The new River Row housing complex, with 175 new units, is about a year away from opening. It’s only the first in a series of jarring aesthetic changes coming to the once drab look of Front Street in downtown Santa Cruz.
Six Blocks
A Lookout series at development happening around Front Street in downtown Santa Cruz.
Posted inHousing & Development
Cruz Hotel will move forward after Coastal Commission gives it a green light
The California Coastal Commission last week approved the long-discussed and debated Cruz Hotel project proposed at the corner of Front and Laurel streets in downtown Santa Cruz. The project had been appealed to the Coastal Commission, as expected, following the Santa Cruz City Council’s 5-1 approval of the hotel in March.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Fred Keeley’s swan song: One year in, Santa Cruz’s first directly elected mayor isn’t slowing down
At age 73, Fred Keeley is wrapping up the first year of what will likely be the final chapter in his nearly 30-year career in elected public office. As Santa Cruz’s first mayor to be directly elected by voters to serve a full four-year term, he has worked to set the tone for what it means to have a full-time mayor. But will it be enough to entice others to follow in his footsteps?
Posted inCity Life
Urban density is coming to downtown Santa Cruz. This group wants to stop the city from getting taller.
Santa Cruz’s downtown expansion plan is aimed for the lots that currently host Kaiser Permanente Arena, Ace Hardware and Firefly Coffee House. The city has capped building heights in the area at 12 stories. That is still too tall for some. A group called Housing for People is circulating a petition that asks residents whether they want to be able to vote on projects that propose to reach taller than existing height limits on local land.
Posted inLatest News
As Santa Cruz plots an electric future, U.S. energy officials tour city with offer of federal funds
Ariel Marshall, a senior official from the U.S. Department of Energy visited Santa Cruz city leaders on Wednesday to learn about progress made on all-electric housing and other developments. Marshall’s message was loud and clear: there’s federal money for more of the city’s climate-friendly projects.
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
Riverfront, first of three big housing developments along San Lorenzo River, is underway
Demolition has begun along Front Street in downtown Santa Cruz for the new complex to be known as the Riverfront Apartments. The Riverfront project represents a big leap forward in the city’s efforts to develop along the San Lorenzo River levee. It is the first of three projects planned for the Front Street corridor along the river between Soquel Avenue and Laurel Street.
Posted inUncategorized
A field guide to downtown Santa Cruz’s many in-progress housing developments
Downtown Santa Cruz is humming with construction, and there’s plenty more coming. Here’s Lookout’s update on where things stand as of late April 2023.
Posted inUncategorized
For 2024, downtown Santa Cruz’s changes will be nothing less than transformational
New residents will start moving into at least three new downtown Santa Cruz apartment buildings in 2024, and the crack of demolition of what’s next will be in the air. First, there’s the new Anton Pacific, Pacific Station South, Pacific Station North, the Cedar/Center project — and then there’s the Riverfront, Five 30 Front, the Cruz Hotel and a riverwalk all in the planning. Here’s a view of what’s going way up.