The story poles are up, and people are talking.
Two sites with story poles, marked by bright orange flags, have gone up recently in Goleta. One is a mixed-use commercial and housing project that is proposed for the corner of Los Carneros Road and Calle Real.
The striking story poles have caught people’s attention at the popular Goleta roundabout intersection.
The project at 6941 Calle Real consists of 14 one-bedroom apartment units and one commercial office space.
The development plan and conditional use application were deemed conditionally complete in January, and the project is beginning an environmental review.
The project is subject to the city’s inclusionary housing ordinance and includes two deed-restricted units at low-income levels, according to the city.
“What I am glad to hear is that the city’s inclusionary housing ordinance applies, so we will have more deed-restricted affordable units,” Goleta Councilwoman Luz Reyes-Martin said. “Anything we can get really helps. I am glad that inclusionary housing applies here.”
RRM Design Group is the firm designing the building.
Elijah Pearce, the architect who is designing the project, said the commercial space is comprised of the tenant space as well as a large open-air patio facing out to Calle Real. The developers are local property owners Ben Williams and Jason Jaeger.
“Our clients were originally studying a purely commercial development, but after meeting with local community members, the clear message was, ‘More housing,'” Pearce said. “This project creates 12 market-rate apartments as well as the two low-income apartments.”
Pearce said 14 apartments is a “drop in the bucket” of the housing shortage, but it helps.
“For 14 Goleta residents, this is a home,” Pearce said, “and I think that is a big deal.”
He said the project turns a vacant, underutilized parcel into a tangible benefit to the community.
“Our clients have been dedicated from day one to make this a very sustainable project,” Pearce said. “The structure will be all electric, no gas, produce a significant amount of its own energy with photovoltaics, and utilize ultra-high efficiency heat pumps for HVAC and hot water.”
He said the project also includes some “amazing outdoor spaces with an outdoor fireplace, barbecue, and bocce ball areas.”
Meanwhile, story poles just this week went up at the corner of Storke Road and Santa Felicia Drive.
That project is headed to the Design Review Board in a month.
The proposal is for a medical office building. The tenant has not been decided, but the project’s owner, John Price, said it could be Cottage Health or UCLA that occupies the building.
