The transformation of Santa Barbara continues.
A proposal to build a four-story apartment building — with 19 one-bedroom units, 12 two-bedroom units and four studios — is headed to the Santa Barbara Planning Commission on Thursday.
It’s the latest apartment project designed to ease the housing shortage in the city.
“Housing development continues to be of the utmost importance to and in our downtown,” said City Councilwoman Meagan Harmon, herself a downtown Westside renter. “New units downtown speak directly to the urgent crisis of housing faced by our city’s residents. Housing is desperately needed.”
The project, slated for 320 W. Carrillo St., is being designed by Brian Cearnal, architect and partner of the Cearnal Collective.
The project would be four stories, just under 48 feet tall, proposed under the state’s bonus density law. There also is no parking proposed for the project, which is allowed under state law since there are bus stops nearby. About 40 bike spaces are proposed.
It would provide four very-low-income units and three moderate-income units. The rest of the new units would be small workforce units averaging 740 square feet.
The site currently is occupied by a 3,000-square-foot commercial building and the historic Bates House, which was built in 1904, in the Queen Anne Free Classic style. Two additional three-bedroom units are proposed in the restored Victorian.
The house is behind the commercial building and would be moved to the front.
“The cool thing about the project is that we are moving the 1904 Bates House back onto Carrillo where it was built originally,” Cearnal said.
The house was moved in the 1950s to the back of the lot to allow for a new commercial building on the street.
The house was built as a duplex but would be historically renovated. The building is a simple, traditional Spanish Colonial Revival style in the spirit of the Lobero Building, designed by Julia Morgan, Cearnal said.
The owner is listed as Alberto Valner of Broida Enterprises Inc., and the applicant is listed as John Cuykendall, DMI.
Santa Barbara, like most coastal communities, is struggling with a severe housing crisis. The city and South Coast have more jobs than housing units, creating an imbalance. About 15,000 people commute from Ventura County, Buellton, Lompoc and Santa Maria into Santa Barbara.
The state of California in recent years has passed laws making it easier for developers to build apartments. Santa Barbara went nearly 40 years without approving a new apartment building, but after it passed what’s known as the average unit-sized density incentive ordinance, applications started rolling in.
Developers have built about 316 units under the program, which allows bonus density in exchange for building apartments. Another 228 units have been approved and 140 are pending in the system. Most of those units are market rate.
The state now allows developers to build projects without parking if they are near a transit line.
Harmon said downtown residents also inject life into the economy.
“Residents who live downtown can use our downtown core as their living room — a convenient place to shop, dine, recreate, and create community — which will bolster and sustain our economic vitality efforts,” Harmon said. “Creating housing downtown in proximity to jobs can also have the effect of reducing vehicle miles traveled, helping us reach our environmental sustainability goals. Housing in our downtown is a good thing for our city.”
The Planning Commission meets at 1 p.m. at Santa Barbara City Hall, 735 Anacapa St.
