Santa Cruz Changes - 18: Up We Go

It's hard not to notice that all of the newest apartment buildings constructed recently are taller than the two-story structures that had been typical since the 1960s. The downtown core of Santa Cruz is filling with six-and-seven story buildings, with heights similar to downtown Paris - just about the only large city downtown still lacking monster skyscrapers.  Indeed, a couple of the newer tall Pacific Avenue buildings even have mansard-roofed "garret" top floors.

Away from the downtown core, a good place to watch buildings grow is the south side of Water Street, between Branciforte Creek and the base of the hill going up to Branciforte Ave. Until the 2010s, this stretch of Water Street was occupied only by small one-story structures, as can be seen in the 2017 photo at right. The upward trend began with The Breakers, a three-story apartment development (located to the right of this photo). 

Then, in 2019, three combined lots provided a wide frontage for the Water Street Apartments, a four story block. For reference, the same street-light fixture appears in both photos, taken from roughly the same location.

Up the street, at the corner of Water and Branciforte, a developer has now prepared a proposal for a six-story multi-use building. Watch this space for news on that project. 

Santa Cruz Changes locations can be found on this Google Map.