Santa Cruz Changes 155: Is Santa Cruz growing or shrinking?

The Google Street View screen grab above (from 2017) shows the Front Street site now occupied by the River Row mixed-use development.

Recent analysis by Lookout Santa Cruz finds that the city's population has decreased by 3.7% since 2020, citing high rents and low wages as primary causes. The declining affordability of Santa Cruz housing has been thoroughly documented: Santa Cruz-Watsonville has been named the least-affordable housing rental market in the country for three years in a row.  

At the same time, this blog has noted the creation of a lot of new housing over the past few years. Will an influx of new housing lead to rent reductions? I have seen two cases in the last year where landlords slightly reduced their original asking rents, but that's far from a scientific study.

Will all the new housing reverse the population decline? It's probably still too soon to see a definite trend, but a lot of new housing will have opened by this time next year, so we'll see. Large projects that have opened or will open in the city (including UCSC) this year or late last year include:

* River Row mixed-use (apartments all market rate) 
* UCSC student/staff Delaware Apartments (see Changes 119)
* UCSC Kresge College student housing (see Changes 106)
* Pacific Station North Apartments (100% affordable) (first discussed here in 2021! See Changes 22)
* 119 Coral Street (Housing Matters supportive housing - see Changes 55) 

Large projects scheduled to open in the next two years include:

* 126 Eucalyptus Street senior housing (see Changes 56)
* Swift Street "workforce" housing (see Changes 120) 
* UCSC Student Housing West (see Changes 95)
* Downtown library/housing/garage (see Changes 58)  
* 136 River Street mixed-use (see Changes 76)

There may be a others that have broken ground since I last checked!

Outside of the city:

* Cabrillo-UCSC student apartments (see Changes 139)

Santa Cruz Changes 154: 915 Water Street gets its BP

Received this City of Santa Cruz project update today:

On April 28, the Community Development Department issued a building permit for a new six-story affordable housing project at 915 Water Street. This 110,000 square foot development will replace existing structures with 83 apartments, offering a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom units. All units are designed for mobility or are adaptable for persons with disabilities. 

The building will feature ground floor commercial space and a leasing office, alongside various resident amenities. These include a community room, an exterior courtyard with a children’s play area, co-working spaces, and onsite laundry. 

To support city sustainability goals, the project is fully electric. The site will also include electric vehicle charging stations and the supporting infrastructure for future EV needs.

The design of this project has changed a lot from the "four-story, 74,290 sq. ft. mixed-use building with . . . 105 SRO's" proposed in 2022. The site is on the north side of Water Street between N. Branciforte and Stanford, across from Branciforte School. Buildings to be demolished have been vacant since 2024, as seen in this Google Street View screen grab:

  

Santa Cruz Changes 153: Housing slowdown in Capitola?

Capitola has had few new multi-family projects in recent years, compared to Santa Cruz, and now one that had already received planning approval has asked for a two-year extension on that planning permit, meaning that the developer is not ready to submit a building permit application. 

I haven't driven by the site lately, so the photo above is a Google Streetview from 2024. A posting on the left-hand chain-link gate describes the proposed development, including a conceptual rendering.

This property has had a complicated development history. Until 2016, it was for many years a senior assisted living facility, until an abrupt sale was followed by forced evictions. A later buyer planned to upgrade and reopen the facility, but several years of work stopped after ~2021. After (presumably) another sale, the current proposal for a multi-family residential development was submitted and received planning approval.

Will the project ever happen? We'll have to watch and see. Whether it happens or not, it's a two-year delay, part of the slowdown previously noted here (Changes #134). Below is the city notice for the upcoming public hearing, with the design permit extension on the consent agenda (no public comments).