Santa Barbara County will negotiate with a Los Angeles-based developer to finance, design, build and manage a housing project in downtown Santa Barbara at the probation building site. 

The Probation Department’s current building at 117 E. Carrillo St. will be developed into housing, and staff will move into the headquarters being built at 1019 Garden St., about a block away. 

The county Board of Supervisors approved an exclusive negotiating agreement with SoLa Impact LLC on Tuesday.

The talks will focus on the property and ground lease; financing; and terms for renting the apartments. The county wants this project to be workforce housing, with some units reserved for low-income households. 

SoLa’s initial proposal to the county was for 104 modular units at the Carrillo Street property, Noozhawk previously reported. Those are prebuilt apartments that are built at a different location and transported to the site.

The company estimated a cost of $47 million and a completion date in 2029. 

SoLa also has to find a nonprofit partner to manage the property after it is completed, and Community Services Director Jesús Armas said the developer is finalizing agreements with one. 

“We’re at an exciting point with this project,” he told the Board of Supervisors at Tuesday’s meeting. 

County staff have talked with Santa Barbara city officials to make sure project plans are consistent with “design standards the city has,” Armas added. So far, the city has had a “very positive reaction,” he said. 

Santa Barbara leaders want more housing built downtown. The City Council just approved a development agreement to convert the Paseo Nuevo mall’s former Nordstrom building into apartments, and the former Macy’s building into offices. 

Community Services staff noted that approving the exclusive negotiating agreement with SoLa doesn’t commit the county to any development plans or construction. A long-term ground lease would also come back to the board for approval after negotiations.

During the May discussion of the project, supporters hoped this could be a model for developing more housing at a lower cost.

However, Rob Fredericks, executive director of the city’s Housing Authority, said he was concerned about the small size of the apartments proposed in this project.  

“That’s not housing people thrive in,” he said. “That’s housing people tolerate.”