Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone is known for its wineries, restaurants and beer halls. Soon, it might also be known for its apartments.
A proposal is in the works to build 155 new residential units — 142 apartments and 13 condominiums — across multiple addresses: 121 E. Mason St., 122 Gray St., 111, 121, 123 Santa Barbara St. and 120, 130, 136 E. Yanonali St.
SOMO SB LLC wants to build a multi-storied, mixed-use development project, with parts of it reaching four stories and 60 feet, with 231 parking spaces using a combination of mechanical lifts, valet service and standard spaces. The first floor would consist of ground-level commercial uses, including artist collaborative space, artist studios, a café, and light industrial, retail and restaurant uses.
The owner is asking for a development agreement from the City Council and a coastal development permit from the city Planning Commission.
“Of the rental apartments, 38 units and two condominium units are dedicated at affordable levels,” said Heidi Jones, a planner with Suzanne Elledge Planning & Permitting Services. “In addition, all units will benefit from a locals preference program managed by the Housing Authority to ensure our South Coast residents are prioritized upon application and purchase of units.”
The project was scheduled for the city’s Architectural Board of Review this week, but it was postponed until July 11 because the flag poles to show the height and size of the building were incorrectly installed.
“We are concerned that the story poles for the huge proposed development in the Funk Zone are at the wrong height,” Henry and Jenny Bruell wrote in a letter to the city. “The poles at the corner of Yanonali and Gray look to be at 30 feet tall rather than the 43 feet tall proposed in the drawings. Likewise, the large pole in the middle of the proposed development site looks to be significantly shorter than the 60′ height proposed in the drawings.”
The project is in the concept review stage, but it has already attracted much attention.
David Dart, owner of the nearby Dart Coffee, also criticized the story poles and raised questions about the parking.
He said there already isn’t enough parking in the Funk Zone.
“Can you define ‘valet parking’?” he wrote in a letter to the city. “Where will these cars be parked?”
The Funk Zone in the past 15 years has emerged as one of Santa Barbara’s most popular attractions, a destination for both locals and tourists.
What was once a funky mix of warehouses that served as a home to artists, surfboard makers and craftspeople has become a hub for wine tasting, eating and drinking. Many of the individual artists and shop owners who once made the warehouses home have been replaced by a wave of entrepreneurs who took advantage at the time of lower rents than State Steet, transforming the funky area into Ground Zero for millennials and Gen Zers.
But the growth of the community has stressed parking capacity. It’s not likely that a motorist will find street parking in the Funk Zone in the middle of the day or evening, and the area lacks uniformity or cadence. It’s what makes the area known as the Funk Zone.
With Santa Barbara and all coastal communities under pressure from the state to build more affordable housing, city officials are looking to facilitate and work with developers to approve projects. The City Council recently approved a development project for Milpas Street. A development agreement allows the city to mandate certain features on a project in exchange for guarantee future approval of a project.
James Rogers, CEO of Apeel Sciences, owns two properties across the street from the development.
“From an architectural-style perspective, the proposed development feels a lot more like a college dormitory than a mixed-use development that would add character to the Funk Zone,” Rogers said in an email. “Furthermore, I am concerned about the large number of units in the proposed development and how that number of people and particularly vehicles will impact an already crowded part of the Funk Zone.”
— 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.
