By Jondi Gumz
With construction allowed to resume after a seven-week halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Costa Bella Builders is back at work.
The Hideout burned in a fire in May 2019.• Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz
“That was good news,” said owner Jeff Thranow, who is rebuilding the Hideout, a cocktail bar with dining that burned a year ago.
He feels fortunate to get a forgivable Payroll Protection Program loan for $40,000 through Santa Cruz County Bank and he’s hoping for a second.
He applied on April 4, six days after the president signed the bill authorizing the loans to small businesses.
Thranow has 10 employees and two entities the way his business is structured, so he’s keeping separate accounts to track the money going out for payroll.
Employers who keep employees on payroll and follow the rules can have their loan forgiven.
The new rules for builders require the county’s protocol be posted, masks to be worn and sanitation stations for worker safety.
Jeff Thranow outside The Hideout, which is being rebuilt by his company, Costa Bella Builders. • Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz
Trades such as dry wall and plumbing used to work on a site along with carpenters if their schedules allowed but now crews have to be scheduled separately to reduce contact.
“It stretches the length of jobs,” Thranow said.
He often has eight or nine projects running at one time.
He’s framing a new home in Soquel and is about to start an interior remodel at a condo near The Hook. Another job is on West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz.
He also has a new home with a cupola nearly complete on a lot across from the Santa Cruz Dream Inn. What he needs is the final inspection by the city.
The Hideout is a place he worked on for Aptos co-owners Austin Welch and Pete Vomvolakis to get it ready to open in 2015.
The property, which has a rustic cottage look, dates to 1927, when it was home of Marin Jongeneel, according to Kevin Newhouse of the Aptos History Museum. In the 1970s, it was home to the Charles Dickens Restaurant. Starting in 1983, Chez Renee moved in and stayed for 17 years, followed by Southern Exposure and then Ma Maison.
A bench at The Hideout. • Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz
As to when The Hideout, the owners are not ready to venture a guess.
“It’s a crazy time,” said Mike Hartrich, founder of the Santa Cruz Construction Guild in 2009.
He’s surveying members — local builders, trades and suppliers — to see how they have been affected.
Hartrich, who lives in Scotts Valley, sees the economy taking a hit. He had a deck and siding job that he had to stop. He worries that clients will put their home projects on hold.
“Nobody knows what’s going to happen,” he said. “We know we’re in for an adjustment.”