The first page of the submitted plan set is the image above, showing a current view of the project site, as seen from the Water street-Branciforte Ave. intersection. Below is one of the developer's renderings of the finished project from the same vantage, which includes some fanciful street changes that are not part of the proposal.
This site was the subject of Changes 21, back in June of 2021. On the development proposal submitted at that time, that post opined: "It's not hard to envision a re-development that would improve on what's there now. The proposed structure, however, is a massive change that will be strenuously opposed by many of its residential neighbors. Several years of permit applications, presentations, and public meetings lie ahead, so we won't know for some time how this turns out."
That turned out to be true, and the original proposal was withdrawn. Now, developers are ready to try again, with a somewhat scaled-down version and even more help from state housing policies. According to a Santa Cruz Sentinel story: "The building would contain 800 square feet of retail space, 2,500 square feet of work/live units, a community room, shared spaces, on-site laundry and a manager’s office on the ground ground floor. In sum, the building would contain 140 housing units that are a mix of studios, one, two, three-bedroom and work/live apartments." Gone from the first proposal, among other non-housing elements, is the controversial rooftop restaurant/bar.
An online community meeting is planned. From the city's project page:
"What: 831 Water St. mixed-use development online community meeting
When: 6 to 7:30 p.m., Nov. 20
Where: Online via Zoom at us06web.84416407747"
