The long-awaited La Bahia Hotel & Spa on Beach Street in Santa Cruz is on track for a Sept. 1 opening, and reservations are now being taken online for rooms that range from $556 to $736 a night.
Jessica M. Pasko
Jessica M. Pasko has been writing professionally for more than two decades. She cut her teeth in journalism as a reporter for the Associated Press in her native Albany, New York, where she covered everything from plane crashes and arts & culture to state politics, including assisting with the coverage of former New York State Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s resignation. After getting her master’s degree at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she moved to the West Coast and covered crime and breaking news for the Santa Cruz Sentinel. She has also worked for KION and written for a variety of local, regional and national publications on both coasts, including Evanston Patch, The Good Times, Santa Cruz Waves and many others.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
This week in Santa Cruz County business: La Bahia now taking reservations, new hotel hires, rentals vs. condos
An opening date for the luxury beachfront La Bahia Hotel & Spa and more local hospitality updates, why Santa Cruz is building rentals instead of condos and funding for a UCSC-grown startup – all that and more are in Jessica M. Pasko’s weekly look at Santa Cruz County business.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
This week in Santa Cruz County business: Navigating downtown challenges, free resource for business owners and a vision for passenger rail service
In her weekly look at local business, Jessica M. Pasko reports on the challenges facing businesses in downtown Santa Cruz, help for entrepreneurs and a roadmap for county passenger rail.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
This week in Santa Cruz County business: Pharmacy closures, funding for ex-Tesla exec’s Scotts Valley-based company, soda tax hurdles
In her weekly look at local business, Jessica M. Pasko reports on three more Rite Aid locations shutting down and a $38 million funding round for Scotts Valley’s Heron Power Electronics Company, plus numbers, names and dates to know.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
Three local Rite Aid stores to shutter as corporate chain goes bankrupt
Three more Santa Cruz County Rite Aid locations – Aptos and Freedom on June 25, Felton at a later date to be determined – will close amid the second bankruptcy filing for Pennsylvania-based pharmacy chain Rite Aid.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
This week in Santa Cruz County business: Gateway third graders get business education; residents react to proposed new Warriors venue
A project that gets elementary school students up close with Santa Cruz County businesses leads off Jessica M. Pasko’s weekly column, which also covers downtown changes, comings and goings, dates to know and more.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
This week in Santa Cruz County business: Legal battle over berry breeds goes on; Joby’s latest steps
In her weekly look at local business, Jessica M. Pasko updates a Driscoll’s berry lawsuit, notes another milestone for Joby Aviation and passes along numbers, names and events to know around Santa Cruz County.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
This week in Santa Cruz County business: Local tourism organization preps for subdued season
In her weekly look at local business, Jessica M. Pasko reports that Santa Cruz County’s tourism nonprofit sees some choppy waters ahead. She’s also got news on downtown development, comings and goings and events to get on your calendar.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
Santa Cruz County officials prepare for tourism pivot amid tariff and immigration concerns
With Visit California forecasting a 9.2% decline in international visitors over 2024 and a 0.7% drop in visits overall, Santa Cruz County’s nonprofit tourism marketing organization is bracing for the impact even as it sells the area as a destination beyond county – and country – borders.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
Anthropologie store slated for former New Leaf space on Pacific Avenue
In a recent meeting with Downtown Association of Santa Cruz members, the business organization’s director said it was “a verified rumor” and “good news” that home decor and clothing retail chain Anthropologie will move into the spot at Pacific and Soquel avenues in downtown Santa Cruz vacated last fall by New Leaf Community Markets.
