A pile of dirt strategically placed near heavy equipment parked in front of an empty storefront actually represented a big step in a multiyear effort to transform downtown Santa Maria.

The former home of Mervyn’s and then Fallas will get a new use as The Vernon Group works to turn the huge square building into 104 loft apartments that will be rented at market rates.

“This is just the beginning of the bigger development of downtown,” said Brett Vernon, president of The Vernon Group. 

A groundbreaking ceremony, with imported dirt placed atop the asphalt parking lot, took place Thursday morning at the site, once the prized anchor spot in the Santa Maria Town Center West.

“This is a milestone for Santa Maria,” Mayor Alice Patino said.

Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, noted all cities look at ways to revitalize their communities.

“This is going to be transformative for Santa Maria. It’s going to bring economic vitality,” Carbajal said. “It’s going to make it so desirable for people to walk to this area. It is just going to be amazing.”

Carbajal also presented a certificate of special congressional recognition to the Vernon Group.

“This project will enrich the community and connect the people of Santa Maria. Your efforts for this endeavor will have a profound impact and be remembered for years to come,” Carbajal read. 

A longtime downtown Santa Maria business, Maya Mexican Restaurant, welcomes potential new residents. Fencing installed at the construction site has been attracting customers curious about the nearby project and still supporting the business, which will mark its 60th year in 2026.

“This day is very exciting,” said owner Teresa Perez, whose restaurant sits within walking distance and provided a taco bar for the groundbreaking ceremony. “It is definitely a day marked in history that we will never forget.”

Heritage Walk Lofts will mix Spanish and contemporary styles, using elements such as arches, wrought iron railings and wood window frames.

Vernon said construction should be done in two years, although they’re hoping for sooner.

While the developers intend to use the existing building’s shell, plans include creating a courtyard open to the sky in the center of the apartments.

Heritage Walk Loft involves the adaptive reuse of the empty building, an effort focused on minimizing waste and cost of remodeling a building.

In other different but related projects, the Santa Barbara-based developers intend to construct brand-new buildings on surplus land acquired from the city at a discounted price. So far, the Vernons have permission to build 330 units.

As of Tuesday night, the Vernon Group received its third downtown project permit from the City Council. The six-story Perlman Apartments on the northeast corner of Main Street and Broadway will have 150 affordable apartments. 

Another six-story-tall building, the previously approved Alvin Newton Apartments, will rise on the southeast corner of Main and Broadway. The building will include 82 apartments on the upper levels and businesses on ground floor.

The Vernon Group also could build on two other downtown lots, but those projects are trailing behind Heritage Walk and the two planned for corners of Main Street and Broadway.

They also have eyed projects at other sites downtown. In total, it could mean 1,000 new residential units, according to Vernon.

“The more real estate we control, the more of our vision we can really build to create a sense of place,” Vernon said. 

For more than a decade Santa Maria officials have held focus groups to collect comments on what people want the downtown to look like. The original Downtown Specific Plan ended up getting tweaked to spur activity. 

“I could say I had a different color hair when we started this, but that wouldn’t be true because I’ve had this color a long time,” Patino said. 

“It’s been so long, and now we’re seeing downtown is going to be revitalized. It’s going to wake up,” Patino added.

Decades ago, then-council members voted to demolish blocks of downtown buildings to make way for the indoor mall, with an eye toward attracting shoppers from the wide swath of the Central Coast.

As indoor malls fell out of favor across the country and Santa Maria’s downtown became stagnant, the city crafted the Downtown Specific Plan, which included incentives to spur development. 

Heritage Walk Lofts marks the first project by the Vernon Group, but efforts to transform downtown Santa Maria saw a brand-new mixed-use building, the Gateway Apartments by another developer, recently completed on the northwest corner of Main Street and Broadway.

“This is just the start of a lot that’s going on,” said Suzanne Singh, vice president of economic development and government affairs for the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce. 

She noted recent announcements that Sprouts Farmers Market and Furniture Land intend to open Santa Maria stores. 

“We are a city right now that other people are looking at, other businesses, larger national chains, regional chains, are looking at because we do have activity,” she added. “Whenever we do have activity, we become more appealing to those outside business so it’s huge for us.”