Off the Grid is Done at the Proxy Project

On our very first day here at Hayeswire, we covered the debut of Off the Grid at the Proxy project on Octavia. And now, eight months later, we're sad to say that Off the Grid has decided to move along from the location.

Their rotating stable of food trucks first appeared on Linden Street in July of 2011, and then moved to the Proxy Project in February. They were a regular presence at the site through August, when Off the Grid decided to part ways with Hayes. We received the following statement from Matt Cohen, founder of Off the Grid:

"After more than a year in the Hayes Valley area, Off the Grid and Envelope A+D have decided to discontinue programming of mobile vendors for PROXY SF. Although we loved being imbedded in the Hayes Valley community, the PROXY market was never intended to be a permanent location; and with the addition of more retail vendors in the PROXY space, the end of August was the ideal time to make the change. Moving forward, we are focusing on a new goal of opening weekly markets that can accommodate five trucks or more, as opposed to the 2-3 trucks we were able to provide daily at PROXY."

We checked in with Envelope A+D, the firm behind the Proxy project, for their perspective. They confirmed that Off the Grid had decided to move in a different direction, and added that Proxy is evolving as well. They'll be using Off the Grid's former space to host public and private events, and will feature other temporary vendors at the site -- perhaps including food trucks. Proxy is entering Phase Three of its four-phase lifespan. The final phase will involve the creation of a covered event and pop-up shop space where much of the current parking lot now exists at Hayes and Octavia. Work on that should begin next Spring. Stay tuned...