18 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY OCTOBER 30-NOVEMBER 5, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com land—was part of the city’s required contribution to the project, in order to become part of a state park. A 1967 story in the magazine California Living reads, “Monterey will have turned itself around so to speak and once again will be wedded to the sea. The historic adobes will no longer be obscured by dismal vistas of broken down pool halls and poker parlors. There will be a judicious mixture of commerce, culture and entertainment in a harmonious yet traditional setting.” The tunnel was opened and dedicated in April 1968; Custom House Plaza was dedicated in September of 1969. Then in March 1971, the mall developer and J.C. Penney pulled out, leaving the city holding the land and federal debts to pay off, so the feds gave a $4.8 million grant to reduce interest payments. A new plan was developed in 1972 and came together quickly with three basic areas: historical, commercial, and conference center with an adjoining hotel and parking. Rather than wait for everything to happen all at once, the City ditched the single-developer strategy and took the lead on the conference center, which would include a 1,400-seat theater. But in a September 1973 joint meeting with city and federal and state preservation officials, the latter two determined the height, mass and bulk didn’t work with the historical surroundings. Thus, the theater was eliminated. The conference center broke ground Jan. 20, 1975, though the hotel was met with delays. And as Alvarado Street was being transformed into tidy new businesses—the Wells Fargo building was one— focus shifted to the last remaining urban renewal piece, the 4.5-acre parcel near the Wharf once home to the Patanias and Garcias, among others. In mid-1975, amid a competitive group of three applicants, the city’s renewal agency selected Pebble Beach developer Don Berry to build “Heritage Harbor,” a shopping mall built around an idea of Monterey’s history, with two historic buildings, now vacant. Heritage Harbor was to occupy 168,852 square feet of land on two parcels—split by Pacific Street— with retail, office and restaurant buildings totaling more than 87,000 square feet and a 235-car parking garage. Monterey architect Paul E. Davis, whose firm Berry hired to design the development, told the Herald in a Feb. 2, 1976 story that a J.C. Penney wasn’t suited to the area anyway—he thought a resort-style development was going to be a waterfront hit. “This is one of the most, if not the most, valuable, suitable pieces of real estate in California,” he said. “Eventually it will have more to offer than the Carmel area from an interest standpoint.” Berry obtained his permit from the recently formed California Coastal Commission in December 1976. On April 22, 1977, with the $7.4 million conference center set to open within a week, a $17.4 million hotel under construction and all the city’s federal debts paid off, the federal government’s 20-year involvement in Monterey’s redevelopment was done, having contributed more than $12 million in funding over the life of the project. Berry, meanwhile, secured a $6.3 million construction loan in November 1977, and purchased the 4.5 acres from the renewal agency on Nov. 22 for $438,138. A groundbreaking ceremony was held Dec. 16, 1977, and in a picture in the Herald, both Berry and his wife Bernice, with Fisherman’s Wharf behind them, each hold shovels in the dirt, smiling for the cameras. But for the project, digging did not go well—construction of a four-level parking garage on Pacific and Scott streets unearthed Indigenous remains in April 1978 and construction on the garage was brought to a halt. That delay quickly sent the project off the rails. In March 1979, 20 shops were ready to open, but the city wouldn’t allow any of them to open until the parking garage was done; excavation and shoring had been done, but construction hadn’t started yet. Additionally, Berry had to build a pedestrian bridge from the garage over Pacific Street to the shops; Berry also had to lower Pacific Street—which used to run roughly level—so that the pedestrian bridge wouldn’t dwarf the Old Whaling Station. All that would take until at least October. Berry, who was pushing for the city to allow shops to open if he had a shuttle system, told the Herald at the time that he stood to lose nearly $500,000 if the shops didn’t open until autumn. Berry was also wrapped up in litigation at that time with his architect, Paul Davis, who sued Berry and his wife for $163,000 for breach of contract. As delays in opening continued, it all fell apart. The city finally allowed a shuttle system, but Berry was sued by multiple tenants—some had purchased inventory going to waste—who also weren’t paying rent until the parking garage and bridge were complete, which took until August 1980. Despite Mayor Gerald Fry calling Heritage Harbor “a sleeping giant” in June 1981, the damage had been done: Berry, and his financial partner in the project, Cal-American Income Fund, went bankrupt. In a 1982 foreclosure sale, Lloyds Bank of California purchased Heritage Harbor for $8.7 million. Tragically, Berry’s wife and business partner, Bernice, died in a car accident in Sacramento in October 1984. Then, on Jan. 1, 1985, just after midnight, the 58-year-old Berry took his own life. Former mayor Fry told the Herald the next day, “It was terribly unfortunate that he got involved in a project that was really beyond his sophistication.” Steve Vagnini, the former long-time county assessor, has long believed Heritage Harbor was cursed. He had one of the last businesses to hang on in Heritage Harbor, until 1981. Vagnini’s First Brick House Bookstore was just across from the actual First Brick House, and he still vividly remembers why he decided to close up shop: A “distinguished” looking man in his 40s, Vagnini recalls, walked into his shop one day that summer. “He looked like a scholar, he had the most incredible gold-rimmed glasses,” Vagnini says. “He said, ‘I really admire what you’re trying to do here, but it’s never going to work. Do your research.’ That’s when I started to learn about urban renewal.” Vagnini recalls that Berry was very distraught about the Indigenous remains—he knew the project had already led to painful evictions, people dragged kicking and screaming out of their homes. Vagnini believes the place is cursed, and he’s always associated it with the parking lot, the delays, the DANIEL DREIFUSS DANIEL DREIFUSS “THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST, IF NOT THE MOST, VALUABLE PIECES OF REAL ESTATE IN CALIFORNIA.” A small plaza with an empty fountain sits in the middle of what was supposed to be a shopping mall, but is now a sleepy office park. The Monterey Bay Aquarium owns Heritage Harbor and uses some of the buildings for Aquarium offices and leases others to like-minded organizations.
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