Gilroy
– The first piece of the downtown’s much-anticipated building
boom began two weeks ago, with groundbreaking on a three story,
mixed-use building on the corner of Lewis and Monterey streets.
Gilroy – The first piece of the downtown’s much-anticipated building boom began two weeks ago, with groundbreaking on a three story, mixed-use building on the corner of Lewis and Monterey streets.
The once vacant lot next to the Historic Strand Theatre is now gated and bustling with activity. People passing by in the last week saw workers laying steel, rebar, and sand, according to David Sheedy, one of four managing partners in the project. They hope to begin pouring the concrete foundation by Tuesday.
Workers began minor grading work on the project two weeks ago, according to Sheedy, who said they “pretty much lucked out” in terms of the start date.
“By the time we pulled our building permits the weather had broken,” he said.
When it is complete in nine months, the California mission-style building will offer street-level retail space and 12 above-ground apartments, split equally between the second and third floors.
Sheedy, Mark Hewell, Ken Howell, and Scott McNamara have collectively formed Lewis Street Partners LLC to manage the project. Sheedy estimated that the partners saved $300,000 in waived development fees on the roughly $3 million building. The fee waiver is one of many steps city leaders have taken to encourage redevelopment of the downtown, which is now dotted with empty storefronts.
That plan appears to be working.
The Lewis Street project is the first of many developments expected to take root in the downtown area in the near future. City staff are currently reviewing a handful of new projects and expect about 20 more applications in coming months.
Like the Lewis Street project, a number of the proposals mix commercial and residential uses.
The downtown will also get a shot in the arm from two major projects expected to be complete within five years – a new arts center across from the Caltrain station, and a project at the Old Cannery site, off Lewis Street, that will bring 200 apartments and 40,000 square feet of retail space.
The city also expects to complete upgrades to Monterey Street, between Fourth and Sixth streets, by the end of 2006.
