By Jondi Gumz
Cristina Locke, owner of the Bayview Hotel (built in 1878) in Aptos Village, hopes to sell the historic property.
Listing price is $3.9 million.
The property, which sits on .8 acres, has 14 rooms, some with private bathrooms, a commercial kitchen, where meals were prepared for guests, an old-fashioned bar that speaks of elegant days gone by, a Type 47 liquor license to sell alcoholic beverages on the premises, and a patio leading to a bigger than expected garden.
Ristaurante Bartolo in the hotel got its 15 seconds of fame in 2012 appearing on the Food Network’s “Restaurant Impossible,” in which chef Robert Irvine presided over a makeover and a new menu.
But the restaurant was sold, renamed, and never regained success of yesteryear.
Datta Khalsa, broker and owner of Main Street Realtors in Soquel, showcased the property to prospective buyers (including a local hotelier) Tuesday morning, Wednesday evening and Thursday afternoon.
He said offers will be reviewed Oct. 15.
While the state is mandating cities and counties build more housing and the Legislature has passed a slew of bills — such as the “builder’s remedy — that trump local zoning to make it easier to build homes, apartments and accessory dwelling units, some housing advocates say neighborhood groups in the Bay Area are using historic preservation rules to block high-density housing.
Khalsa is hoping the buyer will be someone who can bring this icon back to life.
The blue historic marker says the hotel was built in 1878 by Jose Arano, a French Basque who has married Maria De La Augustia, youngest daughter of landowner Rafael Castro.
For his service of 10 years in the Mexican military, the Mexican governor awarded him 5,500 acres, Rancho Aptos, where he was a prosperous cattle rancher who leased his land for mineral rights, logging, a lumber mill, and a wharf.
The Bayview Hotel sits next to the Trout Gulch Crossing, hosting Norma Jean’s coffee shop, Caroline’s Non-Profit Thrift Shop, Jet Set Bohemian clothing shop. All are tenants in a building owned by Laurie Negro, who operates Betty Burger around the corner.
The Bayview is next to the Santa Cruz Branch Line, railroad tracks connecting Watsonville and Davenport, a 32-mile corridor owned by the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission.
Passenger trains stopped in 1959 declining ridership with the advent of auto travel made it unprofitable. The railroad station in Aptos was converted into Aptos Station shopping, 8035 Soquel Drive.
The RTC has been studying what locations could be suitable for a quiet electric train of the future in the corridor.
In October, the RTC sued Betty Burger and Cristina Locke to quiet title to a strip of land (parking for the Bayview and the shops next to it adjacent to the rail corridor) “planned for inclusion in the Rail Trail through the Aptos Town Center.”
The lawsuit added, “The crux of the dispute concerns the parties’ interpretation of a 1876 indenture from Jose Aranos to the Santa Cruz Railroad Company.”
A stay was granted Sep. 6.
The next step for a government agency after seeking quiet title is to pursue eminent domain, taking the property for public use, with the Fifth Amendment requiring “just compensation” to the property owner.
David Skinner and Jefffrey Wilcox of Meyers Nave of Oakland represent the RTC.
Timothy P. Dillon, managing partner of Dillon Miller Ahuja & Boss in Carlsbad, represents Betty Burger. His specialty is real estate matters.
The case is before Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Syda Cogliati.