New businesses add to downtown

In a little less than two years, a vacant lot on the 500 block of Main Street will be home to a 4-story building and a new restaurant.

Construction crews are working on the foundation for the building, which when complete will be called The Residence at 558 Main, said William Hansen of Pacific Coast Development, the company that owns the property.

The 65,984 square-foot building will feature 50 apartments, including six 2-bedroom apartments, 29 with 1-bedroom and five studios, Hansen said.

A restaurant will occupy the bottom floor, but Hansen declined to name it.

He projects a completion date of April 2027.

The lot has been a vacant dirt lot for six years. Before that it housed Sumitomo Bank, which then became California Trust and Bank. The building then sat vacant for years until a duo of business partners in 2016 opened ANSR Pharmacy, which closed soon after that.

Hansen bought the property in 2019.

The company also owns the building at 407 Main Street that housed the former Gottschalks department store—which closed in 2009—and is now home to Watsonville Prep school. 

The company’s property at 18 West Beach Street is now home to the school’s middle school, with classes having started on Tuesday.

The new building will be an addition to Watsonville’s downtown corridor, which has seen its share of new businesses come in, as well as many that have closed as the community grapples with economic hurdles.

And the need for housing in Watsonville is ever-present, with just over 52,000 people living in a little more than six square miles, according to USA Today.

“Every little piece helps bring the downtown up a notch, and so we just need a few more players to be involved in downtown development,” Hansen said. “We need more people at the table making a positive impact downtown. There is not a lot of available vacant land, and you have to be pretty strategic as far as acquiring properties that can be reused.”

For information, visit liveattheresidence.com

Meanwhile, a new Starbucks coffee shop opened Thursday at 1726 Freedom Blvd., where the Taqueria Mi Tierra used to stand.

Other new businesses 

Main Street later this summer will see the opening of Melo Bread at 532 Main Street, a small bakery that specializes in sourdough. The company said in an online post that the business will open in the fall.

The shop will be located in the former Miramar, which was a family-run restaurant for more than five decades.

Owner Kev Grenz says the bakery started small in 2020 in San Francisco, doing pick-ups and individual deliveries, then transitioning into farmers’ markets. 

He then relocated to a commercial kitchen space in San Francisco, which allowed him to attend more markets and a small grocer and a specialty wine shop in the city. 

But he had to move from that space due to circumstances beyond his control, and went on a short hiatus while he looked for another space.

Grenz was a restaurant cook for years, but stopped to get into baking. That was a stark contrast from the hectic grind of busy kitchens, he said. 

“In the morning hours, everything is quiet and calm, people are still sleeping, and the world seems like a much smaller space,” he said. 

The business will support farmers and millers “who care not only about their product but also about their practices and how they craft their flour,” Grenz said. 

“It makes us feel good to know that we’re able to support a good thing while trying to create another good thing for people here,” he said. 

Grenz will start by focusing on his signature bread. Depending on how business goes, he hopes to expand his selection with items such as cinnamon rolls, cakes, focaccia and cookies.

“I have a lot of ideas,” he said. 

While he has no plans to go into wholesale, he hopes eventually to sell to local stores such as Staff of Life or Corralitos Market, or possibly nearby restaurants.

“I want to be the neighborhood bakery, where I sell directly to customers,” he said. “The connection you have is much better.”

Visit melobread.com for information.

In addition, Crunch Fitness—a gym with 77 locations nationwide—will soon open at 1986 Freedom Blvd., the location of the former Big Lots store.

The city last week celebrated the opening of Sparrow Terrace Apartments, offering 72 apartments for low-income residents.

The new businesses and apartments are additions to a downtown that has seen its share of ebb and flow, with many closed storefronts but plans are in the works to bolster Watsonville’s downtown.

The city’s Downtown Specific Plan, approved in October 2023, is a 256-page document that includes land use and zoning changes over the next three decades and outlines the city’s intentions to revitalize 195 acres in the heart of the South County city, while keeping its historical character.

It is also a reminder of the importance of shopping locally at a time when online shopping—triggered largely by the Covid-19 pandemic—has increased and taken a bite out of privately owned businesses.

“When we invest in our community—when we spend our money here in our community—every dollar gets put back into the community in one form or another,” said Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture Shaz Roth.