The Golden Nail Award.
This award is bestowed by the San Jose Downtown Business Associations to the owners of commercial buildings that have contributed to the beautification of the downtown business districts through renovation projects.“The result of the improvements is a sensitive rehabilitation,” said Kent Mather, the Downtown Design Committee Chair. “A modern ground-floor storefront that benefits Liquid Agency, while framed by the restored brick façade of the original building”. At the award ceremony Alfredo Muccino sported gold nail polish (as opposed to the usual black that he’s often seen wearing)…and he joked about misunderstanding the nature of the award, thinking he may be receiving an award for his nails.

A story of transformation.
The two-story Victorian brick building was originally built in the 1800s and by the time Liquid purchased it (in 1995), it housed the L’Amour Sex Shoppe – an adult bookstore. At that time, the South First area of downtown was quite a bit seedier than it is now…and Liquid Agency was one of the first creative businesses to move into the neighborhood.“We’ve seen this entire district change a great deal since we moved in,” said Alfredo Muccino, one of the co-founders of Liquid Agency, “Actually, all of downtown San Jose has undergone quite a transformation. Today the SoFA (South of First) district is a vibrant and dynamic community that includes a diversity of businesses – and it is a pleasure to have our offices in the neighborhood”. Today, Liquid occupies the entire two-story building which cuts across the block and includes an entrance on First Street and another one on Market Street, and is planning to renovate the Market Street façade over the next two years.

A collaborative effort.
Liquid Agency qualified for a funding grant from The SJ Redevelopment Agency – which was very helpful in bringing the project to conclusion – and selected Jeanette Coran of JCA Architects to work on the project. Alfredo Muccino worked closely on the architectural design with Kelly Simcox, the lead architect whom he credits for being not only exceptionally creative and detail oriented, but also very patient with him throughout the entire process. Kelly has now started her own architecture firm (G Studio) and is continuing to work with Liquid on other projects.

A few words of thanks.
We’re honored and excited about this award. And we’re proud of being part of the revitalization of San Jose. We’ve had the pleasure of working with a number of local arts organizations and institutions like The San Jose Museum, The Tech, and the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art – and we’ve long been supporters of many of the cultural activities that are making downtown a vibrant urban center – events like ZERO1 and Music in The Park, for example. In the process we’ve had the chance to work with Scott Knees, the Director of the San Jose Downtown Business Association and his fine staff – and we’d like to thank him and the Downtown Design Committee for recognizing us with this award, and for all of the effort he’s put into transforming downtown San Jose into a great place to live and work.