Peace Village Housing Project

PEACE VILLAGE HOUSING - Peace United’s Affordable Housing Project

Peace United Church of Christ (UCC) has been working since 2017 with a local housing developer team to
develop rental housing, including affordable units, on its property behind the church sanctuary and
community hall.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After discussions with church members, meetings with nearby residents - including UCSC homeowners above the property, and much engineering and architectural work, developers submitted a final proposal to Santa Cruz city planners in November 2022.

Part of Peace United’s mission is to answer the “crying need for housing in the community, especially
affordable housing.” According to Jim Weller, one of the leaders of the Housing Implementation Project (HIP)
Committee, “It’s part of the mission of the congregation to serve the community in material ways as best we
can.”

Peace Village Housing

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• Project summary:  One apartment building is planned, with more than 40% of the project affordable for individuals or families with “low” or “very low” incomes.”
   

• Location:  900 High Street, Santa Cruz. The Peace United Church of Christ campus, its other buildings and
   

• its parking lots will remain. The proposal is for one new building toward the rear of the property.
   

• Status and timeline:  If the housing project is approved, construction is expected to take 18 months and
  could be completed as soon as summer 2025.
   

• Developer: Workbench.

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Project Description

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• ​Total units: The project proposes one apartment building that would contain 40 dwelling units. Those 40 units include 11 studios, three one-bedroom units, 15 two-bedroom units; four three-bedroom units, six four-bedroom co-living units; and one five-bedroom co-living unit.   

   

• Inclusionary units: Four units are proposed to be income restricted as affordable to very low-income households, and five additional units are proposed to be income restricted as affordable to low-income households.  These nine affordable units are a mix of studios through 3-bedroom units, comprising 22.5% of the total units in the project and 20% of the bedrooms in the project.

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• Co-living units: These would primarily house single adults who rent a bedroom and share a small kitchenette and bathrooms within the unit. Each three or four of the co-living units will share a common area with a large kitchen, dining room, and living room.  We expect all co-living bedrooms to be affordable to low or very low-income single individuals, representing an additional 17.5% of the units and 34% of the bedrooms that provide affordable housing. 

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• Height: Four stories.

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Project Plan Set

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Our complete plan set, and documentation, are available for public inspection on the City of Santa Cruz website for major development projects using this link

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For further information, please contact Jim Weller at jweller@cruzio.com or by phone at (510) 325-1361.