As 2025 morphs into 2026, Santa Cruz’s downtown is still deep in the middle of a major transformation. A new proposal for The Catalyst building has many up in arms, while fans of the new library quietly wait for 2028. Here’s an overview of where all the projects stand.
Changing Santa Cruz
Posted inArts & Entertainment
What The Catalyst means to Santa Cruz’s music scene, its culture and its sense of itself
With The Catalyst in the news as the possible site of a new downtown housing development, maybe it’s time for a reminder of just how influential and central this performance venue has been to Santa Cruz’s musical subcultures.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
This week in Santa Cruz County business: Demolition, relocation eyed for Catalyst; Westside revitalization story; new wine district moves forward
A Silicon Valley developer has proposed demolishing the historic downtown Santa Cruz home of The Catalyst nightclub and erecting a new seven-story, mixed-use building, Jessica M. Pasko reports in her weekly survey of local business. She’s also got news from the Westside, on the local wine industry and more.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Five years after the closure of the Nickelodeon, is indie film culture in Santa Cruz dead, or merely in hibernation?
The Nickelodeon Theatre in downtown Santa Cruz has been closed for more than five years, bringing up questions not only about the viability of independent film, but whether the once robust subculture of arthouse cinema in Santa Cruz will ever come back.
Posted inHousing & Development
One arrested as Santa Cruz breaks ground on long-sought downtown library and affordable housing project
Santa Cruz launched construction on its flagship downtown library and affordable housing project Wednesday, though protests erupted as Food Not Bombs founder Keith McHenry disrupted the event before being arrested by police.
Posted inHousing & Development
Eight-story, 178-unit Clocktower Center clears final vote, capping Santa Cruz’s most polarizing development battle
The Santa Cruz City Council approved Workbench’s scaled-down Clocktower Center project — originally hailed by its developers as something “Santa Cruz hasn’t seen.” The vote ends more than a year of fierce public debate and cements the controversial development as a high-profile product of California’s pro-housing state laws.
Posted inHousing & Development
One of downtown Santa Cruz’s most visible housing projects nears completion
RiverRow, a new 175-unit building on Front Street along the San Lorenzo riverfront in Santa Cruz, is nearly complete and set to open to tenants by the end of the year.
Posted inHousing & Development
Developer mulls trimming Ocean Street housing project to 300 units from 389
A subsidiary of real estate giant Trammell Crow says it is in talks with the City of Santa Cruz to possibly reduce the size of a planned Ocean Street housing project, citing cost concerns and neighborhood fit.
Posted inHousing & Development
On Ocean Street, Marianne’s Ice Cream comes under the shadow of a major housing development
A five-story mixed-use development is slated to go up behind Marianne’s Ice Cream, a Santa Cruz staple. Marianne’s owners are worried about street parking during construction and the shadow of the building — which will stretch across Ocean Street in front of the parlor in winter — once it’s done.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
How rising costs and red tape squeeze small businesses out of downtown Santa Cruz
A mix of rising rents, construction hurdles and slow city permitting is prompting some small businesses to reconsider opening in downtown Santa Cruz. Business owners say they want to be part of downtown’s future but feel the financial and bureaucratic barriers are stacked too high — especially for those trying to open in aging buildings. While the city is rolling out reforms, including a new permitting system and faster approvals, some worry it’s not happening fast enough to keep the heart of downtown vibrant and local.