On Oct. 2, Scotts Valley City Council is set to consider the future of an office building at the northern end of Scotts Valley that a developer wants to turn into a combination office-and-storage building.
After failing to win over the majority of Planning Commissioners with their storage facility designs months ago, Aptos-based Heritage Real Estate Ventures LLC has rejigged the project so that there would be office units on the outside and storage units on the inside.
“We’re redeveloping the existing two buildings at this site,” said Heritage’s Eli May, in an interview last week. “What we’re proposing is a hybrid approach.”
According to a notice posted on the City of Scotts Valley website, the company is seeking to construct a 52,250-square-foot commercial development on the 1.35-acre lot, which is located on the north side of Scotts Valley Drive between Tabor and Bethany drives.
It would include 10,000 square feet of professional and administrative office spaces and 42,250 square feet of storage (accommodating up to 227 people).
This is a decrease from the 52,822-square-foot plan submitted in July 2023.
“The storage component is flexible,” said May, who is the son of Lee May, the general manager for the Press Banner. “This is a new product that will allow businesses to expand or contract.”
On its website, bethanyredevelopment.com, the company states the current church and administrative building on the site were built around 70 years ago and don’t use the site in the most efficient—or environmentally sustainable—manner.
May makes the point that they’re not a big corporate developer swooping in from some other region to make a buck.
“We’re members of the community,” he said. “We work from this office. We are here everyday. If anybody wants to talk to us or meet us or discuss the project, we’re here—we’re local.”
The location, known as Bethany Park, once housed the offices for Bethany University, a private four-year Pentecostal postsecondary institution that closed in 2011.
Heritage picked up the location when the school site was redeveloped as the 1440 Multiversity wellness retreat center.
An environmental review found the project would have no significant environmental impacts.
At the Planning Commission meeting on Jan. 25, Marianne Woosley, a resident of Scotts Valley, spoke against the earlier iteration of the project, citing size and use concerns.
Planning Commissioners Shawn Mosley and Chuck Maffia voted in support of the project, with Dave Hodgin and Lori Gentile in opposition. Because Steve Simonovich recused himself, the motion failed.
