2838 Park Ave., Soquel, Park Haven Plaza

Last updated: August 2024

Project name: Park Haven Plaza

Location: 2838 Park Ave., Soquel

The site is a vacant commercial lot next to a commercial office property near Highway 1 and Cabrillo College.

Status

Construction began in October 2022. Novin Construction was expected to finish the project in May 2024 and has been delayed to spring 2025.

“Construction is well underway and expected to finish by the first quarter of 2025. No activity on site does not mean no construction progress as this is a modular project and a lot of work is completed off-site in the factory. The project has experienced some delays due to winter storms and switchgear procurement,” a spokesperson for Novin Development said in an email Aug. 29.

Developer

The county’s development partner is 2838 Park Ave LP, an affiliate of Novin Development.

Project description

• Total units: 35 permanent supportive housing units and one manager’s unit.
• Affordable units: Project Homekey requires the units to be deed restricted for 55 years to house “extremely low-income” residents who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, according to county documents. 
• Height: Three stories.
• Details: The project aims to prevent homelessness among veterans and young adults who aged out of the foster-care system and is expected to be one of the first modular multifamily permanent supportive housing communities in Santa Cruz County. 
• Costs: Santa Cruz County was awarded a $10.7 million grant to build permanent supportive housing through California’s Project Homekey. Project Homekey is a $1.45 billion state funding program for the development of permanent housing for unhoused people. The total project cost is estimated at $26 million. “Homekey funding will also help cover supportive services, property maintenance, and operating costs for the site,” county staff wrote. County staff called the proposal “an extremely rare, historic opportunity, not likely to be repeated in the near term.”
• Construction and management: Because Homekey projects must finish construction within 12 months of funding, modular construction is proposed, county leaders have said. Abode Services will provide supportive services to tenants while FPI Property Management will manage the property. Abode operates programs for the unhoused and people at risk of becoming unhoused in Santa Cruz County and throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
• Tenant placement: Tenants in 17 units will be referred through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Tenants in 14 units will be placed through family unification vouchers for transition-age youth through the County of Santa Cruz’s Human Services Department. Four units will be for homeless families with minor children from the housing authority’s Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) voucher waitlist. That waitlist is closed.