Remember 2120 Delaware? You know, the sprawling 20-acre, 530,000-square-foot live-work building project on Delaware Avenue that, when it was approved by the Santa Cruz City Council back in July 2008, was going to usher in a new progressive multi-use community to the Westside? That was, of course, until the economy tanked and Redtree Properties, the project developer, couldn’t sell any of the lots to customers. Well, today the property looks much as it has for the last decade: a fenced-off empty field—only now with scattered sewer connections popping from the weed-riddled soil and a locked trailer office awaiting the return of construction crews. City officials still believe the studios, stores, apartments and offices envisioned for the project will sell like hot cakes once the economy picks up again. But with the ghosts of long-departed Wrigley’s, Texas Instruments and Lipton still haunting the nearby lots where once their bustling offices hummed with well-paid workers, the future of the Westside industrial block remains anything but certain.
Meanwhile, Craig French, managing director of Redtree, says his company needs to do a better job reminding potential residents that they are “open for business.” He also says, however, that despite the slow start, he may have a few of the property’s first tenants ready to shake hands and sign contracts.
“After we got the entitlements, we all collectively fell into this recession,” he says. “We did slow things down as our partners reined in their plans for growth. We have completed about 50 percent of the infrastructure and we’re moving forward on a couple of deals that, if things work out, we’ll be able to say more about soon. I would hope that by fall of this year we could get going with construction again.”
Though French says he can’t disclose the names of the interested businesses that are looking to buy property until the deals are in ink, he says there are four in total and that three are local businesses looking to expand and one is an out-of-state software company hoping to find a new home.
At the city, Planning Director Juliana Rebagliati also acknowledges that the project got off to a rocky start. With a 15-year buildout plan, however, she says the there is still plenty of opportunity to make up for lost time.
“I think they’re still on track,” she says. “The Westside industrial area is seeing a lot of changes: the Swift Street businesses, the New Leaf Market. There’s been a lot of improvement and redevelopment in that area, and this project will only add to it in time.”
