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A Carpinteria food and pop culture icon is about to serve its final chocolate-dipped cone.
Fosters Freeze plans to close its doors later this month after decades in business. The old-fashioned fast-food hamburger stand is one of the last of several of the chain restaurants on the South Coast from their 1980s heyday. Only one more remains in Lompoc.
The store, 5205 Carpinteria Ave., announced in July that it would be closing at the end of August, but on Thursday, the store was closed in the middle of the day.
It appears that Fosters’ shakes, onion rings and greasy cheeseburgers will be replaced by a farm-to-table restaurant called The Good Plow.
The company has filed for a beer and wine license, which is posted on the window.
Fosters Freeze has been a California tradition since 1946, when George Foster opened the first Fosters Freeze in Inglewood. He introduced the soft serve cone and a line of soft serve desserts, then launched a chain of restaurants.
Mason Beach Inn Reopening
The Mason Beach Inn in Santa Barbara plans to open Monday after months of renovation.
The inn, at 324 W. Mason St., has been closed since March. Architecture and interior design firm the Cearnal Collective has “refreshed” the hotel.
“Hospitality is simply an opportunity to show love and care,” General Manager Joseph Cisneros said in a news release.
The 45-room hotel is owned and operated by StonePark Capital, which is based in Santa Barbara and founded by Andrew Firestone and Jess Parker. It is managed by Pacific Inns. StonePark Capital and Pacific Inns also own and manage La Quinta by Wyndham in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Morgan Hill and soon Santa Rosa.
The opening of the hotel comes as welcome news to the hospitality industry. Although most hotels are open, transient occupancy taxes are way down.
COVID-19 Crushes Commercial Market
Commercial sales have dropped to their lowest activity since 2009, according to Radius Commercial Real Estate.
From April through June, the South Coast recorded just nine total sales of commercial property, a drop from 15 during the same period in 2019. The dollar value was also much lower — $14.2 million this quarter versus $69.2 million for the second quarter in 2019.
“It’s clear that in addition to fewer sales, we are seeing smaller price points on buildings,” according to Radius’ quarterly report. “The pandemic and its effects on the economy in general has draped a blanket of inactivity over the market, keeping most investors on the sidelines and few owner-users poking their heads out for deals. Even in spite of low interest rates, lenders have been leery of granting new loans and may also be girding for possible defaults, making borrowing a tedious process at this time.”
According to Radius, the best performing real estate sectors right now are industrial, apartments and a “very hot” residential market.
There is some hope, however. Once the COVID-19 pandemic is over, whenever that is, the recovery could be quick.
“When restrictions begin being lifted (and sustained), we expect to see a rise in activity due to pent-up demand, as well as increased inventory in part due to some distressed properties coming to market as a result of vacancies and loss of rental income,” the report states. “As of now, there is an equal number of properties currently in escrow on our radar, which may push numbers higher in the third quarter.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
