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Santa Barbara has set a new real estate record with the sale of the Harbor Heights Manor apartment complex on Cliff Drive.
The 97-unit complex at 801 Cliff Drive sold for more than $33 million when escrow closed in January, making it the largest sale of multifamily property in the history of the city and the largest on the South Coast since 2010, according to Radius Commercial Real Estate & Investments, which handled the sale.
A local, unnamed investor purchased the property from the Schulte family, longtime Santa Barbara residents who had owned the buildings since it was constructed in 1971.
Harbor Heights Manor, located close to Santa Barbara City College, went on the market last August and swiftly garnered several inquiries and offers from prospective buyers around the country, according to Radius.
The buyer paid over the asking price, with no contingencies, but Radius wouldn’t disclose the final purchase price.
Olio Crudo Bar Opens
Olio Crudo Bar has opened next door to Olio e Limone Ristorante in downtown Santa Barbara.
The bar — the former Herbal Spirit — had been under construction since last fall and had a soft opening last month, according to Elaine Andersen Morello, president of Olio Cucina Inc., which also encompasses the restaurant, the adjacent Olio Pizzeria and a Westlake Olio Pizzeria location set to open this summer.
The adjoining bar at 11 W. Victoria St., Suite 18 offers crudo (or raw) Italian seafood, as well as meat and veggie crudo and cooked bar menu items.
Hudson Grace Adds Montecito Location
The San Francisco-based Hudson Grace home store has opened its third location in Montecito Country Mart.
The store, which caters to those entertaining guests at home — designing and importing its own dinnerware — officially opened its doors last week at 1014-F Coast Village Road, close to Vons, and plans to host a grand opening in the coming weeks.
Owners Monelle Totah and Gary McNatton have extensive retail and design experience and chose the Santa Barbara area because its residents are known for loving their homes.
Citrix Lays Off Workers During Reorganization
A number of Citrix employee positions will be eliminated during a reorganization to better integrate an acquired company and to align priorities with product, engineering and customer care, according to the company.
Citrix spokeswoman Kristin Wahl would not say how many employees would be laid off or from which facilities, including those in Goleta.
She said the changes were announced last week and would complete the yearlong integration effort with ShareFile and Citrix’s GoTo offerings, now the Citrix SaaS Division.
“Growth is important to Citrix,” Wahl said. “With some changes, as in the case recently, some positions are affected and people depart. While some positions were eliminated, there were also new positions and opportunities that were created in areas that we believe are right for us to best serve our customers — product, engineering, customer care. We are encouraging individuals impacted by the changes to consider other opportunities in the company, too.”
Fresh Market to Keep Milpas Location Open
The Fresh Market has announced plans to close several stores, but that does not include the Santa Barbara location at 222 N Milpas St.
“Following an in-depth analysis of our stores and the markets in which we operate, we made the strategic decision to close four stores,” store spokeswoman Carly Dennis said. “Three of these stores are located in Sacramento and the other is the River Oaks location in Houston, Texas. These stores will close within the next week.
"The Palo Alto and Santa Barbara stores are not affected, and our plans to open a new store in Laguna Hills later this year have not changed. Our other three Houston stores are not affected and we plan to open an additional Houston-area store in Webster, Texas later this year.”
Lil’ Toot Taxi Now Available for Private Charter Events
Santa Barbara’s iconic Lil’ Toot water taxi, operated by Santa Barbara Water Taxi at Stearns Wharf, can now be rented for private charter events, including sunset cruises, kids’ birthday parties, private dinner parties, anniversaries and more.
Santa Barbara Water Taxi — the only nonsubsidized water taxi service on the West Coast — transports Stearns Wharf visitors to the Santa Barbara Harbor, and vice versa, sharing local history and lore of the Santa Barbara waterfront and harbor along the way.
Capt. Fred Hershman and his wife, Kathy, are announcing the new charter service in honor of Lil’ Toot’s 10-year anniversary.
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
