Pacific West JV Eyes $200M California Affordable Project

Pacific West Communities has acquired a 2.5-acre undeveloped site in Soquel, Calif., in Santa Cruz County, for $10.3 million. The seller was Blam Jade LP, which is owned by Don Groppetti, president of the Groppetti Automotive Family, a central California car dealership.

Pacific West, along with development partner Linc Housing, plans to build a 289-unit affordable housing community on the site for more than $200 million. The project, which will include two five-story buildings, has yet to be named.

The development will offer 118 studio units, 103 one-bedrooms, 13 larger one-bedroom homes, 22 two-bedroom units, and 33 three-bedrooms. Home sizes will total 432 square feet, 636 square feet, 709 square feet, 834 square feet and 1,140 square feet, respectively. The buildings will be over an at-grade podium garage with some 240 parking spaces and elevator access to all levels. 

Common-area amenities will include a community room, fitness center, computer lab and indoor bicycle storage. The property will have an outdoor courtyard and playground, as well as close access public transit.

As a fully affordable housing development, units will be available for those making between 30 to 80 percent of Santa Cruz County area median income. As of 2022, household median income in the County was approximately $104,400, according to Census Bureau data.

Reuben Helick with Cushman & Wakefield facilitated the land sale transaction. Groppetti Automotive Family had planned to develop a Nissan auto dealership and service facility on the site, but ultimately decided not to. The site has never been occupied, according to Cushman & Wakefield. The construction schedule for the project has yet to be announced.

Nevada-based Pacific West has developed more than 13,000 residential units, with more than 3,000 of those designed and built for affordable communities. The company is currently active in Reno, Sparks, and other Nevada markets, as well as Sacramento and other northern California markets.

The nonprofit Linc Housing currently has 2,100 apartments under construction. Earlier this year the company broke ground on North Harbor Apartments, an 87-unit supportive housing community in Anaheim, Calif., and former site of a Motel 6.

Santa Cruz County is short on affordable

Like many places, Santa Cruz County is short on affordable housing. More than 6,600 low-income renter households in the county do not have access to an affordable home, according to the 2024 Affordable Housing Needs Report published by the county.

Renters in Santa Cruz County need to earn $48.39 per hour, or roughly three times California’s minimum wage, to afford the average monthly asking rent of $2,516, the report notes. More than half of extremely low-income households in the county pay 50 percent or more of their income for housing.

Moreover, public monies to support affordable housing development have slacked off recently, the county reports. State and federal funding supporting affordable housing production and preservation in Santa Cruz County came in at $71 million in fiscal 2022-23, a 78 percent decrease from the year before.