By Jondi Gumz
On May 29, nonprofit MidPen Housing hosted a celebration for Bienestar Plaza Apartments, 57 affordable rentals at 1520 Capitola Road, Live Oak, long awaited and much needed in this community.
The apartments are next to a 20,000-square-foot health clinic opened by nonprofit Santa Cruz Community Health and nonprofit Dientes Community Dental Care 11-chair clinic, both of which opened in 2022.
This completes the vision of a partnership by Santa Cruz Community Health and Dientes and MidPen to turn an unused county property into a campus of health and housing in one location, which is rare but may become less rare locally.
The project was six years in the making.
A view of the courtyard
“I’m very excited that these units are opening today,” said First District Supervisor Manu Koenig, Santa Cruz County. “Our community needs them. This model of combining housing and health care holds a lot of promise and the County is looking at more opportunities like this.”
Matthew O. Franklin, president and CEO of MidPen Housing, observed, “Housing is healthcare, and the combination of safe, affordable homes and access to high-quality healthcare services helps people thrive.”
He added, “We applaud the County and our partners for their vision and commitment to a true community development that serves working families and people with the greatest need.”
The clinics together serve more than 12,000 patients, including MidPen residents, who now have next-door access to low-cost medical and dental care.
The county Redevelopment Agency was the prior owner.
After the state ended redevelopment, the county sold it to the nonprofits, lowering the price due to 30 years of remediation required because high levels of tetrachloroethylene, a cancer-causing chemical, was released into the ground by neighboring Fairway Dry Cleaning, no longer in business.
Delaney Lazalde moved into Bienestar Plaza in April.
Renters at Bienestar Plaza include families and some with special needs, including people who have been homeless.
The one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments are affordable for people earning 30%-80% of area median income (currently $29,200-$111,500, depending on family size).
Amenities include a community room with kitchen, a learning center, a multipurpose meeting room, a central courtyard with BBQs and play structures, and a community garden with Native artwork that honors the earliest stewards of the land.
Neighbors got their first look at the projected $46 million project at a community meeting in 2018 hosted by Leslie Conner and Laura Marcus.
And now it’s a reality.
Financing was provided by the County of Santa Cruz, the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Cruz, the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, the California Department of Housing and Community Development, Wells Fargo, the California Community Reinvestment Corporation, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, Central California Alliance for Health, and Central Coast Community Energy.
“Central California Alliance for Health is proud to support the construction of MidPen Housing’s Bienestar Plaza through a grant from our Medi-Cal Capacity Grant Program,” said Michael Schrader, chief executive officer at the Alliance, the state-funded health plan that provides Medi-Cal insurance to people in five counties including Santa Cruz.
“This development recognizes that housing is one of the most important social determinants of health that directly impacts an individual’s health outcomes,” he added. “By providing supportive housing co-located with high-quality healthcare services, Bienestar Plaza empowers our members to achieve positive health outcomes and remain stably housed.”
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Bienestar Plaza’s architect is Wald Ruhnke & Dost Architects and the general contractor is Bogard Construction, Inc. Learn more at state-funded health plan that provides Medi-Cal insurance www.midpen-housing.org.
A plaque recognizes that American hero Robert Merriman, a graduate of Santa Cruz High School, once lived here and raised chickens. He got his college degree in 1932, and volunteered in the 1930s to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War, going missing near Barcelona in 1938. He is believed to be the role model for Ernest Hemingway’s protagonist Robert Jordan in his wartime novel, “For Whom the Bell Tolls.”
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Top Photo: Cutting the ribbon, from left: Daniel Perl, managing director, Wells Fargo; First District County Supervisor Manu Koenig; Natalie Magana Boyles, project manager, MidPen Housing; Jennifer Seeger, deputy director, Financial Assistance-State Programs, California Department of Housing and Community Development; Gina Harris, associate project manager, MidPen Housing; Rayne Pérez, principal management analyst, Housing Authority of the County of Santa Cruz; Delaney Lazalde, Bienestar Plaza resident; Matthew O. Franklin, president and CEO, MidPen Housing; Joanna Carman, senior vice president, co-head of housing development, MidPen Housing. • Photo Credit: MidPen Housing