Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the hotel industry is booming in Santa Barbara and on State Street.
Austin Herlihy, executive vice president of Radius Commercial Real Estate, explains the trend and how it is impacting State Street.
“Travel has actually been strong,” Herlihy says. “Certainly regionally from Los Angeles, San Francisco, but we have seen an increase in average daily rates, occupancy, and basically, in a matter of a couple of months, hotels regained all their value, and maybe even a little more.”
Herlihy and Chris Parker recently listed and sold the 41-room Hotel Indigo in Santa Barbara to an all-cash buyer. It was listed at $19.35 million. The boutique hotel generated 11 offers and closed in 45 days.
Herlihy also shares his views on Amazon leasing office space downtown, the future of outdoor dining, retail, and the presence of homeless people, and the impact on the business community.
Santa Barbara Talks is a podcast owned by journalist and college instructor Joshua Molina. He hosts weekly interviews with interesting and influential people in the community on topics of housing, transportation, education, business, culture and media.
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