The ‘State and Hope’ for Housing in Santa Barbara

A line 150 people long stretched into La Cumbre Plaza on Wednesday evening as Santa Barbarans took turns squeezing into a packed room to view diagrams of the 642 new rentals to be developed on the parking lots and building currently housing Macy’s department store. They weren’t there to place applications to rent — groundbreaking won’t likely be feasible until Macy’s lease ends in 2028 — but to buttonhole the developers, architects, and city councilmembers on hand to field questions during the open house.

Many had expected the project’s team to present concepts and plans that evening and to be able to engage in a question-and-answer session. Instead, the father-son developers — Jim and Matthew Taylor — hosted a table laden with sandwiches and hors d’oeuvres in a room lined with sketches, plans, maps, and the architects and engineers involved. They plan to transform one of the three properties that make up La Cumbre Plaza into a mix of residences, local retail, restaurants, and public open space. The latter could include, amid stores and cafés, a space for outdoor films, a farmers’ market, trees, and seating.

Their 8.79 acres stop short of Pottery Barn and Lure restaurant on the mall, and extend to State Street, Hope Avenue, and the mall road past Chipotle. The plan is for a lower frontage at six live-work spaces along State Street, with the multi-story residences rising in the central parts of the acreage. Two levels of underground parking are proposed.

[Click to enlarge] From left: Existing site plan, proposed site plan, and site ownership | Credit: Courtesy

Of the 642 homes, 54 are to be affordable, with 5 percent of the total — or 26 apartments — to be rented at a price affordable for people with very low incomes. That comes to 50 percent of the area median income (AMI), or $48,900 for a single person in the City of Santa Barbara. The 5 percent very low income qualified the project for a 20 percent density bonus under state housing rules.

Jim Taylor, who stepped outside for a minute to get away from the din of conversation within, said they planned to build workforce housing. They’d already been talking with Cottage Health, which had brought doctors, nurses, and other staff members from Ventura by boat when the 1/9 Debris Flow closed the 101 for two weeks in 2018. They were also talking with Sansum Clinic, and the city police and fire departments, he said.

Open space and traffic circulation were big issues for many people, said Eric Friedman, the councilmember who represents the area. Anyone who drives upper State understands the congestion that assails the area throughout the day, but a less obvious issue exists for the Hope School District. Friedman said Vieja Valley, Hope, and Monte Vista elementary schools were already near capacity, so the question of commercial or residential zoning under the new project will matter to a district that derives its income from property taxes. As well, the Taylors’ project isn’t the only housing anticipated for La Cumbre Plaza — there’s the empty Sears building at the other end. Plus, the vacant half of the Peppertree Inn might be developed and the city Housing Authority has a project on Via Lucero nearby, Friedman explained.

The project, which the Taylors are calling The Neighborhood at State and Hope, has a city Architectural Board of Review meeting ahead in February and the Planning Commission the month after that. The images from the meeting and the project timeline can be found at the project website: stateandhope.com.