A market plaza and a building with housing and offices is possible at the site of the current downtown library. (City of Santa Cruz)
Last updated: June 2025
Location: 224 Church St., Santa Cruz
The site is across from Santa Cruz City Hall where the downtown library stands.
Status
- Concepts for the project were presented at a March 25, 2025 Santa Cruz City Council meeting. The council directed city staff to pursue a design for a 102-unit housing development with a preference for affordable or workforce housing for city employees.
- Staff from the city’s economic development department held a visioning process in June 2021 for the redevelopment of the downtown library site. Meeting participants expressed support for a mixed-use housing development with a civic plaza.
Developer
The City of Santa Cruz has not chosen a developer for the project.
Project description
- Total units: 102.
- Height: Five stories.
- Size: 19,300 square feet.
- Affordable units: Exact plans have not been decided, but the city council in March 2025 expressed support for affordable units and workforce housing for city employees.
- Amenities: The development would include an apartment building and 84 stalls for farmers market vendors. The ground floor of the proposed building includes commercial space and offices for city employees.
- Funding: City staff have not yet said what funding sources are available for the project.
- Timeline: The city is expected to have an approved plan for development by early 2028, after the new Downtown Branch Library is built, Santa Cruz Community Relations Specialist Siouxsie Oki said.
More information
A new downtown library is expeted to start construction in 2025 on Cedar Street between Lincoln and Cathcart Streets. The current library building is planned to be in use in 2027, then demolished after the new library opens.
Additionally, the library parking lot at 224 Church St. and nearby streets will be the temporary home of the downtown farmers market through at least 2027. The city council voted in March 2025 to use $250,000 to further prepare the site for farmers market use.
In 2022, city and farmers market leaders expressed that they were “jointly committed to identifying and securing a permanent home for the market in Downtown Santa Cruz.” The concept approved by the city council in March 2025 includes that permanent home at 224 Church St.
“Council’s direction to move forward on the preliminary concept for mixed-use development on Lot 16 [224 Church St.] was a critical step in our overall planning efforts,” Oki wrote in an email.
A housing and office building could be built on the site of the Downtown Branch Library after the library moves to its new location. (City of Santa Cruz)
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