Quick Take

The Pacific Avenue property that's home to longtime music venue The Catalyst Club is for sale for $4.55 million, Jessica M. Pasko reports in her weekly look at Santa Cruz County business.

Each week, we’re taking a closer look at the movers and shakers, the growth of industries and what’s really driving the Santa Cruz County economy. I’ll be spotlighting some of the biggest areas for opportunity, updates on local development and all things underpinning the regional business scene each Wednesday.

Got ideas? Send them my way to news@lookoutlocal.com with “Business News” in the subject line.

Home of downtown’s Catalyst nightclub up for sale

Jesse Daniel plays the Catalyst in April 2022.
San Lorenzo Valley native Jesse Daniel plays the Catalyst in April 2022. Credit: Kyle Mackey

Got a cool $4.5 million lying around? The longtime home of The Catalyst Club is up for sale, for the second time in 20 years. While the famed music venue has a lease that extends to 2028, a sale could mean the end of its reign at its current location. 

However, “we’re not going anywhere for now,” said Igor Gavric, the general manager of the Catalyst for the past 12 years.

The property at 1009 and 1011 Pacific Ave. is one of the oldest buildings in downtown Santa Cruz. Originally built as two adjoining buildings in 1938, the properties were merged in 1973 and managed to survive the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. 

The building has been put up for sale by the heirs of Randall Kane, the former owner of the Catalyst. Kane, who died in 2009, moved the venue to its current location in 1976. He sold the business in 2003, but kept the building, which went to his family after his death.

“They’ve been talking about doing this for years,” said Reuben Helick, managing director of Cushman & Wakefield, the firm contracted to sell the property, of the reason for the sale. 

The building was previously listed in 2011 but didn’t sell and was taken off the market. 

The Catalyst’s current lease expires in mid-2028, and Helick said that the eventual buyer could choose to continue with the current use and establish a new lease with the Catalyst’s owners, but they aren’t required to do so. Read more here.

ICYMI: Santa Cruz County named the nation’s least affordable rental market for third straight year — and the gap has widened

A new report finds that Santa Cruz County remains the least affordable rental market in the nation. The county moved up to the top spot of the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s annual ranking in 2023 and hasn’t budged. 

The latest edition of “Out of Reach” found that a worker would need to earn more than $80 an hour to comfortably afford the average rental home in Santa Cruz County. The report also found that rentals are getting more expensive; this year, fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the county is $4,223, up from $4,054 last year. Read Max Chun’s full story here.

Ch-ch-changes: Openings, closings and other developments

  • Paystand named to list of world’s top fintech companies: Santa Cruz-headquartered Paystand is ranked as one of the world’s top 300 financial services tech companies on a new list from CNBC and Statista. The company is included among 75 businesses in the payments category. The annual ranking evaluates companies based on criteria including revenue, growth and headcount. Paystand, founded in 2014, provides a simplified way for companies to do things like pay vendors directly without having to mail them a paper check or automate payments for recurring expenses. The company moved from Scotts Valley to downtown Santa Cruz earlier this year.
  • Nonprofit development expert joins Sempervirens Fund’s board: Raj-Ann Rekhi Gill, a longtime nonprofit executive who currently works for an angel investor firm, is the newest director on Sempervirens Fund’s board. Founded in 1900, Sempervirens is California’s first land trust, dedicated to protecting the redwood forests of the Santa Cruz Mountains. 
  • San Lorenzo Valley Water District gains new board director: Bob Russ was appointed to the San Lorenzo Valley Water District board of directors, replacing Jeff Hill, who resigned in May. Russ, a Felton resident, is a retired business and technology consultant. He’ll serve the remainder of Hill’s term and the seat will be up for election for a new four-year term in November 2026.
  • Bay Federal Credit Union expands executive team: Ray Diep has returned to Bay Federal Credit Union to serve as assistant vice president of finance. Diep began his career with the credit union in 2011 and left in 2022 after serving in roles including finance manager and treasury manager. The credit union has also appointed longtime employee Denise Gomez to serve as assistant vice president, branch manager, for its new branch in Marina, which is slated to open this year. Lilly Garcia-Johnson was hired as assistant branch manager.
  • Santa Cruz County startup moves forward in international wildfire tech contest: Boulder Creek-headquartered Ember Flash Aerospace is a semifinalist in a new global competition focused on technology to combat wildfires. As part of the XPRIZE Wildfire competition, teams around the world are competing in two different tracks to transform how wildfires are detected, managed and fought. The 15 semifinalist teams, representing seven countries, will have to demonstrate to the contest’s judges that within 10 minutes, they can autonomously detect and suppress a high-risk fire in a 621-square-mile, environmentally challenging area. Ember Flash Aerospace, founded in 2021, is using drones, generative artificial intelligence and real-time data to create tools to detect, verify and extinguish fires faster.
  • New restaurant and lounge open at historic Brookdale Lodge: San Lorenzo Valley restaurateur Mario Ibarra is the new proprietor of two businesses located at the Brookdale Lodge, the Brookdale Cafe and Grill and the Lounge. A grand opening is slated for Saturday, July 27, from noon to 8 p.m. Ibarra is also the co-owner of Ben Lomond’s Aroma restaurant and purchased Henflings Tavern in Ben Lomond last year. The Brookdale Lodge, first opened in 1870, has undergone extensive revitalization since owner Pravin Patel bought it in 2013.

Got hires, promotions, or departures to report? Send them to news@lookoutlocal.com with the subject line “Career changes.”

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Looking at the numbers

  • 6%: That was the unemployment rate in Santa Cruz County in June 2025, up from 5.6% in May and from 5.5% in June 2024. The county’s unemployment rate in June was higher than both the statewide (5.7%) and national (4.4%) unemployment rate. Despite the slightly increased unemployment rate, the county gained 2,200 jobs from May to June, according to California’s Employment Development Department. The biggest growth was in the farming sector and leisure/hospitality sectors, which typically do more hiring in the summer season.
  • 57%: That’s the percentage of jobs in Santa Cruz County that fall within the lowest wage tier (which represents low-skill and low-wage jobs), averaging pay of just over $23 an hour, according to the Santa Cruz County 2025 State of the Workforce report. Put another way, that’s three in five jobs locally. It’s also higher than the state average of 54%.

Save the date

  • Wednesday, July 23: JOHI, a product and interior design firm based on the Central Coast, will celebrate the opening of its first showroom, located on the Westside of Santa Cruz. The store also will host a launch party for the book, “California Coastal: Seaside Living from Sea Ranch to San Diego,” with authors Heather Sandy Hebert and Chase Reynolds Ewald. The event takes place at 719 Swift St., Suite 62, Santa Cruz from 4:30 to 7 p.m. More details here.
  • Saturday, July 26: The Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture will hold its annual awards dinner and auction. The event takes place from 4 to 9 p.m. at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds. Details and tickets here.
  • Saturday, July 26: Downtown Santa Cruz music store Streetlight Records is celebrating the company’s 50th anniversary with live music, sales and prizes from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 939 Pacific Ave. Streetlight Records opened its first store in San Francisco in 1975; another location opened in San Jose in 1981 and the Santa Cruz store opened in 1997.
  • Thursday, July 31: The Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce will hold a grand opening of the new Santa Cruz office for Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired. The nonprofit organization helps individuals who are blind or have low vision. The networking and ribbon-cutting event takes place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 1509 Seabright Ave., Suite 1, Santa Cruz. Register here.
  • Friday, Oct. 17: Registration is now open for the 2025 State of the Region event, hosted by the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership. The event takes place at the University Center at Cal State Monterey Bay in Seaside from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event focuses on economic opportunities and challenges in Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties. This year’s speakers haven’t been announced yet. 

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Business news worth reading

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Jessica M. Pasko has been writing professionally for almost 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...