Due to Assembly Bill 1486 (aka the surplus land act) the vacant, city-owned, historic Porter Building in downtown Watsonville will neither be sold to the Pajaro Valley Arts Council or the Watsonville Register Pajaronian Newspaper….at least not anytime soon. That’s because that bill, which was signed into law in 2019, and went into effect on January first of last year) requires that all “surplus” properties be made available to housing developers first. City officials now plan to declare the property at the corner of main and maple “surplus” when they meet next Tuesday, and then affordable housing developers will have 60 days to state their interest.
The building served as the post office until 1913, and has also served as a dentist office and an army surplus store.
It was one of the few historic buildings in Watsonville’s downtown that survived the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake with minimal damage.
