An event venue in Monterey is ready for Car Week with a new permit.

From the outside, the building at 456 Lighthouse Ave. in New Monterey is nondescript, a light gray, two-story structure with its sidewalk-facing windows whited out. There is no sign, just the number 456. Meanwhile, the parking lot next to it – which has a rolling gate and is fenced off from the sidewalk – is usually empty.

Those things will remain true indefinitely, but the property has taken on a new form of life, one that will soon become visible during Car Week.

Formerly a party and event rental storage space, the 8,057-square-foot building was bought by an out-of-town owner in 2020 and renovations by local architect Samuel Pitnick began in 2021.

Concurrently, Steve Kittrell, sales director at Mohr Imports, was looking to find a location for his new business, Veloce Valuations, an automotive consulting firm. So Kittrell connected with the owner – who he says is from Silicon Valley, but won’t name – and they agreed that Kittrell’s business would take over the space, which was given a slick remodel by Pitnick. (The property is owned by 456 Properties LLC.)

The building features a large open space ideal for events but by the time Kittrell moved in three years ago, it was too late to get permits to do any events for Car Week. He subsequently learned that in order to do the type of events he envisioned, it would require new permits from the city – the maximum allowed occupancy was 30 under the previous permit.

Kittrell finally got all his permits last month. The Monterey Planning Commission on June 10 approved up to six events a year, with amplified music allowed and with a maximum of 250 people at three events and a 175 max for the rest. Kittrell doesn’t have any events lined up yet – he’s still seeing what may materialize for Car Week – but he hopes to open the space to auto enthusiasts on a year-round basis, a community he sees as “evergreen” locally.

Walking through the space on a recent weekday – as vintage Porsches, BMWs and Ferraris glint on the warehouse floor – Kittrell says the building’s owner encouraged him to “explore the many opportunities this building can produce.”

For Kittrell, it’s just going to be about picking his spots to make each event count, and to hopefully bring art and music into the mix.

“It’s not to make a lot of money – I want to build that year-long car community here so that it’s healthy,” Kittrell says. “We have a wonderful space. Let’s bring people together.”