Santa Cruz Changes - 24: Pacific Avenue 1400s

 

Continuing the survey of recent changes to the south, the 1400s occur only in the short block on the west side of Pacific Avenue, between Locust and Church streets. There have been, however, several recent changes: one arrival, one departure, and one change of ownership.

The arrival is the most recent change. Radhe Radhe Cafe just opened last week, a brand new restaurant at 1411 Pacific in the McPherson building, next door to Pleasure Pizza. The cafe menu is described as "vegetarian comfort food". 

Next door to the south is Peet's Coffee, which seems to be doing well, but past Peet's is the recent departure. Long-time PacAve tenant Palace Art and Office Supply moved out a few months ago, keeping only its Capitola location. 

The last 1400 block business is Santa Cruz Cinema, where new owners took over from Regal Cinemas. That change was noted back in February - in post number 3. The 2017 photo above shows both of the now-departed names. 

Locations in the Santa Cruz Changes blog can be found on this Google Map.

Santa Cruz changes - 23: Pacific Avenue 1500s

Taking a break from looking at all the big new projects in the approval pipeline, let's take a walk down Pacific Avenue to catch up on recent changes along the main Santa Cruz business street. Starting at the Water Street end, the block from Water to Locust Street has numbers in the 1500s. 

The biggest change to the block was covered in post #6 - the multi-use pile called "Nanda on Pacific". Since then, I've been watching the two retail spaces that face PacAve. Both are still awaiting their first tenants, which is not surprising while we're still in the COVID upheaval.  

While admiring the nice ironwork of a gate set into the facade at the Lulu's end of the Nanda building (photo to be added here later), I was pleasantly surprised to realize that the space behind that gate is exterior - not inside the building as it appears from the sidewalk. A flight of steps leads up to an outdoor landing, from which the old brickwork of the Lulu's building wall remains visible. Unfortunately, only residents with a key to the gate can get up to that landing, but you can get a peek from outside the gate. 

It's nice to know that wall view will remain as a reminder of what we had to look at for almost 30 years as the site sat empty after the 1989 earthquake demolitions, including the bolted-on wood framing that once attached the 1899 Williamson & Garrett building floors and roof to the Lulu's wall.

A somewhat older change is the loss of longtime fixture Benten Japanese restaurant at 1541B, on the corner of Plaza Lane. Benten closed in 2019, replaced by a restaurant named Barceloneta (Spanish food maybe? - haven't checked the menu), which has now reopened.

Across the street at #1532 is one of the rare new businesses to open on PacAve since the COVID shutdown began. Leaf & Vine specializes in house plants, something all those new Nanda apartment dwellers will need. The new store replaced the venerable Judi Wyant Antiques, which posted notice that its business has gone entirely online. 

Locations in the Santa Cruz Changes blog can be found on this Google Map.

Santa Cruz Changes - 22: Pacific Station North

Last week's post looked at an upcoming redevelopment project called Pacific Station South, which will border the south side of Maple Alley between Pacific Avenue and Front Street. Across the alley will be another long-and-narrow, multi-use, many-story building, but with a different orientation. The 2017 photo above-right shows the view from the south on Pacific Ave.

Pacific Station North will occupy the entire Pacific Avenue frontage from Maple Alley to the five-story multi-use building at 1010 Pacific, built on the corner of Cathcart Street in 2004. That frontage now includes - south to north - a city parking lot, the Metro Center, and the Greyhound bus parking lot. The developer's rendering (at left) looks at the proposed building from approximately the same angle as the existing conditions (top photo). 

Comparing these two views, the most noticeable change is the replacement of blue sky with building facade. That's an unfortunate consequence of all the new developments - taller buildings will make downtown sidewalks a lot shadier. Fortunately, Riverwalk Park is only a block away. 

The biggest surprise with Pacific Station North, however, is what's behind it. The Metro bus lanes will be totally redesigned and expanded, with all entry and exit from Front Street. 

The bus lanes will be shaded, too - by a forest of solar panel "trees" similar to those at the City Hall Annex parking lot. The blue-tinted solar panels are visible in the aerial-view rendering at right - and you'll never again have to wonder what time it is while waiting for your bus.

More information about this project can be found at the City of Santa Cruz website. 

Santa Cruz Changes locations can be found on this Google Map.

Santa Cruz Changes - 21: Pacific Station South

 

Santa Cruz Changes post #4 looked at the big redevelopment project now underway at the Pacific-Laurel-Front site. Another not-as-big project will soon begin just to the north of that one, along the south side of Maple Alley. Its current project name is Pacific Station South. 

The proposed mixed-use building will have below-market-rate apartments on the upper levels.

The Pipeline smoke shop, which used to be flanked by the Haber's building on the south and Tampico Kitchen restaurant on the north, now stands all alone awaiting its fate. For reference, its location is about where a red car is shown emerging from a garage onto Pacific Ave. at middle-right in the design rendering above. The near corner of the building in the rendering is where Tampico Kitchen used to sit.

Tampico Kitchen closed in 2016 after 24 years at that location, and no new restaurant ever took over the space. Then the empty building was damaged by a fire, and sat boarded-up until the developer DEVCON bought the site in 2017 and tore the building down. 

Now combined with other parcels, Pacific Station South will run the entire one-block length block of Maple Alley from Pacific to Front.

More information about this project can be found at the City of Santa Cruz website. 

Santa Cruz Changes locations can be found on this Google Map.

Santa Cruz Changes - 20: Bail Bonds

 

State laws sometimes create visible changes in the local built environment. One example already noted in this blog is marijuana legalization, which has spawned a number of new retail businesses in Santa Cruz. 

A somewhat less noticeable change has come about because of changes to state laws reducing the number of cases where cash bail can be used in the criminal justice system. The law's effects seem to have caused three of four local bail bond businesses to close.

The state law was enacted in 2018, but legal challenges put it on hold until this year, when finally confirmed by the state Supreme Court on March 26. The anticipated outcome, however, had already begun to cause a reduction in the number of bail bonds offices in the area around the County Court House (Water and Ocean streets).

On Ocean Street, one of the two bail bond businesses (Diaz Bros.) has closed, and both of the bail bond offices on on Water Street have now taken down their signs. Santa Cruz Bail Bonds (pictured above) opted to consolidate with a legal documents preparation business next door and share space there, giving up its separate space. These businesses were just a small part of the local business scene, but their disappearance marks big changes in the workings of our local criminal justice system.

Santa Cruz Changes locations can be found on this Google Map.