The Santa Barbara Planning Commission showed support for a proposed 99-unit apartment project at the site of Tri-County Produce on the Eastside, but some members stressed that they would like to see a better design and more affordable units.

“It is the perfect location for housing,” Planning Commissioner and former Mayor Sheila Lodge said. “I am glad to see it happening.”

Lodge, however, noted that the development included only 10 units of below-market rate apartments, which is the percentage required by the state. Lodge said she doesn’t want anyone to be fooled into thinking the project is doing anything to solve Santa Barbara’s affordable housing needs.

“The rents are in the many thousands for the units that are not rent-restricted,” Lodge said. “They are not affordable by any means to anyone who works in the hotels or Mr. Dixon’s store or at the zoo.”

A team of local investors purchased the 335 S. Milpas St. spot in 2022 for $9.75 million, according to Santa Barbara County property records. The project calls for demolition of the existing site to build the 99 units, and for a smaller version of Tri-County Produce, about 6,000 square feet to remain, fronting Milpas Street.

Tri-County Produce, owned by John Dixon, is among the local investors, which includes general partners Austin Herlihy, Chris Parker and Steve Leonard.

The team has worked with local employers to support the project and the new housing.

“Spoiler alert,” said Rich Block, president and CEO of the Santa Barbara Zoo. “We are desperate for housing for our employees. And the timing on this is incredible.”

Block said that with the upcoming renovation of Dwight Murphy Field, the popularity of the zoo and the beach, the neighborhood is changing.

The site is a block from the beach and a prime spot for housing, at a time when the City of Santa Barbara is looking to meet state housing demands.

The project would include a parking garage with 122 parking spaces, an additional five uncovered surface parking spaces, and a residential lobby, trash, utilities and bicycle parking, according to publicly available records.

Of the total number of units, 26 would be studios, 18 would be one-bedroom units and 55 would be two-bedroom units. The building would reach about 51 feet, 10 inches at its highest point.

“It’s an incredible location,” Block said.

Lodge expressed some concerns about the design of the building and the combination of traditional Spanish architecture and industrial, but Commissioner Devon Wardlow said she liked the design and the mix of styles.

“I like that it would be different than the other kind of traditional Spanish complexes we have in the West Beach area,” Wardlow said.

She also pushed for more below-market rate units. She said the development team could do better than the state minimum of 10%.

“I hope this can be an exemplary project to our community that we can do better than what the state is requiring,” Wardlow said. “I appreciate that we are doing some affordable, but I would love to see this project and the leaders of this project come back to us with a little more progress” on affordable housing.

Speaker Brad Frohling offered his support for the project, saying that “99 new doorknobs” would greatly benefit the community.

“This is a high-quality project,” Frohling said.

He said the four stories works in that part of town.

“If we don’t allow this in the right places, we’ll never move the needle on the housing issue. The only thing we can do is move into the foothills, and we are not going to do that,” he said. “It’s a very responsible developer with a great track record, and I think it would benefit everybody.”

The Thursday hearing was a concept review, so no formal action was taken. The development team will take the feedback and continue to rework the project before it goes through the formal approval process.