Santa Barbara Asset Management is moving its headquarters from 200 E. Carrillo St. to a more central location at 820 State St., on the fifth floor of the historic El Paseo office building.

The firm leased 8,474 square feet, making it one of the 10 largest Santa Barbara office leases of 2010.

Greg Bartholomew of Hayes Commercial Group represented Santa Barbara Asset Management, and Paul Gamberdella, Bob Tuler and Gene Deering of Radius Group and broker David Beerman represented the lessor, Ella Paseo LLC.

“Santa Barbara Asset Management had been evaluating relocation options in downtown Santa Barbara for over a year,” Bartholomew said. “The owner of the El Paseo building agreed to modify the layout of the fifth floor and create a turn-key office space for Santa Barbara Asset Management.”

Gamberdella, who acted as an agent for the property owner, added, “The property owner understood and appreciated that Santa Barbara Asset Management is one of the top tenants in the downtown Santa Barbara area. As such, the owner acted swiftly and deliberately to ensure that a mutually acceptable agreement could be reached by the parties.”

He added that “this deal makes all the sense in the world as it brings one of the top tenants in our downtown market to the top floor of one of the top buildings in downtown Santa Barbara.”

Santa Barbara Asset Management was founded in 1987 and is one of the leading investment firms in the area. The firm was acquired by Nuveen Investments in 2005 but maintains headquarters in Santa Barbara and, according to its Web site, delivers “innovative investment management solutions for individual investors and institutional clients.”