For 18 years, the Rittenhouse Building on the corner of Pacific Avenue and Church Street was a big hole in the ground, a casualty of the Loma Prieta earthquake. It was only in 2008 that it was replaced by the current structure. But business has not been good for the owners of the building, former City Councilman Louis Rittenhouse and his sister. The recession struck just before it was completed, and the four-story building has remained empty ever since.
Not totally empty though. The Rittenhouses have decided to allow some local nonprofits to use the ground-floor, retail-geared show windows to advertise their activities. The first to come was Roots and Wings, a group that provides support for local foster families. That group put up portraits and mannequins showing the diversity of foster families in the region. Root and Wings was soon joined by the Santa Cruz Woodworkers Association, which displays some of its wares in the windows as well. Joining them now is the Santa Cruz SPCA, advertising that it will offer portraits of pets on your favorite footware for a $70 donation. Okay, that’s more than I pay for my shoes, but the idea is interesting.
The real problem will come when a retailer decides that it wants to pay rent for the space. After all, it is still on the market, advertised as “immediate occupancy.” Read more at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
