A small strip of land off Cook and McClelland streets in Santa Maria could soon be home to a six-story, 104-unit apartment building.
The Cook Street Apartments, just approved by the City of Santa Maria Planning Commission, would consist of eight studio loft apartments, 68 one-bedroom units and 28 two-bedroom units.
“It is good because housing is a crisis right now. A lot of people need places to live. You have families renting a room or living in a living room,” said Guadalupe resident Juan Perez.
“When I was growing up, this was a small town, and no one really knew of it. Now, there are a lot of people moving in, a lot of housing. It is crazy,” added Aileen Oropeza, an employee at the Uncle Who’s store in the Santa Maria Town Center.
According to city plans, tenant parking for the incoming apartments would mostly be accommodated by a pre-existing city-owned parking structure often used by merchants and visitors at the Santa Maria Town Center.
“I think this will be good for the parking structure. I think there is more than enough parking already now. So with that added, we will be fine,” said Yarely Corona, Santa Maria Town Center Marketing Manager.
City officials say pedestrian bridges will be constructed to connect the Cook Street Apartments to the parking structure.
Corona says she hopes the project’s close proximity to the mall will translate to a boost in business.
“It is definitely going to help out the foot traffic. It is going to help out our tenants,” she told KSBY. “It is all with the aspirations that some bigger stores come in here, maybe we will get new restaurants, so it can be all accessible to all the new people downtown.”
On Tuesday, Perez and his son, Benjamin, were spending the day at the Town Center checking out the local businesses. He says in spite of potential traffic issues with the incoming apartments, he is glad to see growth in the city.
“The apartment complex is going to be close by, so they won’t have to drive to get to the mall. But other than that, to get around town, we have noticed it has been a bit more congested recently. But it is good because the city is growing and a lot more people are coming in!” he said.
City of Santa Maria Principal Planner Frank Albro says the city council will still have to approve the Cook Street Apartments’ use of the parking structure, but that date has not yet been determined.
We also reached out to project applicants Burt and Mark Fugate for comment but did not hear back.
The Cook Street Apartments are just one of several housing projects in the works for Santa Maria’s Downtown Revitalization Plan.
