Quick Take
City leaders and Santa Cruz community members celebrated the grand opening of the RiverRow apartments, located along the San Lorenzo River. The downtown development is unique because it opens onto the river, instead of facing away.
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City officials celebrated the opening of one of the many new apartment buildings in downtown Santa Cruz on Thursday.
The RiverRow development, bordering the San Lorenzo Riverwalk, has 175 studio, one- and two-bedroom units, with 20 units set aside as “affordable.” The project is the first time since the levees were built in the 1950s that a new development is connected to the river, according to Laurie Egan, executive director of the Coastal Watershed Council.
“This is a new moment in the city of Santa Cruz,” Mayor Fred Keeley said, adding that he hopes the new apartments revitalize the downtown area, which includes plans for a new Santa Cruz Warriors arena.
Egan called the grand opening of the apartment complex a “turning point” for the city to start embracing the river, instead of turning away from it. The San Lorenzo River is the “lifeblood” of the community, home to plants and wildlife, she said, and could become the focal point of the city again.
City planning director Lee Butler said the new project will help create new housing opportunities for residents in an already overcrowded housing market. Affordable housing is “one of the biggest needs” in the community, he said, and those who move into the luxury, market-rate units will help free up apartments and homes in other areas of the city.
“This housing, not just the 20 affordable units, it’s helping create affordable housing throughout the community,” and increase foot traffic to downtown businesses and recreational activities along the river, he said.
“We’ve envisioned this thriving urban riverfront that connects people to nature,” Egan said. “As this new vision for our riverfront emerged, we advocated for these businesses to connect directly to the riverwalk and these public causeways to help our community connect to nature.”
Egan said as change continues in downtown Santa Cruz, the Coastal Watershed Council’s role is to ensure that those changes, like River Row, benefit the river and bring attention to it.
“We’re looking at closing the gap between the riverwalk and the water’s edge, so that the ecology of the river is healthier, so that people have that opportunity to get down to the water’s edge and connect with nature,” she said.
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