••• “City Council OKs Paseo Nuevo Redevelopment That Will Forever Change Downtown State Street,” reports Noozhawk with more than a little hyperbole. “Yardi Systems will convert the Macy’s into offices and an event space, and take over the rest of the shopping center and parking Lot #1. DSP plans to build 80-112 rental units at the former Nordstrom, and 10% of them will be affordable for moderate-income households for at least 90 years. None of them can become short-term vacation rentals.” The center of the Nordstrom building would be made into a courtyard, as in the above rendering. “The goal is to start construction on both projects in 2027.” UPDATE: SBradley’s comment below is worth a read.
••• At a meeting of Santa Barbara County’s Trails Advisory Committee, a rep for San Ysidro Ranch said that the botanical garden long in the works at the northern end of the property “includes shallow ponds for wildlife [and] is an attempt to improve on the original concept and will not impinge on McMenemy Trail. The area itself, he said, will be for hotel guests only, will not include any lighting, and will not host weddings or concerts.” —Independent
••• “New Federal Emergency Management Agency flood hazard maps went into effect last week. The new FEMA maps, or Flood Insurance Rate Maps, show the areas considered at risk of flooding and affect the cost of property owners’ flood insurance. […] The regions most likely to see changes on the new maps are the eastern portion of the city of Santa Barbara to the Ventura County line, along with some portions of the Santa Ynez Valley.” —Noozhawk
••• Why and how the city of Santa Barbara uses the herbicide Roundup. —Independent
••• Dwell got a look in the Whale House in Mission Canyon (999 Andante Road), restored by new owners Marley and Josh Raab. The article is TL;DR, but the photos, dark though they may be, are worth a look.
••• A classic from last week’s Montecito Journal police blotter. Don’t tell them about the game of hangman.
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Worth knowing about the Paseo Nuevo deal: the city is skipping the required competitive bidding process for this public land transfer by using the state-approved “Surplus Land Act exemption” that was originally obtained to enable negotiation with AB Commercial (the current owner of the Macy’s building, underground parking, and inline shopping) to develop hundreds of units of housing (including affordable) on the property. The exemption was needed because AB Commercial holds the ground lease on the property, so competitive bidding for that project was impractical. That original deal fell through, but the exemption remained on the books and is now being used for a completely different transaction — one that includes an undisclosed private sale between AB Commercial and Yardi that happens simultaneously with the city’s transfer of the land. Under the standard process, multiple developers would have competed to offer the best affordable housing terms in exchange for the opportunity to purchase public land. What the community is actually getting here is only 8 guaranteed “moderate income affordable” units as part of DSP’s redevelopment of the Nordstrom building and a $5.7 million contribution to the housing trust fund. In exchange, the community permanently gives up ownership of prime downtown land with no cash payment for the land itself. Is this a case of Yardi generously “saving” downtown, or swooping in to snatch a super sweetheart real estate deal? You tell me…