A five-building housing complex is proposed at Thurber Lane and Soquel Drive. (Jesse Kathan — Santa Cruz Local file)

Many Live Oak residents have objected to a proposed affordable housing development on Soquel Drive and Thurber Lane with concerns that the five-building apartment complex is too large and will exacerbate traffic. Now, the potential development has more homes and less parking.

Updated plans submitted in late August call for 181 apartments across five buildings rather than the originally proposed 173 apartments. The plans also reduce parking spaces on the 6.26-acre property. An interest list for potential tenants has also opened. 

New plans submitted by Sacramento-based developer Anton Development Co. LLC include:

• One-, two- and three-bedroom homes.
• Two five-story buildings, two four-story buildings and a three-story building. The previous plan included two five-story buildings, one four-story, one three-story  and one two-story.
• Added space for offices, shops and restaurants on the ground floor of one building.
• Parking for 257 vehicles rather than 273 spaces in the prior plans. 
• A walkway along a wooded area and 2 acres of open space.

All the apartments would be offered below market rate as “workforce housing,” the developer said. Income limits for the homes have not been set.

State laws meant to address the housing crisis allow developments with enough affordable housing to exceed local height restrictions. They also severely curtail local officials’ ability to deny or change proposals.

The project requires environmental review and approval by the Santa Cruz County Planning Commission, a county staff member wrote in an email. A date for the planning commission review has not been set. If the planning commission’s decision is appealed, the project would go to the Santa Cruz County Supervisors for final approval.

A state-mandated county plan to allow for more housing calls for more than 6,000 new homes in unincorporated Santa Cruz County over the next eight years. 

Many attendees of an April community meeting about the project said the proposed buildings were out of scale with the surrounding neighborhood. Some said the new residents would worsen parking shortages. 

An apartment complex is proposed near Soquel Drive and Thurber Lane. (Architecture Design Collaborative)

Read more

• Soquel Drive and Thurber Lane housing proposal — Last updated August 2024
• Soquel Drive housing complex proposal draws concerns — April 30, 2024
• Two Live Oak housing proposals could be approved without public input – April 26, 2024
• Thousands of homes planned for Aptos, Live Oak, Soquel in county’s Housing Element — Sept. 21, 2023

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