Retail Leasing Opportunity: 57 Municipal Wharf

The City of Santa Cruz is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) to lease approximately 1,030 square feet of commercial retail space located at 57 Municipal Wharf. The City seeks a qualified proposer to develop and operate a creative specialty retail concept featuring innovative merchandise lines, unique products, distinctive interior design, and visually appealing storefronts that complement rather than compete with existing Wharf retailers. Proposers must demonstrate a minimum of three years of retail management or business operations experience and submit comprehensive proposals including proposed lease terms, retail concept descriptions with tenant improvement designs and budgets, financial projections, operations and management plans, financial statements, and documentation of experience and qualifications. The space may be reduced or modified during the lease term to accommodate planned expansion of adjacent restroom facilities, with final square footage and layout details to be available in Spring 2026. A non-mandatory pre-proposal meeting is scheduled for February 10, 2026 at 1:00 PM via Microsoft Teams, with questions and clarifications due by February 11, 2026 at 12:00 PM, and proposals due electronically through the City's e-Procurement Portal by February 20, 2026 at 10:00 PM. Evaluation will occur in two phases: Phase 1 scoring addresses RFP compliance (5 points), proposal content including lease terms and co-benefits (10 points), retail concept and tenant improvements (35 points), experience and qualifications (15 points), operations and management (20 points), and financial statements (15 points); Phase 2 consists of interviews and oral presentations. The City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and will initiate negotiations with the highest-ranked proposer.

The RFP documentation does not identify specific set-aside designations, disadvantaged enterprise restrictions, or incumbent vendor preferences; the opportunity appears open to qualified proposers meeting the minimum experience requirement without targeted restrictions on organization types. No current contractor or incumbent vendor is referenced in the procurement materials. The lease agreement establishes financial terms including a minimum base rent of $3,090 per month subject to annual increases, percentage rent calculated at ten percent (10%) of gross sales, a security deposit of $6,180 or two months' minimum base rent, a capital improvement contribution of one percent (1%) of monthly gross sales, and a potential Wharf Marketing and Promotion Fund contribution of 0.5% of annual gross sales. The tenant must obtain comprehensive insurance coverage including commercial general liability of $2,000,000 per occurrence, property insurance, business interruption insurance, and workers' compensation insurance, and must become certified through the City's Green Business Program within six months of lease commencement. The lease term consists of an initial period of 1-5 years plus 1-2 optional extension periods of 1-5 years each, contingent upon the City's election and the tenant's full and faithful performance of all lease obligations.