Tension was thick during an online meeting over the proposed demolition of the building that currently houses The Catalyst nightclub in Downtown Santa Cruz. Roughly 150 people were in attendance as City of Santa Cruz Senior Planner Rina Zhou moderated. The meeting was supposed to only last 90 minutes, but went over half an hour longer as concerned citizens queued up to have their opinions heard over cultural history, noise and affordability.
“We are not denying this is a complex project by any means,” said Peter Given of GSH Ventures in Mountain View, the company that submitted the pre-application with the city last November. “It’s a challenge but it’s one that we’ve brought on some of the best engineers in the business to support us with.”
The current GSH proposal demolishes the buildings at 1009, 1011 and 1015 Pacific Avenue to build a single, seven-story, multi-use complex. Retail and the Catalyst are proposed for the ground floor with luxury apartments on the second to seventh floors. Throughout the meeting Given–who said he used to live in Santa Cruz–maintained his company’s recognition of the Catalyst’s importance to the Santa Cruz and Bay Area community.
“We’re really not trying to remove The Catalyst,” he said. “We’re really trying to find creative ways to give it a home that it can actually thrive and grow into the future.”
Longtime Catalyst manager Igor Gavric, told the meeting GSH has been working closely with the music venue. He underscored the fact that the Catalyst’s current location at 1011 Pacific Ave. was originally a bowling alley and never meant to be a music venue.
“I think there’s a broader conversation here that people don’t understand,” he said. “The Catalyst building is quite long in the tooth in its own capacity. Independent of this project and sale of the building there has been conversation on our end about what that looks like for the Catalyst at the end of our lease.”
He said that there’s no guarantee The Catalyst can continue in the current location as it is because of the many renovations needed.
“This can be viewed as just a really good opportunity that the community can have for another 50 years,” he explained.
The Catalyst has been in its current building since 1976, moved from its original location in the St. George Hotel. At the time, the business and building were owned by Randall Kane, who died at the age of 85 in 2009. The current building is owned by the Kane family but is currently in escrow with GSH Ventures, though it has not been finalized.
Gavric said The Catalyst and GSH have been in conversation about the venue’s future every step of the way but is uncertain what that would look like if the current deal falls through.
“It’s all been in good faith with the appropriate line of questioning and correspondence with the developers,” he said. “If a different developer came into this project, they may not be as open to preserving a historical institution as this one is.”
However, a multitude of concerns surrounding the project were raised by the public and business owners when the meeting was opened up to community comments.
Alyssa Pullen, owner of the Tea House Spa on Elm Street–which has operated in Downtown Santa Cruz for 40 years–shares a wall with The Catalyst, and was concerned about the privacy of her guests.
“We operate tub and sauna rooms that are private but overlook a historic bamboo garden,” she said. “How will the developers maintain 100 percent privacy of the gardens and the open spa rooms?”
Jesse Cummings, owner of Old School Shoes, which operates next to the Catalyst at 1017 Pacific Ave., questioned the impact the project would have on his business. He explained the hardships owners have faced since the 2020 shutdowns in conjunction with all the new construction happening downtown that has eliminated parking for shoppers and added construction noise and closed off sidewalks.
“I cannot imagine us being able to survive you guys constructing this big thing that literally blocks out the sunlight from this business,” he said.
“I am urging you to oppose this project,” said Vision Sanctuary Gallery owner, Rachel Corvese. “The gallery benefits from The Catalyst having shows and will most likely lose revenue and possibly close with this project continuing. The downtown area is unique because of the quarkiness of our streets instead of bland, white, square high rises.”
Other business owners throughout the city also expressed their concerns.
Claire Wirt, co-owner of Santa Cruz Recording Studio on the Westside, maintained the project would have a far-reaching impact than just downtown.
“A lot of my business depends on bands coming through town and spending some time with us,” she explained. “What about artists and musicians and bands that count on The Catalyst for gigs or the chance to open for other acts? All of this is going to stop for a period of time and perhaps change because the vibe of The Catalyst will not be the same with 64 luxury units on top.”
Others raised concerns over the rationality of having apartments above a nightclub regarding noise ordinances. Given that GSH is working with an acoustics company to ensure the most soundproofing possible and pointed out similar plans have been executed in other cities across the United States.
Several community members discussed the online petition to save The Catalyst that was started after news of the project went public. Currently, there are over 10,000 signatures and organizers are in the process of making paper petitions as well.
“Yes, we do need housing,” said Hector Marin. “Affordability is a great issue that needs to be resolved within the city but demolishing The Catalyst ain’t it.”
Marin, an educator at Harbor High School and 2024 Santa Cruz City Council candidate, is one of the leaders of the petition. He told attendees the importance The Catalyst has for his students.
“We can still meet our state-mandated housing requirements without sacrificing the cultural space we have here that cater to so many Santa Cruzans,” he said.
Many noted the rapidly changing nature of Downtown Santa Cruz with all the new apartment buildings already being built, many of which remain empty of retail and residents. While some of the new project apartments are marked as “affordable housing,” Given admitted it’s not the entirety of the building, leading many in the community to claim the luxury apartments will only further drive up housing costs for the greater community.
“Who’s it affordable for? Definitely not me,” exclaimed one person, only identified as Blaire. “I’m really disturbed how quickly these bland, ugly luxury buildings are coming up when most of us who are working normal, full-time jobs can’t even afford to be here.”
The petition calls for the City to save The Catalyst and possibly recognize it as a historic landmark. However, Zhou told the meeting that the City has no involvement in discussions between the developers and building owners. She also explained that even if the building were to receive a historic designation, it would not retroactively impact the current proposal.
“The city has very limited ability to require changes to the project outside of objective standards and conditions that were in place prior to the submission of the complete pre-application,” said Zhou.
She also noted that since the project is within half a mile of a “major transit stop”–the newly designed Downtown Metro station that is still under construction–the city cannot require parking for the site.
At the end of the meeting, Given expressed his gratitude for the community airing their concerns and said an open conversation is welcome. He said this is just the first of many as the project is currently still in an exploratory phase. There will be two in-public open houses at the Catalyst on February 25 and March 25, both from 9:30am to 11:30am where the community can come to discuss the project face-to-face with developers and business owners.
