Although the new 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act simplifies regulations and boosts tax credits, local officials say it won’t provide immediate relief to Santa Cruz County’s housing shortage. Instead, the bill’s benefits are expected to unfold gradually over the next decade.
Housing
Posted inHousing & Development
The unwanted top spot: Santa Cruz County remains most expensive rental market
Santa Cruz County is in first place — but not in a good way. It has once again been named the country’s most expensive rental market, marking four years in a row that it has claimed the top spot.
Posted inHousing & Development
Group of local contractors to use straw bales to build low-income housing on Mount Calvary Church property in Soquel
A group of local contractors is hoping to address both homelessness and climate change with their project to build six new “tiny homes” using natural materials.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Santa Cruz Planning Commission votes to end public hearings for fully affordable housing projects; city council to hear item in January
The City of Santa Cruz Planning Commission decided that it will drop public hearings for fully affordable housing projects, requiring only ministerial approval. The item will head to the Santa Cruz City Council for a first read in January.
Posted inHousing & Development
Supervisors order review of 57-unit Capitola Road project
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will review the application for a 57-unit housing project led by local developer Workbench that used a state provision that allowed the project to override local jurisdiction.
Posted inHousing & Development
County planning commission approves Workbench project on Capitola Road; neighbors plan appeal
The Santa Cruz County Planning Commission unanimously approved a contentious housing project in Live Oak. The project, a 57-unit apartment complex on 841 Capitola Rd., is led by local development and architecture firm Workbench.
Posted inHousing & Development
As weather cools, Santa Cruz County housing market shows signs of heating up
Santa Cruz County’s housing market largely stayed the course in September, with many houses on the market and plenty of sales closing. However, with trade tensions and the government shutdown lingering, real estate professionals say conditions could change rapidly.
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
Santa Cruz County named the nation’s least affordable rental market for third straight year — and the gap has widened
Workers need to earn $80 an hour to comfortably afford the average rental in Santa Cruz County, named the country’s least affordable rental market for a third consecutive year, a new study finds.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
In the Public Interest: Hundreds of county residents could lose housing under Trump’s spending bill
A dispatch from the public square of Santa Cruz County politics & policy via Lookout correspondent Christopher Neely.
