Downtown Neighborhood
The New Expansion of Luxury Townhomes and Condos in Santa Barbara CA.
Categories: Downtown Neighborhood, Real Estate News, Santa Barbara
In the last 3-5 years, Santa Barbara has seen several small mixed-use style projects consisting of 2-10 residential townhome units sprout up within shouting distance of State Street and the downtown area. Most of these projects finished development before the market started to soften in early 2007 and therefore had no problem finding buyers.
The Paseo Chapala project located on the Corner of Chapala Street and De La Guerra Street was the first major development in the last several years that unfortunately got caught in the downturn of the market and presently still has 7 residential units up for sale. Even with this news, the appeal for developing high-end townhomes and condos in the downtown area does not seem to be subsiding anytime soon.
The newest batch of upscale top notch granite and marble laden townhomes are nearing completion toward the end of 2008 and into early 2009 and are mostly on the larger scale such as Paseo Chapala. The current major projects that are on the horizon are:
- Paseo One located at the corner of Chapala and Gutierrez Streets. This project was taken over by Don Hughes in early 2007. There looks to be 35 units coming up for sale with possibly 7 of these already having been reserved.
- A planned 53-unit development located on the corner of Carrillo and De la Vina streets.
- The roughly 100 units proposed by Bill Wright above Cabrillo Boulevard on the corner of Garden Street and Yanonali.
View Current List of Luxury Condos for Sale in Santa Barbara and Montecito CA.
Although most all of these developments have some form of affordable units, the bread and butter market rate for these upscale projects seem to have price points in the $1.5 Million to $2.75 Million range. The continued proposals for these upscale construction projects seems to indicate that most developers have an optimistic forecast for both business and tourism.
“When the city did the master plan for Chapala Street, they really sent a message to property owners and developers that they wanted to increase the density of mixed-use projects along the Chapala corridor, and the property owners and developers listened,” says Steve Cushman, president of the Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce.
For many residents, the Chapala style projects make sense where they are: along a main transportation corridor and close to businesses, shopping, entertainment and buses.
“The baby boomers are all starting to retire … and are coming with a pocket full of money,” Cushman said. “They can pay cash for a million dollar condo and that’s what’s happening and is going to continue to happen because Santa Barbara is so popular around the world.” Despite the residential slump in certain areas and price points, developers seem to keep pusing for housing projects located near the downtown corridors.
Kevin Schmidtchen - Thank you for reading. I hope you find Santa Barbara Real Estate Voice informative. Please feel free to contact me or comment below with any thoughts.
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Is Downtown Santa Barbara Vertically Challenged?
Categories: Downtown Neighborhood, Green Living, Real Estate News
Over roughly the last 7 years, Santa Barbara has shown an obvious effort to try and grow ”smartly and inwardly” as a solution to maintaining open spaces and halting sprawl, while adhering to the demands of housing pressure. Many of these newer buildings are popping up with in walking distance to the hub of Santa Barbara, State Street. But with this newer style of mixed-use growth, there are open debates as to whether this style of development is in the best interest of Santa Barbara.
I just read a great article in the Independent written by Martha Sadler, specifically talking about the issues Santa Barbara faces as a city in trying to “grow smart”. One of the major current issues dividing parties is the height of some of these newer buildings.
Further Reading: Information About The Downtown Neighborhood, Articles About The Downtown Neighborhood
Kevin Schmidtchen - Thank you for reading. I hope you find Santa Barbara Real Estate Voice informative. Please feel free to comment below with any thoughts.
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Santa Barbara CA Neighborhoods - Downtown
Categories: Downtown Neighborhood, Santa Barbara
Downtown
- Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara’s main thoroughfare, State Street, which divides the city of Santa Barbara between East and West, begins at Stearn’s Wharf and continues for miles throughout the city. State Street itself is a microcosm of the entire city: filled with architectural beauty, performing arts and cultural centers (including the stately Arlington and Granada Theaters and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art), numerous fine restaurants and cafes, and world class shopping from chic boutiques to modern malls (including the historic El Paseo, California’s first shopping center built in the 1920’s).
Learn More About Downtown and Real Estate in Downtown Santa Barbara
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Santa Barbara, CA Rated Amongst the Best Mid-sized Downtowns in California
Categories: Downtown Neighborhood, Restaurants, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Architecture
When people think of well thought out downtowns, obviously Santa Barbara comes to mind. Recently, the California Planning and Development Report voted Santa Barbara as #2 in mid-sized (pop. of 75,000 - 290,000 people) downtowns, only trailing Pasadena. The report states that Santa Barbara is a California icon that fits numerous criteria of being a delightful urban place that is both manageable and pleasant with a sense of place and a feeling of vibrancy.
For many locals, Santa Barbara downtown could fit on any of these sorts of lists because of simply its overall “feel”. Santa Barbara downtown is blessed with numerous open public spaces and parks, a fairly uniform 2-4 story building height creating an open non-claustrophobic feel, abundant venues for culture and art, boutique shopping experiences, fine restaurants ranging from gourmet steak houses and Italian tratorrias to vegan and organic take-out, uniform Spanish/Mediterranean architecture and much more.
State street is and always will be the hub of downtown, but in the past several years there has been an abundance of mixed-use buildings in the city center combing townhomes with professional offices and commercial spaces. The size of these building range anywhere from 4,000 sq ft. to 40,000 sq. ft. and are mostly all located within 1-2 blocks of State Street. This type of anti-sprawl development ultimately leads to a vibrant walkable downtown. One of Santa Barbara’s pleasures is to stroll through outdoor paseos and wonderfully landscaped plazas. Known famously as “The American Riviera”, Santa Barbara is a gorgeous mid-sized town sitting on the beautiful Pacific coastline.
Further Reading: Information About The Downtown Neighborhood, Articles About The Downtown Neighborhood
Kevin Schmidtchen - Thank you for reading. I hope you find Santa Barbara Real Estate Voice informative. Please feel free to comment below with any thoughts.
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