Proposed Development on Ocean Street in Santa Cruz

The photo in this article is taken from the very early planning documents that are online to suggest the architectural style that may be used and the general site plan. The document says the buildings will be 4 stories high plus a basement for parking and storage. I hope that the final design looks better than these photos. The photo shows a taller building than is in the plan, so don't assume the photo is the actual design. Whatever they build, it will be a better use of these parcels than what is on them now. There will be 4 retail stores and 1 restaurant all fronting on Ocean St. Ocean St is one of our largest arterial streets, with Metro service too, and the development will be at the north portion of Ocean closer to the freeway so it should have less impact on traffic than developments on the central or southern portions.

I feel that this kind of ownership housing is what we need to supplement the larger condos and single-family houses that have been built. It consists of 333 small condo units, all 1-bedroom 648 sq feet with living room and den and 66 sq ft balcony or yard. I presume that 10% (33 units) will be permanently affordable. But even more than small ownership units, we need affordable rental units. If the developer rents these condos for a while instead of selling them, I would expect the rent to be similar to those at 555 Pacific, which isn't cheap. New construction is expensive unless it is subsidized. Since voters rejected Measure H, there's no money for subsidies.

Come to the meeting with an open mind. (I have no financial relationship with the project.)