Old-fashioned, three-story building at Lewis and Monterey
streets nearly complete
Gilroy – The first new building at the heart of Gilroy’s downtown renaissance harks back to bygone times.
The three-story building at Lewis and Monterey streets, expected to be complete in two weeks, borrows its California mission theme from the Masonic Temple that once stood at the site. That building, originally constructed in 1902, burned down in the mid-’80s.
David Sheedy, a local resident and one of the project developers, said a picture of the temple at the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce served as inspiration for the design.
“We were trying to bring some of the heritage back, to model what the original downtown was designed around,” Sheedy said.
The Masonic Temple was designed by William Weeks, the architect behind the Gilroy Museum and Wheeler Hospital, according to Gilroy Museum Coordinator Lucy Solorzano. At the time the building burned down, she worked on the ground floor at McIntosh Printing, next door to Rede’s Florist. The upstairs of the building served as a dance studio.
“It looks nice,” Solorzano said of the new building. “I do like the corner treatment that pays homage to the original.”
She’s not the only one excited about the new building.
A dozen local residents have expressed interest in the 12 above-ground condominiums, which go on sale in May, and the developers have already lined up a local bank as one of the first retail tenants.
The building has 7,000 square feet of retail space at street level and two floors of condominiums, including 10 one-bedroom units and a pair of two-bedroom units. The developers said they could not release condominium sale prices before May.
Lewis Street Partners LLC, the development partnership behind the project, includes Sheedy, Mark Hewell, Ken Howell and Scott McNamara.
“Everybody’s been real pleased with the building,” Hewell said.
Many leaders and residents see the building as the first piece in the puzzle of downtown revitalization. More than two dozen additional projects are under consideration, many of them blending residential and commercial uses as envisioned by the Downtown Specific Plan.
Of those, a handful of large projects promise to inject new life into the area by creating new business space and entertainment opportunities, while attracting the downtown residents needed to sustain those uses. For several years, officials have touted two major projects as the cornerstones of downtown revitalization – a new arts center across from the Caltrain station and a project at the old cannery site off Lewis Street. The cannery project will bring 200 apartments and 40,000 square feet of retail space to the area just east of Monterey Street.
In addition, city leaders recently approved a 104-unit project that will bring live-work lofts and townhomes to the southern gateway of downtown, next to the Platinum Theaters. In coming months, officials will review a proposal to replace the defunct Indian Motorcycle plant off 10th Street with 204 condominiums and townhomes.
The Lewis Street Partners’ building is the first in the long list of projects to reach fruition.
“From the beginning of planning to construction it was a two-year process,” said Gregg Polubinsky, the city’s downtown planner.
The list includes another three-story project that will rise in the lot directly across from the Lewis Street Partners’ building. The project, which blends street-level retail with 24 condominiums, is part of the Garlic Festival Association’s plans for a new headquarters. The GFA plans to begin construction by summer, according to Polubinsky.
A driving force behind such projects was the decision by city leaders to exempt developers from hundreds of thousands of dollars in building fees. Sheedy said his group saved nearly $300,000 on the $3 million project, at 7598 Monterey St.
“I definitely think (the downtown) is on track,” Sheedy said. “I think the city needs to stay with it. It’s not all going to happen in the next six months. It’s a two-, three-year timeline and as long as they keep supporting the downtown, it will keep growing.”
Why You Should Care
The new mission-style building at Lewis and Monterey streets is the first in a series of projects that form the heart of downtown renewal efforts.
