SANTA CRUZ — Water and electrical work is expected this summer at the site of the former Circle Church in Santa Cruz, and construction on the first of 12 homes and in-law units is anticipated no sooner than spring 2026, its developer said.
The Santa Cruz City Council approved homes on the site at 111 Errett Circle in May 2020. The church was demolished in April 2024.
“It’s just a slow, difficult process all the way along, as I probably told you before,” said Brett Packer, a spokesman for the property owners. “It’s not the city this time, just the nature of all of this.”
The project was delayed in 2019 during the city’s consideration of the church as a historical site. The city’s Historic Preservation Commission unanimously voted against historic status of the 1959-built church, and the Santa Cruz City Council approved housing construction in 2020 to the chagrin of many neighbors.
Packer said each new resident will build their own home with some input from him, but the building of the homes could take another year at least. No building permit requests have been filed with the city as of March, Santa Cruz City Planner Ryan Bane said.
“I don’t really have a timeline for house building,” Packer said. “People are going to be building houses and I’d say the soonest they’ll start is next spring.”
The development is expected to have 12 single-family homes on 12 lots with space for one in-law unit each, said Sandy Jamison, a real estate agent selling Lots 8, 9 and 10 near Errett Circle and Younglove Avenue. They were listed for $1.4 million each or $4.2 million in total in October on Redfin.com and Trulia.com. They remained active on the sites Thursday.
The property has been vacant since the church was razed in spring 2024. A chain link fence rings the land, and vegetation has grown tall this spring.
Some neighbors have expressed concerns about the construction delay. Clay Lynch wrote that he thought the owners were “backing out” and that the plan had changed to selling all the lots for profit.
Packer said some properties were listed on behalf of one person, not the whole group.
“That is kind of an important distinction. The bulk of us are still building our own homes there,” Packer said.
A conceptual landscape plan from 2020 shows designs for 12 houses at 111 Errett Circle. (Verde Design)
The design follows a cohousing concept with individual living spaces and shared common areas. Cohousing projects in Santa Cruz County and elsewhere often include shared meals, cooking, laundry, communal activities and consensus-led decision making.
Leaders of Garfield Park Christian Church sold the property for $3.26 million in December 2017 to The Circle of Friends group of investors. The congregation later changed its name to Greater Purpose Community Church. Pastor MaKendree VanHall, formerly known as Christopher Drury, announced in 2018 that the church would open Greater Purpose Brewery.
After an attempt to open the brewery at the former Logos bookstore on Pacific Avenue in Downtown Santa Cruz, Greater Purpose Brewing opened at 21517 East Cliff Drive in 2020. Its website and VanHall’s personal website went offline in March 2022 after a Santa Cruz Local reporter requested information that year.
The brewery on East Cliff permanently closed in July 2023.
Demolition at 111 Errett Circle starts in April 2024. (Stephen Baxter — Santa Cruz Local file)
Source: Santa Cruz Local
