The Ventura Visitors & Convention Bureau is staying downtown, but the California Coastal Commission is moving to midtown Ventura, as both lose their leases at a shared office complex.

Leases for both expire at the end of the month, and a legal dispute over the building at California and Santa Clara streets prompted each to find a new home.

The visitors center, which serves some 2,000 guests a month, is moving about 50 yards across the street, into the vacant ground floor of the Masonic Lodge, Executive Director Jim Luttjohann said. The center plans to close Dec. 25, move, and reopen to the public Dec. 29.

"In a way, our new space may actually serve us and our customers better," he said.

The Coastal Commission wasn't so fortunate. With a downtown Ventura presence for 15 years, the state agency wanted to keep its offices and 15 employees in the area but couldn't find a space big enough with adequate seismic protection to meet its needs, Deputy Director Jack Ainsworth said.

The agency intends to move in a few months into an office complex on Maple Court near Pacific View mall. The agency will stay in its current upstairs location on a month-to-month lease until renovations at its new offices are completed, Ainsworth said.

"This is a big blow for us," he said. "We wanted to stay in the building."

The Ventura Music Festival and the Downtown Ventura Organization finalized deals last week to join the visitors center at the Masonic Lodge, festival Executive Director Cheryl Heitmann said.

The legal spat over the office building at 89 S. California St., a former Bank of America, stems from the structure apparently being built over two parcels.

John Henning contends his family trust owns the entire building, as part of a deal negotiated 50 years ago.

Tom Wood, owner of Ventura Realty Co. and the other parcel, disagreed. "We absolutely own a portion of the building," he said.

The two owners unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a settlement, and Henning eventually sued Ventura Realty in Superior Court in October.

Wood said he hates to see the Coastal Commission's white-collar workers leave the area at a time when the city is trying lure more professionals to the downtown.

"Nothing would make me happier than for him to just sell us his portion of the building" for a fair price, Wood said.

Reached Friday in Petaluma, Henning said selling is not likely, but that there was still a chance the Coastal Commission could stay, something he also would like to see.

That was news to commission staff. "It's a done deal," Ainsworth said of the move.