BCV’s design of the E.C. Rittenhouse Building helps to complete the redevelopment of downtown Santa Cruz’s Pacific Avenue corridor— devastated in 1989’s Loma Prieta earthquake—by offering a prime office and retail location situated in the heart of the mercantile district.

The Rittenhouse Square West development consists of a new four-story building, incorporating 40,000 SF of new office space along with the development of 17,000 SF of new retail space. The office space is situated on the upper three levels of the multi-use building, with the retail space entered at ground level from the street.

Sensitive to the surrounding context and historic precedents of this neighborhood, the building’s design blends the commercial vocabulary of Pacific Avenue with the civic character of Church Street.