Will Sears Turn Into Condos?

As for big tech moving into our area, that would sound the death knell of Santa Barbara as we know it today. They absolutely RUINED the bay area! Sickening what happened to the cost of living and home prices there. We do NOT need big rich tech in our town. Keep them out.

WE NEED LOW-INCOME and middle class affordable HOUSING. If this is an option to convert the Sears space into living units, we absolutely should figure out how to make that happen!

It’s time Santa Barbara takes our fair share of the one million illegal migrants and refugees expected this year. La Cumbre near Hope Ranch would be a good location to enable easy access to families to sponsor and help acculturate refugees plus provide household work for migrants. The Hope School District is one of the top four Districts in town. Santa Barbara could accommodate 8-10,000 migrants minimum by utilizing vacated store sites for Francisco Torres style high rise structures with small starter units. Limited parking would be needed by migrant household and service workers with proximity to stores and MTD. We need to plan for those we will be expected to house, feed, and school as is our moral obligation. La Cumbre would be a good refugee and migrant resettlement area.

With Macy's, the only remaining true Dept. Store in the south county, beginning their multi million makeover I'm guessing they will have some input into the general plan even with the 3 separate entities that make up the center now.

Retail is dead. Eventually, the entire La Cumbre Mall property will be housing, national "food" chains, and possibly a large hotel. For a sneak peek, just look to see what is happening in Goleta near Storke/Hollister.

I almost spit out my coffee reading the one comment below asking who owns the building, and the CEO who ran Sears into the ground owns it. Whaa? No, a CEO of a company doesn't own the building. It's just flabbergasting, no wonder why they don't look to the general populace for input or answers. Sheesh.

Since Osh and Sears are gone,We could Really use a Lowes.

I shop at all the stores here, including Ralph's, Nordstrom, Whole Foods, Von's, etc.: we really could use a Walmart. Best Buy has a monopoly on television sales here, plus you can get everything from food to snow tires at a Walmart.

Could put the dairy back. That's what it was 50 or 60 years ago. . .<G>

It's Nick Welsh discussing SB rumors. It's NOT a news story; Nick would be the first to agree. Though his "discussions" are very meaningful. If it were to happen, some if not many of us will have passed on before it does! I mean, a NEW Plan? Here's the ENTIRE "story"/column: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
"Owners of the now-shuttered Sears department store in La Cumbre Plaza have listed the iconic property for sale, informing would-be buyers it could be developed with as many as 546 high-density housing units. No price was included in the offering. City Hall officials have been in contact with the family that owns Sears and have reportedly insisted that any new development take place in coordination with the entire La Cumbre Plaza. The mall is owned by at least three separate investment groups, making development complicated and problematic.

City officials had not heard reports that noted real estate developer Brian Kelly, famous, among other things, for building the Lark complex in the Funk Zone, was attempting to secure control of La Cumbre. Calls to Kelly were not returned by deadline. If Kelly were to sew up management control of the entire mall, that would simplify efforts to redevelop the property, which is zoned to allow housing, retail, hotels, and mixed-use. Any major new initiative at La Cumbre would require a new specific plan." https://www.independent.com/news/2019/mar/05/sears-replaced-housing/

Outskirts of hte city?! lol. Just closer to Goleta, where many work. Yes, housing is a good idea. But it should be rent-limited. The people are already here. 500 units? I doubt that, aside from the whole idea being a rumor. People who own can't frigging afford to downsize. Some common sense changes would free up some houses.

Word of mouth is spreading in Silicon Valley and starting to make an impact here - why fight SF traffic, prices and blight when there are very affordable fixer-uppers right next to the ocean in Santa Barbara. $150K salaries are looking for takers in this town as we speak. And that is not the taxpayer funded government offering those $150K jobs, it is the private sector. Learn to code is not bad advice.

People that think the growth of housing and more humans is progress can’t also believe in global warming. We’re ruining the earth at an exponential rate yet you want more homes built and more people confined in a 40 sq. Mile space? But hey I drive a Tesla, attend earth day and use a low flush toilets so we’re gonna be ok right? smh.

I don't think you could fit 546 cars in that building, let alone dwelling units.

Habit line will be really long.

So unlikely.

If possible of course new beautiful housing should be build there, and it should be market rate housing, not Section 8 housing. New market rate housing means new residents, who pay taxes and who start new businesses and who frequent local businesses. The city prospers. That's real progress.

IKEA! I'm there!

the independent article that sparked this debate has an interesting point. This mall ( la cumbre ) has 3 owners technically right now. Sears owns their property under the store/ parking lots. Macy's owns theirs/ lots and then the middle area is owned by someone else. Basically all 3 of those owners ( or 1 new owner if sears location sold ) would have to agree on the proposed redesign/ residential change to that portion of the mall. honestly as much as I dont want this to happen because of the greed it will most certainly expose, I doubt all 3 of those landlords/ owners will agree to restructuring that mall into a mixed use residential hodgepodge.

This is a preliminary idea at this point. But realistically speaking, densifying the neighborhood in this area makes a lot of sense. Close to shopping, medical facilities, and transportation corridors. If we are ever to achieve a city with fewer vehicles, this would help a lot.

It’s not like 700 people are appearing out of this air. They are currently alive and using water somewhere and the majority of the residents most likely already live in SB or the surrounding areas. Shoot it would probably be better since they will be required to use water saving faucets, shower heads etc....

One more time....the city does not have the money to buy Sears or any other large desirable parcel. Plus they have already picked their new spot....it had to be City owned since the only funds available are to build the new station. How 'bout quit beating a dead horse.

We are not victims of "state" mandates - we elect those who write the laws that require these things from us. We have not been well served locally for decades by our own elected officials. Time to elect change; not more of the same old betrayals.

we get a little bit of rain and no one is considering the additional water usage all this housing would draw??

Read the article, this entire idea is based on a single comment from the owners who are trying to sell the property. NO ONE has expressed interest in building or converting into condos. We're just spinning our wheels here.

I completely agree with YACHT ROCKED: Should be SBPD HQ and vehicle maintenance facility. Room enough for Fire Dept HQ and other emergency services. Freeway close, an obvious choice. We missed out on turning the old St Vincent's Orphanage property at 101 and 154 into a hospital, that was another obviously good location for a worthy freeway-close emergency room but someone decided instead to gobble up the neighborhood around Cottage instead, slowly destroying traditional housing there. Watch the typical politics at work now, what would be best for the citizens will not be chosen.

Should be SBPD HQ and vehicle maintenance facility. Room enough for Fire Dept HQ and other emergency services, plus city Conference Rooms, etc. Might even be worth moving City Hall there, and then selling the downtown City Hall building to Google or Amazon.

Who owns the Sears Building? The CEO who drove Sears in to the ground???

I would rather see an IKEA in the Sears Building but not a movie theater as suggested previously

Considering the demographics the mall wants, the only thing under $1m would be the construction shed in the parking lot

Assuming the rest of the mall would open practical stores to accommodate locals, I think it is a great idea. They did a nice job restoring that building and it does not get many shoppers. Having a live/work/shop development in SB is something I support. Of course, my opinion differs from all the naysayers so I expect plenty of disrespectful and unproductive commentary.