Located between the railroad tracks and Monterey or the El Camino Real in Downtown Morgan Hill, the old Isaacson Granary was a prominent reminder of the area's once preeminent agri-business. As populations grew and Santa Clara Valley evolved into Silicon Valley, the agricultural and industrial businesses based around the Granary and the railroad tracks slid into non-use and decay. The Granary became a symbol of a bygone era.

 

In 2003, Charles Weston AIA, LEED AP and Lesley Miles AIA, LEED AP Principals at Weston Miles Architects, decided to embark on a challenging project to repurpose the existing derelict Granary.  At the time Green-Building was not a common term and Transit Oriented Development was not typically constructed in the rail corridors of the Bay area.

 

Purchasing the building and site, Weston and Miles developed the project as the Developer, Architect, Contractor and LEED consultant.  Given the difficulty of both the design and construction WMA and our Construction team at Weston Construction skillfully renovated the old industrial building. Great care was taken to preserve the building's integrity and character while developing it into an integrated structure that met a number of goals; historic building reuse, LEED Certification, sustainable building and adherence to a very limited budget.

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These goals were achieved by designing an adaptive reuse of the existing building, retaining the Granary form, structure, and foundation. The project transformed the drafty, dark industrial building into an efficient, bright structure using both Savings by Design and LEED criteria in addition to traditional design practices. The Granary was the 25th  LEED Gold Certified project in the world, missing Platinum by just one point.

 

The award-winning building received the Structures Award from the Silicon Valley Business Journal and the Commercial Project of the year in 2009 from the California Redevelopment Agency.  

 

The Granary project has spurred other development in the downtown along Depot Street including; a Federal grant for the reconstruction of the street, the Barley Place development of 16 residential units as well as over 150 new residential and commercial units along Depot.

 

Today the Granary District, comprised of the Weston Miles Projects, preserves this piece of the City's agricultural past while providing a "gateway" project at the northeast entry to the downtown. Welcome!  Come and visit and experience the charm and elegance of the original structure, check out the new Retail spaces and enjoy the orchard featuring the heritage fruit trees of the Valley of Heart's Delight.