Quick Take
The city's $2.5 million purchase of the Toadal Fitness site marks a significant milestone in the progress of the downtown library mixed-use project; however, hurdles still remain.
The City of Santa Cruz secured a major piece of the downtown library project puzzle this week, after negotiations that took more than a year and a half.
On Monday, the city formally purchased the downtown Toadal Fitness building for $2.5 million, according to Toadal Fitness owner Christophe Bellito and confirmed by city officials. For years, the property at 113 Lincoln St. has sat in the city’s crosshairs as a necessary purchase and demolition to make room for its long-envisioned downtown library mixed-use development. At eight stories and 273,200 square feet, with 124 affordable housing units, a new library and commercial space, the project is considered by many to be a generational shift in the look and feel of downtown Santa Cruz.
In the lead-up to 2022’s Measure O, which was a referendum on the mixed-use library plan, many questioned the city’s confidence that it would be able to purchase the building to make room for the development. In a February 2023 progress report on the project, city planning staff said “active negotiations continue” for the purchase of the property, and that a decision from Bellito and the Toadal Fitness team on selling the building was “expected in the next several weeks.”
Sixty-two weeks later, and the project’s footprint is now under complete city ownership.
Bellito said the city was a good partner but that the process was a grind.
“It’s good people at the city trying to get things done,” Bellito said. “But the problem is that every time you do something, you need to go back to the attorneys, or go back to the city council. It just takes forever.”
Central to the sale was Toadal Fitness’ relocation plan. Bellito said the gym will move to 716 Ocean St., “hopefully by September.” The new location is currently used as an office space. As Toadal Fitness gets its new location ready, the city will lease Bellito the current Lincoln Street space for $1 per month. The plan, Bellito said, is to have no down time between the closure of the old and opening of the new.
As part of the deal, Toadal Fitness will get the right of first refusal on about 8,000 square feet of commercial space included in the library project, which the city expects to complete in 2027. Bellito said relocating into the new downtown development is only an option at this point, and not something the gym has committed to.
Erika Smart, spokesperson for the City of Santa Cruz, said the library project is continuing to move forward, securing affordable housing funding and grants. In an April 9 report, Santa Cruz’s development manager, Brian Borguno, said the city is still working out how it will pay for the 235-space parking garage. According to Borguno’s report, the city will apply for the project’s building permits next month.
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