Santa Cruz County Housing Digest

In their November 4 meeting, the Cabrillo College Board of Trustees selected a developer for a massive 624-bed on-campus housing project. Read on to learn more about the project and the partnership with UCSC.

A forty-acre site on Graham Hill Road is being proposed for development of 161 homes to include 20% affordable units to fall under the so-called "builders remedy."

Jondi Gumz summarizes the surge in affordable housing development on Soquel Drive.

In their October 24 meeting, the Watsonville City Council approved two affordable housing developments on Airport Road and Evan Circle.

A report on the Santa Cruz City Council meeting of October 24 and the decisions made in advancing the Downtown Expansion Plan for the 29-acre neighborhood south of Laurel Street.

The developer of the controversial Clocktower Center high-rise has submitted revised plans featuring a scaled down design.

At an October 17 meeting at the Silver Spur on Soquel Drive, local residents heard about plans to develop the property into a senior assisted-living and memory care facility.

The City of Santa Cruz has responded to a recent civil grand jury report noting a lack in tracking residency in affordable housing.

Multiple state agencies spent nearly $24 billion on housing and homeless programs in the first five years of Gavin Newsom’s governorship, but the number of people without homes continued to grow, rising by 20% to more than 180,000 in the most recent federal count in 2023.

A report on an October 10 community meeting held to discuss an affordable housing development planned for Soquel Drive and Thurber Lane in unincorporated Santa Cruz County.

Up to 189 units of housing is proposed for the site of the beloved diner on Soquel Drive.

California allotted half a billion dollars to help community land trusts across the state. But budget cuts and bureaucracy have land trust advocates back where they were in 2020: seeking state aid to preserve affordable housing.

Learn more about a project to develop 289 units of affordable housing at Soquel Drive and 41st Avenue in Santa Cruz County.

In their October 8 meeting, the City of Santa Cruz rejected a proposal to open up rental and ownership rules governing accessory dwelling units in the city.

How to apply rebate as part of the recent $80 million state program to electrify homes.

On October 1, the Watsonville Planning Commission approved a Habitat for Humanity project to develop homes on a parcel located on River Road.

Claiming a violation of state housing laws, local developer Workbench has sued the City of Santa Cruz over restrictions on the proposed five-story development on the Food Bin parcel on Mission Street.

Homeless service providers are scaling back and taking out loans as they wait for late payments from the government.

A summary of a September 25 online meeting with California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and Bonny Doon homeowners impacted by the insurance crisis.

Many California farmworkers have long lacked safe and affordable places to sleep — an issue thrown into sharp relief after last year’s mass shooting in Half Moon Bay, which left seven agricultural workers dead.

In their September 25 meeting, the Santa Cruz City Council approved an ordinance capping rent increases at the St. George Hotel and other local city-assisted housing.

In their September 24 meeting, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors approved a subcommittee to examine the increasing number of housing units not occupied by the owner, purchased for the purpose of short term rentals.

Tenant advocates say giving renters 10 days to respond to eviction notices, up from 5, will help those who live in rural areas and have trouble finding legal help. Some landlords argue it will increase their costs.

At a CalMatters event, California’s insurance commissioner says the changes he’s making will help homeowners and business owners. One idea: A state grant for those who spend money to protect their property from wildfires.

The Sacramento Bee takes a look at the Proposition 33 rent-control measure on the November ballot.

One September 17, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the start of construction of a 120 unit supportive housing development in the Harvey West neighborhood in Santa Cruz.

California’s inland regions are experiencing dangerous heat waves, exacerbated by rapid population growth. As more people move away from the expensive coastal areas to more affordable inland communities, these regions are seeing significant demographic changes and spiking electricity bills.

An exclusive CalMatters analysis of the latest California homeless count reveals some good news and bad news: Though the growth rate of homelessness appears to be slowing, the overall number of unhoused Californians increased from two years ago.

Amid a Southern California heat wave, about 300 advocates for rent control — with two 10-foot “greedy landlord” puppets — rallied Thursday in downtown Los Angeles, chanting: “The rent is too damn high!”

In their August 20 meeting, the Salinas City Council approved development of three new tenent protection ordinances following years of complaints from local renters.

A large apartment complex in San Rafael’s majority-Latino Canal neighborhood. Latino families in Marin County are far more likely than white families to have trouble making ends meet, a new report finds.

The Legislature is willing to guarantee $500 million annually to affordable housing developers, but with a caveat.