THAT is Happening in Downtown Santa Barbara?!
Happy Halloween! Fall is my favorite time of the year and whether you’ll be out trick or treating with the kiddos, and/or watching this incredible World Series, I hope you have a wonderful holiday!
If you’ve been downtown for the mounting holiday festivities, you may have seen or heard about some significant changes. The biggest announcement was that SAKS Off 5th will close its 46,813 square foot store at 1001 State St. as of March 31, 2018. Although this vacancy is less than half the size of Macy’s downtown, the location is very prominent, and it will be interesting to see how this property evolves. Additionally, the 27,743 square foot space currently occupied by SONOS at 419 State St. is now available for sublease, as it seems the company may be relocating by early next year.
More exciting is the activity on other large spaces downtown that have been persistently vacant. Popular Japanese retailer, MINISO, has leased 6,148 square feet at 733 State St. in the Balboa Building, which was previously occupied by American Apparel. Another significant space to come off market is 5,000 square feet at 516 State St., which was previously Caffe Primo and Pierre LaFond. The turnkey restaurant space is rumored to have been leased to Institution Ale out of Camarillo, as their second location. At 700 State St., the iconic Left at Albuquerque building, 7-11 has inked a deal for 50% of the available space. The better news, however, is that the hard corner restaurant space remains available for an awesome new concept! See my State Street Update for more info.
Recent downtown sales include the mixed-use building at 701 Anacapa St., which is home to the delicious Pacific Crepes restaurant; "El Jardin", the beautiful office/residential building at 819 Garden St.; and a 3,288 square foot retail/industrial building at 320 E. Cota St.