••• Cancha De Estrellas, west of the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club, is on the market for $50 million. According to the listing, the 61.2-acre property “combines the decadence of Rodeo Drive with the surrounding natural beauty”; it includes two polo fields, over 100 horse stalls, a “scoreboard lounge,” and, if the photos are any indication, an Airstream. (Don’t come a-knockin’….) The listing says one house could be built on each of the two parcels, but I think it’s likelier to end up as a another rich person’s plaything.
••• Radius Commercial Real Estate’s second-quarter market report says that a “confidential tenant” has leased 5,462 square feet at 132 E. Montecito Street, formerly site of the PPG paint store. I think we can assume the new tenant is RAD Power Bikes, which had been said to have leased 5,400 square feet in the area.
••• Funk Zone shop Loveworn is having its “greatest sale ever” today through Sunday, with “vintage, retired best sellers, samples, and much much more.”
••• From Free Santa Barbara Walking Tours: “We will be conducting one final test run [today] at 10 a.m. for our new tour of Old Town. Anyone interested in previewing the tour (it’s free!) can sign-up on our website. The tour will be officially open to the public starting August 8.
••• A reader calls BS on the possibility that the Montecito Vons is stuck in a rent-increase negotiation, pointing out that, with the exception of the liquor department, the store is owned by the supermarket’s parent company. The liquor department is in the adjacent bank building, which is part of the same parcel as the Montecito Country Mart. “Even if the approximately 2,700-square-foot liquor department is leased and rent is increasing, that’s a nominal financial obligation looking at the big picture.” P.S. My husband went to the Vons yesterday and in one way, the shift to Pavilions has already happened.
••• From B. “The owners of a big portion of Paseo Nuevo, including the Macy’s box and some of the inline retail, have defaulted on their debt and have deeded their interests back to the lender, AllianceBernstein. […] Note that the Macy’s box is owned by JP Morgan Asset Management, and the inline retail is owned by Pacific Retail Capital Partners. Most of Paseo Nuevo is held under long-term ground leases with the City, so the debt only secured the leasehold interests and not the land itself.” I haven’t verified this, but if accurate, AllianceBernstein will likely be looking for a new buyer; even so, nothing may change for a long time.
••• The Cuyama Buckhorn is trying to get New Cuyama’s L88 airport reopened: “Thanks to a generous pledge from the San Simeon Fund, the funds to resurface the airstrip have been granted. That being said, additional funds are required to cover costs associated with the reopening effort.” Donate here.
••• Imagine my delight when Siteline was immortalized—if that’s the right word for ephemeral art—in one of John Edward Heaton’s marvelous sandscripts.
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