South County Housing is converting former dress shop into
welcome center with some punch
Gilroy – An empty storefront on Monterey Street will soon offer a view of downtown’s bright future.
Nonprofit developer South County Housing is converting a former dress shop at 7488 Monterey St. into the area’s marketing epicenter, a modern-day piazza for the entrepreneurs, investors and residents needed to breathe new life into the area.
“It goes beyond a welcome center,” said Nancy Wright, South County Housing’s project manager. “It’s a glimpse into the future of living in downtown Gilroy. When you walk in, it will demonstrate to you what the new downtown Gilroy lifestyle will be like.”
And that means coffee shops, hip new restaurants and boutique shopping on the street, with a mix of above-ground apartments and condominiums overlooking Monterey Street. South County plans to use the storefront, expected to open at the end of March, to showcase the 210 homes and 45,000 square feet of retail space it is constructing at the old cannery a few blocks to the north. The agency is also partnering with the Garlic Festival Association, which is constructing a three-story building that also blends commercial and residential space just west of the cannery, on the corner of Monterey and Lewis streets.
Shoppers or downtown residents can stop by to relax in a coffeehouse atmosphere with “a very cool, contemporary feeling to it,” Wright said. Plans for the 3,500-square-foot space call for a coffee bar, though Wright is unsure if the city and health department will approve its use as a food facility. Even if they can’t have espresso, visitors will be able to pick out a future home with the help of on-site sales associates, or choose their future carpets or bathroom tiles by stopping in a design room.
The storefront will also serve as an information clearinghouse for entrepreneurs and investors, who will be able to find detailed listings of buildings for sale or commercial and retail space for lease. Downtown restaurateur Steve Gearing, who owns Happy Dog Pizza Company on Fifth Street, said a map or brochure could help tie the area’s opportunities together for potential investors.
“They could see one place would be great for a restaurant, another one would be great for a bakery,” Gearing said. “It becomes a whole hub for the downtown’s growth.”
South County also wants it to serve as a reminder of the past. The agency plans to install an exhibit documenting the 100-year history of the cannery at Lewis and Alexander streets. The business was once the economic lifeblood of the city, and South County has taken pains to collect photographs and oral histories from past employees.
The cannery is the keystone of major change in the area, which is quickly shedding its image as the dark and seedy heart of Gilroy. A half dozen new businesses are expected to open in coming months, and new buildings that blend commercial and living space are expected to rise in the next few years along the entire stretch of road, between Sixth and Third streets.
At the moment, construction crews are laying the final bricks on expansive new sidewalks along Monterey Street, which closed for seven months this year to undergo a major facelift, and city leaders are pushing forward with plans for a new arts center at the corner of Seventh and Monterey streets.
Mayor Al Pinheiro said the new welcome center “will be a place where people will come and hear the story of downtown – past, present and future.
“A place that will not only highlight the cannery as a major anchor of downtown,” he said, “but also other developments … It’s where that positive energy can flow and people can get a feel for what’s coming.”
South County plans to operate the welcome center for three years, until the cannery project is complete.
