Mission: Implausible? Eight-Story Housing Project Proposed Behind Santa Barbara Mission

Mission: Implausible?
Eight-Story Housing Project
Proposed Behind
Santa Barbara Mission

Developers Look to Build Giant
Residential Building Under
California’s ‘Builder’s Remedy’ Law

By: Christina McDermott | November 14, 2024

This article was underwritten in part by the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund for Social Justice, a proud, innovative supporter of local news. To make a contribution go to sbcan.org/journalism_fund.

Eight stories, three additional levels of underground parking, more than 250 housing units, and a mystery owner: Developers at 505 East Los Olivos Street are proposing a giant residential building under “Builder’s Remedy.” That’s the provision in California law that allows a developer to bypass building restrictions when a city’s housing element hasn’t been state certified. 

The developers say the building will provide much-needed affordable housing, but questions on the building’s scale and the project’s feasibility, especially given the area’s geography and archaeology, remain.

The project’s plans are currently incomplete with the city’s planning department missing key details, from a flood elevation assessment to correctly labeled diagrams to tree removal permits. Completed plans don’t mean a done deal, either. 

The project will need to undergo environmental review, including an archaeology report, to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act, and developers will have to apply for permits and waivers, including a builder’s permit and a transportation waiver.

By Santa Barbara standards, eight stories is tall in its own right. That’s about as high as the century-old Granada Theatre, the city’s tallest building,which was built before the city’s height restrictions. The building’s location — next to historic landmark the Santa Barbara Mission, in an area with winding roads, labeled high risk for fire and landslides — packs an extra punch when considering a building of this scale, even given the city’s dire need for affordable housing. 

What is the likelihood of this kind of project, and who, exactly, is behind it? Here’s what we know to date. 

What Is 505 East Los Olivos?

A sloping, 5-acre property sandwiched between the Mission and Santa Barbara’s Museum of Natural History, 505 East Los Olivos currently includes two manor-sized houses, a cottage, and a chapel. Near the Rocky Nook Park, the property sits back from the winding Los Olivos Road, just below the 130-year-old Mission Creek Bridge, which itself is on top of a fault line. Before its sale for $7.5 million in 2021, it was home to the Mt. Calvary Monastery, run by the Episcopalian Brothers of the Order of the Holy Cross. The brothers received the property in 2013 from Episcopal religious order the Sisterhood of the Holy Nativity, who had invited them to stay back in 2008 after the Tea Fire destroyed their former monastery. The sisters had called the property home, running the St. Mary’s Retreat House, since 1952, when the Hazard family transferred it to them. 

The Hazard family, originally from Rhode Island, made their wealth in textiles. They purchased the property as a winter home in 1880 and eventually built the existing two large houses, preserving one cottage from the former owner — a local doctor. Later, philanthropist Caroline Hazard (the Hazards’ daughter), donated some of her inherited land for the creation of Santa Barbara’s Museum of Natural History. She also helped the city buy the land in front of the mission, which is now Mission Park and the Rose Garden.

One must, of course, go back further. The mission, sometimes called the “Queen of the Missions,” has been in the hands of the Franciscan friars since they were originally deeded the land by the Spanish government in the 18th century. The Santa Barbara Mission, known for its sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean and its two bell towers, is not only a functioning parish church with a large congregation but also a popular tourist destinationand the gathering place for many of Santa Barbara’s festivals, including I Madonnari and Fiesta.

Before the mission, it was Barbareño Chumash territory, with Barbareño Chumash people living and thriving in the land for thousands of years. Higher up in the Mission Canyon was, at one point, the village of Xana’yan, one of the few villages that existed away from the coast during the Spanish period. 

What’s That Land Like? 

Around the Santa Barbara Mission, the land itself contains history. According to city documents, the land is in an area with several archaeological resources, including zones for prehistoric sites and watercourses and the zone for mission archaeology. 

Artifacts on the property could date back millennia. John Johnson, Curator of Anthropology for the Santa Barbara’s Museum of Natural History, says that an archaeology site, with artifacts he’s seen dating back to anywhere between 5,000 and 9,000 years ago, is in the property’s area. 

Beyond archaeology, the property comes with environmental risk factors. It has a high erosion and landslide potential, with some areas within FEMA’s floodway fringe zone — the portion of the floodplain beyond the area’s floodway. Mission Creek flooded last winter, with some water extending onto Pueblo Street. The property is also in a high fire hazard area, as identified by the city. 

How Could Someone Build Eight Stories by the Mission? 

The project invokes Builder’s Remedy — a provision in a little-noticed, 34-year-old California housing law that has increasingly been cited by developers since the state mandated new housing requirements for local jurisdictions. Builder’s Remedy allows developers to bypass regional zoning codes when a city has not provided the state with an approved housing element. Essentially, if a city is not working toward meeting housing needs with a state-approved plan, developers can receive exceptions for things such as height and density, just as long as at least 20 percent of their housing units are below market rate. With 51 low-income units, the 505 East Los Olivos project hits that 20 percent threshold. 

After a long planning cycle, Santa Barbara approved its housing element in December of last year. The state certified the plan in February 2024. The preliminary plans for 505 East Los Olivos, however, were submitted in January when the city was out of compliance. The development team argues that this puts the project under the Builder’s Remedy’provision.

These preliminary plans outlined an originally proposed 200-plus units but did not mention the number of stories. 

In its August response to the development team, Santa Barbara’s planning department wrote that the city has not yet determined if the project is eligible for the exceptions entitled by Builder’s Remedy. If the project is considered part of Builder’s Remedy, it will still need to undergo reviews for environment and archaeology impacts as part of the California Environmental Quality Act. 

A recent lawsuit involving the City of La Cañada Flintridge and housing developers resulted in the Los Angeles County Superior Court ruling in favor of the developers, when it came to identifying projects as part of Builder’s Remedy.

The power of Builder’s Remedy will likely shift, however, through legislation: Earlier this year, California lawmakers passed a bill to amend the provision and set limits on how big these projects could get, while also creating new perks for developers by expanding the scope of mixed-used housing.

Who Is the Development Team, Anyway? 

In short, that’s not exactly clear. The city’s roll shows that the property is owned by a company called The Mission LLC. Ben Eilenberg, a real-estate advisor and a former lawyer currently unable to practice law in California, is listed as the project’s applicant on the city’s August response letter and the company’s chief operating officer on state documents. 

In these documents, Eilenberg’s contact information references another company, SoCal Industrial Equities, which does not appear to have a website. 

The Mission LLC’s “managing member,” listed in a California document, is yet another LLC, SoCal Holdings, which is registered in New Mexico. The address belongs to the firm New Mexico Registered Agent, a company hired to list its address on public records so the names of the real owners are not recorded. 

Even the project’s architect is unclear: At the city, the plans available for public viewing do not include an architect’s seal. When the Independent followed up on a tip about a local architect supposedly involved in the project, that architect would not substantiate whether they were working on it or not. 

Eilenberg was also listed as the chief operating officer for the Industrial Partners Group, the developers for the six-story project proposed on Grand Street, another Builder’s Remedy housing project proposed in the city’s Lower Riviera. 

The developers, Craig and Stephanie Smith, have faced multiple lawsuits for unrelated projects. Craig Smith, who formerly went by the name Craig Bittner, was accused of allowing unlicensed staff to perform cosmetic surgeries. He is also known for using liposuctioned fat to create fuel. Stephanie Smith operated as a cannabis landlord in Los Angeles; she faced legal trouble when, just before cannabis was legalized in California, some of the warehouses she owned were raided by police. Neither Smith has even been convicted in the lawsuits related to the raids. 

What Happens Next? 

SoCal Industrial Equities, one of the firms tied to The Mission LLC, did not respond to requests for an interview or to follow-up questions. In a written statement to the Independent, SoCal Industrial Equities said that “the Los Olivos project is the result of many thoughtful conversations with the community of Santa Barbara and is designed to address the community’s most critical needs.” 

It’s no secret Santa Barbara needs housing: The city’s housing element itself states as a goal to prioritize creating affordable housing. It needs at least 8,001 units by 2031 to meet the state’s mandate for the area. That need, however, does not create a direct path for approval for 505 East Los Olivos. 

The city will need dozens more details before it can even accept the project’s plans as complete. Those missing details include a 3D grading plan model, correctly labeled diagrams, landscaping plans, a base flood elevation assessment, utility, and plumbing plans. 

The developers’ deadline for submitted, edited plans is November 18. Once the plans are complete, the city says it can start reviewing their compliance with development standards. 

[Update: Wed., Nov. 20, 2024] The team behind the proposed eight-story building at 505 East Los Olivos Street submitted updated plans on November 15. The city’s planning department is now reviewing them to determine if the application is complete. It has 30 days to do so.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Ben Eilenberg is a disbarred lawyer; he is a former lawyer currently unable to practice law in California, according to the State Bar of California.