Apartment complex to provide student, employee housing
Within walking distance to other UC Santa Cruz facilities and direct bus routes to the residential campus, the Delaware Avenue project will provide housing for about 400 upper-division undergraduate students and more than 60 employees.
Pursuing all opportunities to provide more housing to current students and help reduce the local housing crisis, UC Santa Cruz will house up to 400 upper-division undergraduate students and more than 60 employees at a soon-to-be-constructed apartment complex to be built by a private developer.
The housing development on Delaware Avenue is just a few miles from the residential campus with excellent access to existing Metro and campus transit routes, as well as the Coastal Rail Trail. It is also near several other UC Santa Cruz facilities, including the Coastal Science Campus, the Westside Research Park, and the Institute of the Arts and Sciences. UC Santa Cruz will lease the buildings from Redtree Partners, which owns and is constructing the project. The apartments will be built using prevailing wage, ensuring good jobs for workers.
Construction is expected to start in summer 2024 and be completed by fall 2026.
UC Santa Cruz provides housing for more than half of its undergraduate students. While this is one of the highest percentages in the University of California system, campus leaders say it is not enough and are relentlessly pursuing opportunities to provide housing for thousands of students.
Including the Delaware apartments, UC Santa Cruz has an ambitious plan to increase student housing by more than 40 percent by 2030, predominantly on the residential campus.
Campus involvement enables project to move forward
The apartment complex, made up of three five-story buildings, is part of a smart growth mixed-use planned community near the intersection of Delaware Avenue and Swift Street. The creation of housing and commercial space will continue to support the economic development of Santa Cruz.
The student housing would be about 20 percent below market rate, while the employee housing would be approximately five percent below market rate. Seven employee units will meet the City’s affordable housing designation and another twelve units will be available to moderate-income level employees.
The Delaware Addition project was approved by the Santa Cruz City Council in 2008. While the recession delayed construction, several buildings have been constructed, including one that serves as the current home of UC Santa Cruz’s Institute of the Arts and Sciences. The involvement of the campus is enabling the developer to move forward with the planned housing buildings.