Urban muraling, colorful and unique lifeguard towers and more. Santa Cruz finds itself in the throes of some big changes brought about by the ambitious plans for development, ones that could make the city look and feel radically different in just a few years. So it’s time to ask: What can or should the city or its residents do to assert its personality in the public sphere? We want your ideas — drawn from your travels and experiences.
Changing Santa Cruz
Posted inHousing & Development
Shiny facades herald emergence of new-look downtown Santa Cruz, with housing coming in 2024
Now built out and putting on their public faces, the Anton Pacific Apartments and Center/Cedar developments are approaching their final shapes. New housing units will be available next year as other projects — including the new downtown library — aim for 2025.
Posted inHousing & Development
Which way to the beach? After decades of talking about it, Santa Cruz is finally poised to connect downtown to the beach
Making the transition from downtown to the beach seamless has been a goal of city leaders for years, and now Santa Cruz is poised to convert the area south of Laurel Street into a busy, pedestrian-friendly part of town, similar to a few blocks north. A new housing complex on Center Street is to be called Calypso, a six-story building with more than 200 units of market-rate and affordable housing.
Posted inHousing & Development
Nightmare or riverfront nirvana — or somewhere in between? What’s the next Santa Cruz going to feel like?
Quick, describe the vibe that characterizes what the one-of-a-kind place that is Santa Cruz is known to be. Now, as the housing construction boom begins to change the landscape of downtown, angst is growing about the displacement of the old and the coming of the new. Will downtown’s dramatic facelift obliterate that special Santa Cruz something? Or will the Santa Cruz spirit — however you might define it — in time inhabit the new city now emerging?
Posted inHousing & Development
Community gets first view of 351-unit mixed-use Ocean Street project
The proposed five-story development at 908 Ocean St., near the intersection with Water Street, would involve the demolition of a number of single-family homes in addition to several businesses. The public can weigh in via Zoom or in person Thursday evening.
Posted inHousing & Development
The Six Blocks holdovers: Sherwin-Williams, More Music and SCFAA
The planned overhaul along Front Street might seem like one of the first steps toward an unrecognizable downtown Santa Cruz, but some reminders of today will remain. More Music, Sherwin-Williams Paints and the narrow building acting as home of the Santa Cruz Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous, directly adjacent to the former locations of India Joze and The 418 Project, are staying right where they are. But if these businesses do move elsewhere in the future, what does that mean for the land they currently occupy?
Posted inHousing & Development
Six Blocks: Downtown redo aims for 1,000s of new residents, 6 multistory buildings — and revived riverfront
You can see the big new building fast rising at Front and Laurel in downtown Santa Cruz. That’s just the first wave of massive redevelopment that will change a big swath of downtown — and heralds even more high-density development to come. Take a tour of the vision that is fast becoming reality.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
New luxury hotel at La Bahia, near Boardwalk, finally moves forward; aims to open in 2024
Construction is already underway at the site where the developers, including Santa Cruz Seaside Company and the company that owns the Dream Inn, plan to build an upscale venue with 155 rooms and two restaurants. Late 2024 is the target date for the hotel, as yet unnamed, to open along Beach Street.
