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.
Clocktower Center
Posted inHousing & Development
Vote clears way for Clocktower Center construction – but balcony disagreement could spell trouble
The Santa Cruz Planning Commission unanimously approved the downtown Clocktower Center project Thursday, but its rejection of developer Workbench’s request for more balcony space on lower floors opened the door to litigation.
Posted inHousing & Development
New-look Clocktower Center is half the height, but still out of scale for some residents
The Clocktower Center proposal in downtown Santa Cruz has been downsized, but tensions remain. While some praise its potential to address a housing shortage, critics argue it’s still too tall, too disruptive, and woefully lacking in parking.
Posted inHousing & Development
Clocktower Center shake-up: Workbench submits new vision for controversial Santa Cruz project
The Clocktower Center project in Santa Cruz is back, but as a scaled-down version. Initially planned as a 16-story high-rise, the new proposal features a more modest eight-story building with 221 units and ground-floor commercial space. Developer Workbench hopes to bypass early planning stages and move straight to a city council vote.
Posted inHousing & Development
Free land problems, local control, and the Clocktower’s fate: Five takeaways from Lookout’s housing forum
Lookout’s July 31 housing forum featured a pair of panels with leaders weighing in from the political and development perspectives. The conversation brought to light challenges in financing a proposed tower in Santa Cruz, as well as the hurdles before the county in standing up affordable housing projects.
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Financing will likely constrain Santa Cruz’s Clocktower Center to 8 stories instead of 16
After plans for a 16-story high-rise in downtown Santa Cruz sparked an uproar over new state laws that supersede local control to encourage more affordable housing, financing challenges will ultimately shape the proposal, according to one of its developers. Sibley Simon, a partner at Workbench, told Lookout on Thursday that the Clocktower Center project will likely be seven or eight stories instead.
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‘Clocktower project?’: ‘I don’t see anyone figuring how to do a 16-story building in Santa Cruz for a good long while’ — and other takeaways from Lookout’s housing forum
In a 2½-hour forum hosted by Lookout, panelists offered lively takes on the question of the evening: “Can Santa Cruz County control its housing destiny?” With the in-person crowd clearly mixed on the prospects of high-density development, Workbench developer Sibley Simon seemed to dismiss the likelihood of the 18-story Clocktower proposal in downtown Santa Cruz ever being built. In the first hour, local officials Manu Koenig and Sandy Brown debated the value – and difficulties– of the state’s housing mandates with state Sen. Scott Wiener.
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Workbench’s Clocktower Center finds pushback – and support – in second community meeting
At up to 16 stories and 260 units, the Clocktower Center proposed behind downtown Santa Cruz’s town clock is unlike anything seen in Santa Cruz County. However, the vision remains in the nascent stages, and developer Workbench has until September to submit a formal application.
Posted inHousing & Development
Clocktower developer: ‘It’s not possible’ for politics to stop housing project that could rise to nearly 200 feet
Local developer Workbench formally introduced its ambitious proposal for the Clocktower Center to the community in a virtual meeting Wednesday. The 16-story, 260-unit vision for the project would reset the potential development intensity in Santa Cruz County.
Posted inHousing & Development
An 18-story building proposed downtown promises to be a project ‘Santa Cruz has never seen’
Clocktower Center would reach 192 feet, towering over all existing and proposed buildings in the city of Santa Cruz.