Nik Altenberg, Santa Cruz Local
SANTA CRUZ >> In response to rodents, rent hikes, code violations and other problems at apartments owned by the University of California on Western Drive in Santa Cruz, state Sen. John Laird and state Assemblymember Gail Pellerin this week pledged to pressure the university to improve living conditions.
C bought Hilltop Apartments at 363 Western Drive as an investment, UC staff has said. UC contracts with property manager Greystar Worldwide LLC to manage its 168 apartments, and many tenants have described problems that include unexplained charges, lagging maintenance, displacement of longtime residents and alleged mistreatment of Section 8 recipients.
“There’s just lots of problems there that need to be fixed, and that’s the first priority,” said Laird, D-Santa Cruz, on Wednesday. “People are living there and there are issues that are affecting their safety and quality of life, and they need to be addressed.”
Laird said he plans to speak with UC Regents about conditions at the property.
Greystar manages more than 700,000 apartments in the U.S and is one of the largest property management firms in the world. The company has faced several class action lawsuits over the years, including one filed in San Diego in 2024 that alleged “junk” utility fees.
Greystar was recently chosen to manage a future student housing project at Cabrillo College.
Since September, Santa Cruz Local has published two in-depth articles that detailed residents’ experiences. Other tenants also contacted Santa Cruz Local in light of the publicity. This week, state Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, D-Santa Cruz, advocated for more transparency.
“I’ve called upon the University of California, Office of the President and Greystar to take immediate, transparent action to fix these violations,” Pellerin wrote in an email Friday. “I urge city and state agencies to ensure full accountability.”
Greystar did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story. “Hilltop does its best to respond in a timely manner to maintenance requests,” a Greystar representative wrote in an email last month.
“Working with its property manager, UC Investments responds in a timely manner to maintenance requests and is working closely with the city to ensure the property is safe and complies with code,” wrote Rachel Zaentz, a spokesperson for the UC Office of the President, in a May 12 email.
May 12 was the first time UC officials provided a comment on problems at Hilltop since Santa Cruz Local began asking for responses in July 2024.
Local leadership
Because their districts include the property, Santa Cruz County Supervisor Justin Cummings and Santa Cruz City Councilmember Renée Golder also said they were aware of problems.
Golder visited the apartments, and they both said they plan to write a letter to the UC Regents.
After Cummings read Santa Cruz Local’s April 11 story, he said he immediately sent it to Laird and Pellerin. Laird and Pellerin have closer relationships with the UC Board of Regents, Cummings said. He said he’d like UC to “find another property management company given the way that they’ve been treating Section 8 tenants.”
Cummings said the city is the primary agency that can enforce code issues at the property, but that the county’s health department may also have jurisdiction if there are significant health concerns.
Golder said she learned of the issues after Hilltop resident Melissa Scalia spoke at a city council meeting about her experience. Several other tenants also contacted Golder with concerns.
Code compliance
Golder also said she reviewed notices of violation from city code compliance staff that ordered fixes to three apartments for issues including missing smoke alarms, visible mold, damaged flooring, an unsecured toilet and damage to a ceiling.
After reviewing the notices, she said she decided to visit the property.
“From my visual perspective of walking around, everything had been repaired. Obviously I didn’t go inside the units,” Golder said this week. “I did go into the office and introduce myself to the property manager [Carmen Maldonado] and she essentially said that there’s two sides to every story.”
Golder said she’d like to better understand both sides. “As properties age, maintenance happens. And so I’m not saying that I think that Greystar or the Regents or anybody’s being neglectful,” she said. “In every home and every apartment, things age, they break, they wear out.”
The City of Santa Cruz issued notices in March to fix leaking pipes, cure a rat infestation and bring repairs to code at Hilltop. The UC had until April 26 to fix most of the issues and to make a plan to address larger ones. Santa Cruz city spokesperson Erika Smart said this week that the property manager was on track to fix the code violations.
“Most of the corrections were made at this property meeting the deadline,” Smart wrote in an email. Smart said one of the tenants declined repairs and another is still in the process of relocating to another unit to allow for repairs.
Tenants said this week that some pipes continue to leak sewage in the parking lot, and that city code compliance has been too sympathetic to the property managers.