By Jondi Gumz
On Dec. 4, the Scotts Valley City Council approved buying 8 acres from the city of Santa Cruz to jumpstart a long-planned project at a former airport site: The Town Center.
The price was $7.75 million minus $270,885 for environmental cleanup of hazards materials paid by Scotts Valley.
U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta secured a $1 million federal grant for the down payment on the land, three parcels at the corner of Kings Village Road and Mount Hermon Road.
City officials, including City Manager Mali LaGoe, was giddy with excitement to announce the deal with Santa Cruz, where the vote on the council was unanimous.
Santa Cruz agreed to finance the balance of $6.4 million with interest at 4.5% over eight years. To compare, the rate on a 30-year fixed-rate home mortgage in December was 6.88%.
If a developer buys the land to carry out the Town Center project, the loan could be paid off sooner.
Afterward, Jane Lin and Ryan Call of Urban Field Studio presented a new vision for the Town Center – More homes, at least 300 units as recommended by retail consultant Bob Gibbs, at least 25% affordable, less retail and an open air pavilion with a grassy area for a concert and a splash pad for kids, a new intersection with Mount Hermon Road.
Their presentation, offering attractive visuals, noted “the project must be developable or it won’t be realized.”
Previously the idea was to attract 40 to 50 retailers and restaurants.
The next step is to put out a request for proposals and see if developers are interested.
The concept of the Town Center has been around for 28 years, initially as a retail hub but that faded with the invention of Amazon, Google Ad Words, eBay, iPhone and Shopify as more and more people shop online.
In 2001, Santana Row was built on 42 acres in San Jose with upscale shops and dining with 831 residences, 615 rentals and 219 condos.
Some developers did sign agreements for the Town Center but they never followed through, whether due to lack of financing or economic challenges when the housing market collapsed in 2008, the expense of environmental cleanup, or the pandemic in 2020 prevented people from gathering.
Post-pandemic, eating out still has some cachet so the hope is that restaurants will be attracted.
The size of Scotts Valley with a population of only 12,000 has been a tough sell, even though 24,000 residents of San Lorenzo Valley have to drive through the city to get home.
Symbolic of the challenge, the restaurant space in the Target shopping center next to the Town Center site, vacated by Chubby’s in 2022 when the center upgraded, remains empty.
Though it remains to be seen whether developers will be drawn to the Town Center site now that the city owns all the land, all of the Scotts Valley City Council members were thrilled to see this piece of progress.
Scotts Valley City Councilmember Derek Timm credited Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley with playing a key role.
Scotts Valley City Council member Randy Johnson envisioned the Town Center back in 1996, and now that the city owns the land, he hopes it will become a reality.
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History of Town Center Site
- 1947: Skypark Airport built as a private airport by Jack and Lola Graham.
- 1962: Airport purchased and operated by city of Santa Cruz
- 1966: City of Scotts Valley incorporates.
- 1981: Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder, crashes on takeoff at Skypark
- 1983: Santa Cruz closes airport.
- 1995: Skypark neighborhood of 200 homes built along with city park.
- 2008: Town Center Specific Plan.
To view the meeting, visit www.scottsvalley.gov/249/City-Council
