A Workbench-led project at 841 Capitola Rd. in Live Oak is some way from breaking ground, but residents are already concerned about the 63-unit housing development, citing insufficient parking and the possibility of worsening traffic as reasons for opposition. Workbench is hosting a virtual community meeting on Tuesday.
Workbench
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Workbench CEO stepped down from county planning commission amid growing conflict concerns
As Workbench’s public profile has ballooned over the past year, CEO Tim Gordin has become the developer-of-the-moment in Santa Cruz County. Amid growing scrutiny over his dual role of developer and county planning commissioner, Gordin resigned from the commission in November.
Posted inHousing & Development
State-approved Workbench project will be Scotts Valley’s first affordable housing development in decades. City leaders don’t want it.
For the first time in decades, Scotts Valley is set to host a 100% affordable housing complex. Yet local leaders are at odds with state mandates, decrying the project’s demolition of one of the few commercial spaces in Scotts Valley with the amenities necessary to attract high-tech tenants.
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
Revamped Mission Street project brings in Workbench, doubles in height and density
The Santa Cruz community got its first look this week at a six-story, 68-unit project proposed along Mission Street. The developer, a subsidiary of Oakland-based Getgo Property Group, has brought on local architecture/development firm Workbench to redesign the project that once proposed half the height and density.
Posted inLatest News
Workbench sues Santa Cruz City Council for restricting Food Bin development
The fight over the Food Bin redevelopment has new life after architect Workbench and the property owner sued the Santa Cruz City Council for what they claim is a violation of state housing law. The five-story, 59-unit project proposal reset the public’s imagination around what can be built in Santa Cruz under recent changes to state housing laws.
Posted inHousing & Development
At hearing for 100% affordable project on Santa Cruz’s Westside, neighbors are reminded they have little say
Santa Cruz’s zoning administrator approved a new three-story, 38-unit, 100% affordable housing development at 850 Almar Ave. on the city’s Westside following a public hearing Wednesday in which neighbors expressed frustration over state laws that limit the city’s ability to block or modify the project.
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.
Posted inHousing & Development
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.
Posted inHousing & Development
‘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.