He’s a former U.S. Marine. He worked as a police officer in North Carolina, and he survived kidnapping attempts in Haiti.

Now, Marc Holden is picking up poop.

It’s an unlikely professional progression, but Holden is a proud entrepreneur of a surprisingly popular new business: 805 Poop Patrol.

“It’s one of those things,” Holden said. “It’s like owning a car. You have to get registration and insurance. You own a dog; you are going to have to pick up poop. I am like the AAA of dog poop.”

Holden graduated from Dos Pueblos High School, where he was a varsity diver and a cyclist. He joined the military out of high school, then became a police officer. He moved to Goleta, the house he grew up in, about eight years ago, and he’s now married.

He got the idea to start a poop cleanup business from a YouTube video about a guy in Spokane, Washington, who was making six figures from cleaning up dog poop.

His services include weekly and monthly residential cleanings, as well as homeowner associations and commercial office buildings. He charges $45 to $60 for an initial visit, and then weekly and twice monthly prices based on the number of visits and the number of dogs.

Holden has a van with his logo of a superhero-like dog on the side, and he cleans up the poop himself. He launched his business in October and is a one-man band for now, but will likely hire staff soon.

In addition to scooping up dog poop, Holden offers a treatment to eliminate the odor of dog urine in the yard.

“We offer treatment services for that as well,” Holden said. “All you have to do is provide the water. I treat your yard once a week, and in a month your neighbor doesn’t even know you have dogs.”

He said dog poop is not good for the environment, and it harms grass as well.

“It carries all kinds of diseases,” he said. “We sanitize our equipment between every visit.”

He said he doesn’t see the business as that unusual. People pay people to clean their house, why not their yard? He also wants to make himself available to real estate agents before open houses. He said landscapers are already his clients.

“They’ll call us if they have a customer who has a lot of dogs to clean up the dog poop,” he said. “They don’t want to spend 30 minutes cleaning their equipment post landscaping. I can come in before they get there.”

Holden has three dogs — Poppy, Shelby and Bambi. His yard is free of dog poop.

El Pollo Loco Headed to Lompoc

The Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce will hold a grand opening for El Pollo Loco, at 925 North H St., from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Jan. 31.

The celebration will include a broadcast from La Buena radio station, games, music and giveaways, and a special offer of free chicken for a year for the first 100 customers beginning at 9:30 a.m., according to a news release.

For more information, call the Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce at 805.736.4567.

TynanGroup Now 100% Employee-Owned

Real estate project management and development services firm TynanGroup of Santa Barbara is now employee-owned.

“The Employee Stock Ownership Plan secures the future of our firm and gives our employees ownership in the exciting growth we have planned in the years to come,” said John Tynan, who will continue as CEO.

Tynan will be joined be President Brian Nystuen and CFO Dave O’Dell on the ESOP’s board of directors, according to a news release.

The company, at 121 Gray Ave., Suite 300, was founded in 1991 and has pioneered development for some of the world’s leading hospitality brands, the news release stated. The firm has since expanded to multiple sectors, leading award-winning real estate projects for private, public and nonprofit clients across the country.

TynanGroup is managing the construction of the new Santa Barbara Police Department facility and the County of Santa Barbara Probation headquarters. TynanGroup’s past Santa Barbara projects include The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Rosewood Miramar Beach, Kimpton Canary, Hotel Californian, the Santa Barbara Zoo and the Music Academy of the West.

TynanGroup has offices in Santa Barbara, Tempe and Newport Beach, and is actively hiring in each region.

“The ESOP encourages employees to stay with the firm long-term and attracts new talent looking to make an impact and have a financial stake in their company’s future,” the company stated in a news release.

Renaissance Antiques in Solvang Liquidating

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Jackson, David Hearst, Jeff Dunham, Brad Garrett, John Corbett and Bo Derek are among the celebrities who have shopped at Renaissance Antiques in Solvang.

After more than 50 years, owners Ron and Julie Palladino have announced their retirement, according to a news release.

The company for more than 50 years has offered investment-quality antique clocks and music boxes, high-grade watches, estate jewelry, automata, fine art, lighting and decorative accessories. 

“The Palladinos have shared their unique products and their passion for fine antiques with over 30,000 discerning customers throughout the past six decades,” a news release stated.

Among the unique museum-quality antiques in the current inventory are a Violano Virtuoso — a rare live musical instrument playing thousands of tunes automatically on a piano and violin; an early 18th century Belgian tall case clock that plays a musical tune every half-hour on nine bells struck by 27 hammers; a 39-jewel triple-complication pocket watch with perpetual calendar, moon phase, stopwatch chronograph and minute-repeater capabilities; and a large and complex musical painting clock with multiple animations, according to a news release.

In 2004, a rare Revolutionary War period clock owned by the Palladinos set a world record as the most valuable American clock ever sold at auction, according to the news release.

The company will hold an inventory liquidation sale beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, offering discounts on the entire inventory, both in store and online. 

Renaissance Antiques is at 496 First St. in Solvang. Located in the same showroom, HRS Antique Clocks, owned and operated by Nik Pliagas, will continue to offer expert clock and watch restoration services.

Apartment Building Sale Breaks Santa Barbara County Sales Record

La Vista Apartments, a 460-unit building in Santa Maria, sold for $116 million, the largest multi-family asset ever sold in Santa Barbara County, according to Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap.

It’s the largest sale in terms of units and sale price.

“The fastest-growing city in Santa Barbara County, Santa Maria is in the midst of a dynamic growth period with surging housing demand,” said Joseph Grabiec, IPA executive managing director of investments. “It is estimated that the city’s population will grow 27% between 2024 and 2050, and during the next five years, average year-over-year rent growth is projected to be 4% annually while occupancy remains above 96.5%.” 

Grabiec and IPA’s Kevin Green and Gregory Harris represented the seller, Kennedy Wilson, and procured the buyer, Westview Capital, according to a news release.

“La Vista Apartments gives new ownership an attractive yield going in, a durable income stream, and the ability to capture long-term rent growth and loss-to-lease via implementing a light renovation strategy to 95% of the units,” Green said.

The La Vista Apartments were built in 1979 and include two swimming pools and spas, a clubhouse, a leasing office, large courtyards, picnic tables and Santa Maria-style barbecue grills.

Old Town Coffee Opens in Isla Vista

Old Town Coffee of Goleta has opened a shop in Isla Vista, at 955 Embarcadero Del Mar.