SANTA CRUZ — The owner of two office buildings in a struggling neighborhood off Ocean Street is looking to rebuild as a three-story residential project.
The San Lorenzo River levee-adjacent property, at 150 Felker St., serves several tenants, including the Day and Night Storage Program for the past two years. Over the weekend, program operator Brent Adams was nonfatally stabbed during a late-night altercation outside his building.
Of the property’s owners proposed new 22 one-bedroom apartments ranging from 757 square feet to 840 square feet, with several units limited to low-income tenants. The developer has not yet formally applied for permit approval on the project, instead seeking “pre-application review” from city Planning and Community Development. The move requires the developer to host a community outreach meeting prior to formalizing the project. City Principal Planner Samantha Haschert said the meeting has not yet been scheduled but may end up being a “virtual” interactive meeting held online, due to the current coronavirus shelter-in-place order.
Adams has a program serving homeless people in rented office space at 150 Felker St. under the umbrella of Footbridge Homeless Services. He said he was aware the building’s new owner – the property was sold in June 2019 to San Jose-based Martis Associates LLC – had plans to redevelop the site. Adams, however, said he was told he would be given at least a year’s notice before he would need to relocate. In an interview Monday, Adams said he believes the life-improving services his organization has offered in the Felker Street neighborhood have improved the area and that it is no less safe than it was before he opened the storage program’s doors.
Felker Street resident Carol Walker, however, is among those who have consistently disagreed with Adams about neighborhood safety. In an email to the Sentinel, she said that when she initially heard Adams’ cries for help after he was stabbed, she did not pay attention to what seemed like the street’s norm. It was not until she and her husband heard that he had been stabbed that they offered their assistance, she said. Walker added that she hoped the property’s future development plans do not include space for the homeless services program but supports increased residential supply in the area.
“And, because of the new nature of Felker Street we didn’t rush right out to help him; we called out from the safety of our own home and called 911,” Walker wrote. “If conditions are such that residents don’t respond to someone yelling for help, this tells you that things are really not safer.”
