After years of vacancy, 144 apartments and commercial space were proposed on the property next to the Parish Pub on the Westside.

Carl Zaricor, the property manager and son of the landowner Louise Veninga, said the decision to withdraw the proposal was “basically a monetary issue.” He declined to elaborate.

Veninga was not immediately available for comment. 

The family “just decided that they couldn’t handle it right now,” said Mark Primack, an architect and former Santa Cruz City Council member who had spoken on behalf of the Veninga family. “The process took much longer than they thought,” Primack said. Zaricor disputed Primack’s remarks and said Primack no longer speaks on behalf of the family.

Veninga had been working with Santa Cruz-based developer Workbench to design the project. It would have included six-story buildings across from a Safeway shopping center on Mission Street and two-story buildings next to the Coastal Rail Trail. The complex would have included shops and offices on the ground floors. 

A withdrawn proposal at 831 Almar Ave. included 144 units. A four-story building shown in earlier plans was reduced to two stories in March. (Workbench)

March 20, the planning commission voted to support the project in concept and grant a staged permit application with recommendations to adjust the design. The project would have been required to return to the planning commission and receive approval from the Santa Cruz City Council.

On a triangle-shaped lot across from the site, a separate three-story, 38-unit housing project at 844 and 850 Almar Ave. was approved in August 2024. That project is expected to be built. 

A 38-unit apartment building is expected to be built on a vacant lot at 844 and 850 Almar Ave. in Santa Cruz. (Photo illustration by CRP Affordable Housing and Community Development)

Some residents said the withdrawn proposal at 831 Almar Ave. would have towered over the surrounding single-family homes and increased traffic. Several residents expressed disdain that the housing proposal was designed to rent to students and other young people.

Kenny Imes, who lives near the site, said the project would diminish residents’ privacy, views and parking. “Build student housing on campus,” Imes said at the meeting.

In a March 18 interview, Primack said the project would house 300 people and “every four represents a house in a single-family, residential neighborhood that doesn’t have to get overcome by students.”

Thursday, Primack said he was glad the project received support from the planning department.

“I was just disappointed that we didn’t get to test it to see how well it could work,” he said.

Reporter Nik Altenberg contributed to this story.

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