The public got its first glimpse at the 443-unit apartment project proposed for the Sears Building and surrounding property in La Cumbre Plaza.

The developers, Kennedy Wilson, held a four-hour open house on Saturday at the Grace Fisher Foundation, near Williams Sonoma in the mall.

A steady trickle of people attended the event, where representatives from the ownership, Riviera Dairy, and the developer greeted them and explained the project.

“Even though it’s high-density, Santa Barbara is going to have to adjust a little bit,” said Dave Eadie, senior vice president of Entitlement and Development for Kennedy Wilson, which is based in Los Angeles. “The city said this is where we want the high density.”

The developers plan to demolish the existing Sears building and remove the asphalt parking lot to build a new community with white plaster buildings and clay roofs.

The project would be three- and four-story buildings and comprised of studios, one, two, and three bedrooms. The developers plan to set aside 44 of the units, or 10%, at below-market rates, for people who earn between 80% and 120% of the area median income, which is about $110,000 for Santa Barbara.

In addition to the units, the developers want to build a publicly accessible pathway for bikes and pedestrians along Arroyo Burro Creek. The project would feature green space and community areas for residents, including a swimming pool and volleyball courts.

Kennedy Wilson applied under SB 330 state law, which limits the amount of public review on the project as long as the developers meet the city’s planning standards. The developers are not asking for any modifications.

Eadie said that the project is “very expensive to build,” and that it’s likely that the 10% below market will be the maximum number of affordable housing units.

“Our economics have resolved that we can certainly deal with the 10% moderate requirement, but to provide for a lot more than that, the economics just don’t allow for it,” Eadie said. “We’re meeting city requirements.”

The project is separate from but coincides with a 680-unit project proposed by Matthew and Jim Taylor to knock down the Macy’s Building and build a new community on the other end of the mall. That project has sparked controversy on two fronts: It only proposed 54 below-market rate units, and the developers declined to work with the city of Santa Barbara on a specific plan for the area.

The city had foreseen both projects coming forward and had wanted to draft a specific plan for the area. Such a plan would have required the city and the separate developers to work together to maximize affordable housing for both projects, as well as coordinate plans for traffic circulation, infrastructure and public amenities.

Then-Santa Barbara County First District Supervisor Das Williams, however, led a charge to shoot down $1.1 million in specific plan funding that had been recommended by two subcommittees to the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments. City planners and Mayor Randy Rowse felt betrayed by the vote, which effectively weakened the city’s control over a comprehensive plan for the area.

Now the two projects have arrived separately with more than 1,100 units, and the city has less input to master plan the region.

“I think the whole concern that I have as a nearby resident is the fact that the opportunity for a cohesive development was shot down through the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments,” said resident Bob Permut, who attended the open house.

Now, he said, there are multiple projects in the area being built without as much coordination “and count on the city to coordinate it all, understand the requirement for buses, the requirement for parking, water use, impact on schools and other kinds of things.”

Permut said he is “dubious” of what’s been proposed so far.

He’d also like to see more affordable housing and said that units for just moderate-income residents are not enough.

“When we talk about what’s really needed in this area, we’re talking about housing for workers, housing for teachers, housing for people who are probably not at that upper range, where a lot of this is going to be,” Permut said. “It concerns me that these are kind of financial grabs for upper-income kinds of things when our area needs more low-income housing.”

The project is set to go before the city’s architectural board of review for a pre-application review on March 3.

The developers previously built the Estancia homes on State Street.

Eadie said he appreciates the community’s interest in the project and that the developers are sensitive to the housing needs of the city.

“Anytime you introduce a project that is really high-density and a lot of units, people are naturally going to be concerned and want to have answers,” he said.