Construction is now visibly underway at the former Mervyn’s site in downtown Santa Maria, where crews are transforming the long-vacant retail building into a new housing development known as Heritage Walk Lofts.
The project, which broke ground in August, is part of the city’s broader downtown revitalization plan. Drivers along Broadway can now see portions of the structure opened up as work accelerates inside the building.
Assistant City Manager Chuen Wu said the project is an example of adaptive reuse, converting an old big-box retail space into housing.
“It’s an adaptive reuse project, so as you know, it was formerly a Mervyn’s and then a retail store,” Wu said. “So it’s essentially just a big box and they’re trying to convert this big box into 104 apartments.”
While city officials view the project as a step toward increasing housing downtown, not all residents are in favor.
Santa Maria resident Claudia Boyle said she would prefer to see developments like this address homelessness instead.
“We need housing for homeless people to get them off the streets,” Boyle said.
Wu explained that converting a former retail store into residential housing requires significant changes to meet building and safety standards.
“They need to have windows and lighting,” Wu said. “It’s not going to look like a big box. It’s going to be kind of this U-shaped building.”
Much of that work is already underway, with portions of the structure stripped down and reinforced.
“They’re adding framing where it needs support,” Wu said. “But you can see right now, if you look at the structure, you can pretty much see through it.”
According to city officials, the next phase of construction will bring more visible exterior changes.
“We’ll begin to see more architectural work on the exterior, the addition of windows and balconies,” Wu said.
As with other downtown housing projects, traffic and parking remain a concern for some nearby residents. Wu acknowledged the issue but said increased activity is often part of revitalization.
“You do want to see more cars in a way because it reflects that this is a destination,” he said.
Boyle said added density has already made parking more difficult in her neighborhood.
“The problem is congestion. No parking,” she said. “And I can’t even park most of the time in front of my own house.”
KSBY reached out to the president of the Vernon Group, which is overseeing the development and construction, but he was unavailable for comment.
City officials say Heritage Walk Lofts is the first of several downtown housing projects currently in progress. Construction at the site is expected to continue into 2026.
