Silicon Valley tastemakers descended on the district Monday to walk back alleys and discuss opportunities while excitement runs high.
“This is the perfect time to invest in downtown Gilroy,” said Ryan Sebastian, founder and owner of Moveable Feast, a San Jose-based food event planning company that brought a caravan of food trucks to Gilroy as part of the annual Fifth Street Live concert series earlier this month.
Parked along Gourmet Alley, the food trucks, which offered a variety of gourmet-style street food, were an instant hit. More than 3,000 attendees crowded the closed off Fifth Street and alleyway off Monterey Road the first night they pulled in on July 8.
“The turnout was high and there was such a great community feel,” said Sebastian. “It felt like a place where people wanted to be.”
Recognized as one of Silicon Valley’s 40 under 40, and the founder of Treatbot, San Jose’s premier Karaoke Ice Cream Truck, entrepreneur Sebastian says he feels that downtown Gilroy is on track to becoming a destination in its own right.
“People from Hollister, Watsonville, San Martin—all the surrounding areas will come to downtown Gilroy, and we can do it with food,” he added, saying he was impressed with the appreciation for diverse cuisines in what’s been known as a meat and potatoes town.
In total agreement is Joe Lovecchio, a recent transplant to Gilroy who lived in Morgan Hill for 20 years.
He got the idea of bringing food trucks downtown—which are prohibited by city ordinance—after meeting with members of Gilroy’s Downtown Business Association and noticing the alley off Fifth Street was called Gourmet Alley, which to him, just screamed out for restaurants.
“If you walk down that alleyway, you can create so many little restaurants, with al fresco dining, it would be just the cutest little alleyway,” he said.
After the first event with Moveable Feast, a Facebook group Lovecchio started, Gilroy Community For A Better Downtown, jumped from 600 followers to 1,600 within 24 hours. Now the group boasts an impressive 2,574 members.
“This tells you there is an opportunity—a need, a want in the community,” said Lovecchio.
The unexpected success of the events—bringing so many people downtown—has attracted renewed interest in the district’s investment potential.
About 30 people, including prospective restaurateurs, investors, financiers, property owners and city officials toured the district on Monday.
Led by Sebastian and GDBA member and downtown property owner Gary Walton, the tour gave the latest on how downtown businesses are doing—recent attendance at The District nightclub has gone “through the roof,” Walton said. The tour also covered building vacancies, historical points of interest and potential business opportunities.
“Gilroy is already a shopping destination,” said Walton. “We want more of a neighborhood or community setting for downtown. It may take somebody who has worked in a more urban environment like San Jose who can see the potential. It’s creating that ‘sweet spot,’ between suburban and urban.”
“The time is right,” said Tammy Brownlow, president of Gilroy’s Economic Development Corporation, who was on Monday’s tour. “The economy is looking good, we are at a key location in Silicon Valley for people interested in farm-to-table and we have spaces available in the city that are affordable for entrepreneurs.”
Noting the energy and excitement surrounding the recent downtown events, Brownlow added: “After that first Friday, the downtown restaurants were slammed.”
Downtown property owner Jose Montes, who expects to be pouring concrete next week at the old Hall’s store undergoing renovation at the corner of Sixth and Monterey streets, said downtown has great possibility with investors.
“We got the buildings—we just want more skin in the game,” he said.
