This past May, the Housing Division co-sponsored and publicized multiple events to celebrate the 2024 Affordable Housing Month (AHM). Each year, the City of Santa Cruz and its affordable housing partners look for ways to engage with the community to educate and present the positive and extensive impact affordable housing has on the City. This May we accomplished that through sharing event information and making details readily accessible by posting them on the City of Santa Cruz online calendar, the AHM webpage, department social media platforms, and more. Additionally, a streamlined Quick Guide with events, dates, times, and RSVP hyperlinks were shared. And finally, virtual webinars, grand openings, tours, community gatherings, and a groundbreaking event were celebrated during May 2024.

A highlight of this year’s celebrations, the Economic Development and Housing Department co-hosted an event, the Pacific Station North Groundbreaking Celebration, followed by walking site tours of Pacific Station South and Cedar Street Apartments. Pacific Station North will be a 128-unit family-style community located in downtown Santa Cruz between Pacific Avenue and Front Street. The project will consist of 126 affordable residential units and 2 manager units for a total of 128 units, commercial retail, and office space.

Economic Development and Housing Director, Bonnie Lipscomb was one of two Master of Ceremonies for the groundbreaking event, and she kicked off the speaking portion by providing background on the development including why the City initiated the project and its original visionaries. The City of Santa Cruz partnered with Eden Housing and For the Future Housing on this 100% affordable housing project and provided ~$16.5MM along with donating the land.

City of Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley discussed why the project is so important to the City and the impact it will have on the community. He touched on the 128 critically needed housing units, a new home for METRO in the heart of downtown, investing in our transit infrastructure at the right time, and the hundreds of affordable housing units underway.

U.S. Congressman Jimmy Panetta spoke about the $2MM he obtained for the project, highlighting the green features of the project as Pacific Station North will be an all-electric development targeting LEED Platinum with solar power covering almost all the building’s energy loads.

County of Santa Cruz Supervisor Justin Cummings acknowledged other County representatives in attendance and discussed why the County vision for affordable housing and projects like Pacific Station North are so important for expanding the region's affordable housing supply.

Santa Cruz METRO CEO, Corey Aldrige spoke about the $4MM in METRO funds that were committed to the transit station redevelopment, the land swap between the City and METRO, and how this transit-oriented development will offer a new bus transit station to downtown Santa Cruz.

Jim Rendler, Principal and VP of For the Future Housing spoke about the rising number of affordable housing units that have been developed and are underway. With the completion of the Pacific Station South project, For the Future Housing will have created over 132 affordable housing units in the City of Santa Cruz, and the Pacific Station North project brings that number to 256 units with two additional projects anticipated in the future.

Rayne Perez, Principal Management Analyst at the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Cruz spoke on the 62 assigned unit vouchers, including 11 units for Family Unification Program and 51 units for families currently on the Housing Choice Vouchers waitlist.

Additional speakers included:

• Linda Mandolini, President & CEO of Eden Housing (MC #2)
• Lynn Jones, Section Chief at the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD)
• Lisette Jones, Field Representative for California State Assemblymember Gail Pellerin
• Jay Abeywardena, Managing Director at Berkadia
• Josh Evju, Affordable Housing Tax Credit Debt Originations Relationship Manager at US Bancorp Impact Finance
• Elaine Johnson, Executive Director of Housing Santa Cruz County
• Sean Callum, Eden Housing Board of Directors

Additional Project details:

• The Pacific Station North project will complete the final phase of Pacific Station, which is a large-scale, transit-oriented redevelopment program.
• The project is supported in part by funds from the City of Santa Cruz, the Affordable Housing & Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program, and the Infill Infrastructure Grant (IIG) program.
• The project will include affordable homes, ground floor retail commercial space, a new METRO bus transit hub, a pedestrian paseo, and key infrastructure to serve the entire Pacific Station redevelopment.
• Pacific Station North Apartments will include a mix of studio, 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom apartments for individuals and families. 32 units will be set aside for extremely low-income households, with the remaining units restricted to individuals and families earning less than 50% and 60% of Santa Cruz County's area median income.
• Residential amenities will include a ~1,300 SF outdoor patio, a ~1,250 SF community room, a central laundry facility, a computer room, and a versatile space designed for an after-school program.
• May 20^th, 2024 marked the groundbreaking for the project, with an estimated completion date of Fall 2026. (As of July 2023)

The Economic Development & Housing Department thanks all of the community members for celebrating Affordable Housing Month with us and we look forward to celebrating with you again in May 2025. Stay tuned for more updates on Affordable Housing Projects in the works and please make sure to visit our webpage for information on affordable housing: www.cityofsantacruz.com/housingassistanceinformation.