It used to be a place to buy affordable clothes and kitchen appliances, while kids chomped on free popcorn while riding up and down the escalators.
But within the next five years or so, the former Santa Barbara Sears building and nearby auto center are set to be transformed into a four-story, 443-unit apartment building.
But that’s only half the story.
On the other side of La Cumbre Plaza, sometime after 2028, the iconic Macy’s building is set for demolition to make way for an even larger apartment project called The Neighborhood. Developers intend to build 684 units at the Macy’s site and the surrounding parking lots.
The buildings on the interior of the shopping center — including shops, restaurants, gyms, art galleries and other establishments — will continue through at least 2077.
One of the residential projects, La Cumbre South Homes at the site of the former Sears, will go before the Santa Barbara Planning Commission at 1 p.m. on Thursday for a concept review.
The owners of the site, Riviera Dairy Property, which is using Orange County firm Kennedy Wilson as the developer, are set to show their plans, which is the final stage before they submit a formal application.
The two projects are separate, although the city initially pushed for a specific plan. Former county supervisor Das Williams led a charge in 2023 to shoot down $1.1 million in specific plan funding that had been recommended by two subcommittees to the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments. That plan would have included up to 2,000 housing units and larger numbers of affordable apartments than what is proposed under the separate development.
So here we are. And here’s what is planned for the site.
La Cumbre South Homes
The housing project at the former Sears building, currently Furniture Gallery by Mattress Mike, proposes 443 rental apartments:
- 36 studios
- 183 one-bedroom units
- 201 two-bedroom units
- 23 three-bedroom units
- 10,000 square feet of space for leasing and amenities, courtyards and other outdoor common areas
- A multiuse path along Arroyo Burro Creek on the eastern side of the property
- 466 parking spaces in a garage and surface lot
Riviera Dairy Property plans two four-story buildings, one with 400 apartments and the other with 43 apartments. About 10% of the homes will be set aside for people earning “moderate incomes,” based on the average median income at the time the units are built. Currently the AMI for a family of four is about $107,000 in Santa Barbara.
“These moderate units will be dispersed evenly throughout La Cumbre South Homes and will be comparable in construction quality and exterior design to the market-rate units,” said Dave Eadie, senior vice president of development for Kennedy Wilson.
Eadie said in a letter to the city that the project “will replace acres of asphalt parking and an abandoned/obsolete former Sears Building with needed residential units, an expansive tree canopy to augment shade and air quality.”
As for the architecture, he wrote that the development will be “drawing inspiration from the region’s coastal hotels and hillside estates.
“It is organized around a series of intimate garden courtyards, and an expansive arrival court and amenity space,” Eadie said.
The Neighborhood
The 684-unit project for the Macy’s site is further along in the planning process, but it is unlikely that anything would happen at the site until after 2028. Macy’s has lease until that time. The developers, local team of Matthew and Jim Taylor, have already had their application deemed complete by the city.
Between now and 2028, the project will go through environmental review, land-use approval and design review. All of these steps are expected to take about four years before construction could start.
Although the funding for a specific plan didn’t come through, the city and the Taylors are working on a term sheet for a potential development agreement, which would allow the city to increase the number of affordable housing units.
The project is proposed under state bonus density law, which means about 39 units will be restricted to people with very low incomes and 16 for people with moderate incomes.
Here is what’s currently proposed:
- 684 total units
- 94 studios
- 381 one-bedroom units
- 192 two-bedroom units
- 17 three-bedroom units
- 856 parking spaces
- Two levels of underground parking for residential use and two ground level parking garages for commercial use
- Six separate buildings, with heights ranging from two to six stories. Parts of the building will reach 70 feet. The city’s current height limit is 60 feet for that area.
The development is an SB 330 project, a law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2019 that allows for an expedited review and approval process.
“The fact that they are coming together at the same time shows why we advocated for a specific plan a couple of years ago,” said Santa Barbara Councilman Eric Friedman.
A specific plan could have allowed for more affordable housing, but now the city, Friedman said, must negotiate and work with the developer in a voluntary arrangement.
“We are trying to get something out of it that will help the community,” Friedman said. “A civic center, more affordable housing, that’s the most we can do because that project is using state bonus density. We can’t say no, so we might as well try to get as much of a public benefit as we can.”
