We did some great things in 2014! Starting off the year with SFMOMA's Project Los Altos, nearly 20,000 visitors explored the various galleries and installations throughout downtown Los Altos from November 2013 through early March 2014. According to SFMOMA's data, daily attendance ranged from 170 to 360+ in the three indoor galleries, with 242 State Street being the most popular gallery to visit.
242 State Street also hosted two additional avant garde pop-ups during 2014: Jason Campbell's Pop-Up HQ in May featuring high end fashion, and Christie's Pop-Up Los Altos in September showcasing a phenomenal collection of contemporary art up for auction. In June 359 State Street hosted an art pop-up featuring photography by Bill Scull of Gallery 9, and then in November housed the Kilgoris Project's annual holiday craft sale.
Also in May, the City of Los Altos, Safeway, and Passerelle partnered on the State Street Green in May-June to once again bring a pop-up park to the 300 block of State Street. While short-lived, the Green returned in August for a full four weeks in the form of the Third Street Green which was a hit. A more intimate and less obstructive (from a traffic perspective) location, Third Street between State Street and Plaza North hosted twelve live summer concerts, regular and free community program from yoga and art activities to The Bubble Man and Helix science sessions. If you missed it, you can learn more about 3SG here.
Helix wrapped up an incredibly successful year, attracting on average 900+ visitors weekly throughout its tenure in downtown Los Altos at 316-320 State Street. Helix partnered with countless local schools, community groups, and local businesses to create innovative programming that incited curiosity and creativity in kids and adults of all ages. While we are sad to see them go, we are proud of our collective accomplishments and feel that the community pride in and support of Helix is a resounding testament to the success of this community experiment.
Perhaps most importantly, Passerelle welcomed several tenants new and old: in May the European Cobblery relocated to its new location at 385 State Street, and in June Earth Beauty Apothecary opened at 271 State Street. The Botanist relocated down the street to 170 State to share space with The Makery in July. In December, two delicious new businesses opened at the corner of First and State - Tin Pot Creamery at 201 First and Cho's Dim Sum at 209 First. Watch for a grand opening celebration for each of them in the coming weeks! We are also excited to announce the arrival of a new venture capital firm, Goodwater Capital to the upstairs of 320 State Street. More great things are in store for 2015, so stay tuned!