Montecito Bank & Trust has signed a new lease to expand its administrative offices at the Storke Hollister Research Center, which is now at full occupancy, according to The Towbes Group.
The locally owned bank added 5,905 square feet at the multitenant office building at 6950 Hollister Ave. in Goleta, said Traci Taitt of Towbes Commercial Properties, which manages the property for landlord Nassau Land Company L.P.
She said completely leasing out a 58,654-square-foot center is a rare feat in this economy.
“While we’ve seen some improvement recently in the Goleta economy, office vacancy has been hovering around 10 to 11 percent — almost double that of the lows we experienced before the recession,” she said. “Storke Hollister continues to perform better than the market as a whole.”
The vacancy rate for the Goleta office sector dropped to 10.2 percent in the first quarter from 10.8 percent and is likely to stay between 9 percent and 11 percent, according to the Radius Commercial Real Estate quarterly report.
Montecito Bank & Trust now has more than 18,511 square feet at the research center and opened its newest full-service branch in January next door.
While the Storke Hollister Research Center reached full occupancy, Goleta Mayor Ed Easton said almost all development casework for remaining vacant spaces in Goleta is in the pipeline for approval.
“That means our city will be built out in the foreseeable future; hopefully we can expect to see more of this kind of project,” Easton said at the branch grand opening. “We hope to see more redevelopment of existing lots for better uses that might, as this building does, improve traffic flow at this crucial intersection.”
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