Update on housing study for North County Government Center and Water Street sites

In plain English

The General Services Department is reporting on progress toward possibly building mixed-use housing on part of the County's North County Government Center at 701 Ocean Street and a portion of the property at 265 Water Street in Santa Cruz. The County hired real estate consultant Cushman & Wakefield, U.S. Inc. to study zoning, parking, access, existing County and court uses, relocation needs, market conditions and whether any development scenario would pencil out financially. A yes vote would accept the update and direct staff to keep drafting a Request for Qualifications — an invitation for development firms to submit their qualifications and a vision for the site — and bring it back to the Board for approval before it goes out to developers.

The two sites hold County offices and Superior Court operations on busy Ocean and Water Streets, so any housing built there would affect neighbors, parking and access, and could require relocating existing government and court uses.

Key facts

Sites studied: the North County Government Center at 701 Ocean Street and a portion of the property fronting Water Street at 265 Water Street in Santa Cruz
The Cushman & Wakefield contract has a total cost not to exceed $192,500, including a reimbursable expense allowance of up to $10,000
The County intends to negotiate reimbursement for upfront costs with the selected respondent to the Request for Qualifications
The Board adopted Resolution 2-2026 on January 13, 2026 directing this study; an update due in June 2026 was deferred on June 30, 2026 to October 6, 2026
Staff have met with the City of Santa Cruz, the Superior Court and the Judicial Council about operational needs, and conducted a site visit

Reasons to support

The study is meant to produce a well-informed Request for Qualifications so the County can run a competitive developer selection process rather than guess at what the site can support.
The work ties to the County's stated goals of Attainable Housing and a Dynamic Economy, using land the County already owns.
The County plans to negotiate reimbursement of its upfront consulting costs from the developer ultimately selected, potentially recovering part of the $192,500.

Reasons to oppose or change it

The County is spending up to $192,500 on consultant advisory work before any development concept, financing plan or housing unit count has been settled, and recovery of that money depends on a future negotiation with a developer who has not been chosen.
The analysis still has to resolve parking, access, infrastructure and the relocation of existing County and Superior Court uses — unresolved issues that could make housing on the site infeasible or costly.
Findings and conceptual alternatives originally expected in June 2026 have slipped to October 2026 and the next deliverable is only a draft Request for Qualifications, so residents waiting on housing see no construction timeline yet.

Official wording

Accept and file status update on the housing viability study for a portion of the North County Government Center and Water Street campuses, and take related actions (General Services Department)

Official agenda Staff Report

Summary written by claude-opus-5 from the agenda and the Staff Report. It can contain mistakes. The official documents govern.