City Of Santa Cruz: Library Mixed Use Master Architect Selected By City Council

Press release from the City of Santa Cruz:

09/15/2021 1:40 PM

SANTA CRUZ, CA – The City of Santa Cruz today announced its selection of Jayson Architecture (Jayson) as master architect for the City Council-approved Downtown Library Mixed Use Project. Jayson was selected by the City Council following a competitive proposal process that began in April 2021.

As master architect for the project, Jayson will lead the community outreach for the project and, along with Owner’s Representative Griffin Structures, will represent the City’s interests and goals throughout the project. Jayson will work with City staff to provide design options that incorporate community feedback and meet the requirements of the Library and the City.

“The addition of Jayson Architecture to the project team is a major win for this project because of both their expertise with mixed-use projects and their experience here in Santa Cruz County,” said Bonnie Lipscomb, director of the City’s Economic Development Department. “It’s exciting to see momentum building for the Library Mixed Use Project. A new downtown library branch and over one-hundred new affordable housing units can’t come soon enough for our community.”

Community engagement and input will be critical in the design process, which is expected to be completed in approximately 18-24 months and will include up to three public outreach meetings. Jayson has considerable recent experience working with Santa Cruz Public Libraries since 2017, including the La Selva Beach, Garfield Park, Branciforte, Boulder Creek and Live Oak branches.

The selection of the master architect for the Library Mixed Use Project builds on several key milestones that have been achieved for the project, including:

September 2018 – City Council approved relocating the downtown library into a mixed use project.

June 2020 – City Council’s yearlong Downtown Library Subcommittee process was completed and the City Council voted to proceed with the design and development of the project.

October 2020 – City Council selected Griffin Structures, Inc. to be the owner’s representative for the first phase of the project, which includes selection of the affordable housing developer and the master architect.

June 2021 – Project for Public Spaces and Group 4 completed a six-month City Council-approved community visioning process to determine re-use options for the existing branch of the Downtown Library.

June 2021 – City Council selects the team of Eden Housing and For the Future Housing to be the master affordable housing developer for the project, resulting in a plan for 100% of the project to be very low income affordable housing units.

To follow progress on the Library Mixed Use Project and learn more, visit cityofsantacruz.com/mixeduselibrary.

This press release was produced by the City of Santa Cruz. The views expressed here are the author’s own.