••• Sky High Helicopters is now offering tours over Santa Barbara, starting at $59 for a 12-minute jaunt.
••• Closer to earth, Social Cycle—”a 16-passenger bicycle experience for birthdays, bachelor parties, corporate events, and more”—is up and running again here after a pandemic break. Besides private tours, individual seats are available on public tours Friday through Sunday.
••• Caltrans has closed Route 150 between Ojai and Carpinteria due to a rock slide; there’s no timeline for reopening.
••• Reggae band Rebelution plays the Santa Barbara Bowl on August 14 and 15, followed by Kings of Leon on August 26. I’ve never understood the appeal of Kings of Leon, so instead, here’s a favorite Lana del Rey song that mentions the band. Can we start a petition to get her at the Bowl?
••• Two updates from Hayes Commercial Group‘s 2023 Q4 report: “While Vuori is reportedly committed to remaining on State, as of this writing a long-term lease on the space [at 733 State] had not been signed, and for now their tenure there remains fluid.” Also, “Restoration Hardware signed a one-year extension at 710 State and is still operating there, but the store will close soon as the new location ramps up on East Valley Road.”
••• S. reported that lemons are washing up on beaches from Hendry’s to Padaro, so I ran her photo on Instagram, and I got two kinds of responses: from people marveling that they’d seen the lemons too, everywhere from Ventura to Goleta, and from people who say it happens all the time after a storm, when lemons wash down the creeks.
••• An amusing hat from a new brand called Santa Ynez Country Club—which promises “merch drops, SYV events and experiences, and country ‘tings,” It’s available online and at Brass Tack in Santa Ynez.
••• The hotel project at 101 Garden Street (in the Funk Zone, south of Yanonali, where the shipping containers are) goes back in front of the Planning Commission on Thursday. That’s the one with 250 rooms—130 extended-stay and 120 “select service.” The plan now also has “six affordable housing units (five low-income studios and one moderate -income two-bedroom unit).” Will that be enough to satisfy the commissioners who have balked at the project, even though the city’s general plan allows for a hotel on that site? The design looks more or less the same since last time, but here it is again. P.S. I still think it’s a bummer that such a large, prominent lot has no reason—i.e., a restaurant—for the public to set foot on it.
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Just tell me where to sign that petition for LDR at the Bowl!!!
There has to be some restaurant in a hotel that size right?!?
Not necessarily. 119 of 130 of the extended-stay rooms would have kitchens, and the phrase “select service” implies little in the way of amenities. The floor plan shows a “lounge,” “bar,” “kitchen” (409 square feet), “breakfast room” with “buffet,” and a “market.” Take a look here: https://www.sitelinesb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/101-Garden-Street-hotel-floor-plan.jpg
Erik you may not get them BUT Kings Of Leon are playing mostly Arenas now & The Fabulous Forum before playing the SB.Bowl. There will be a HUGE line of fans waiting to buy those tickets (& it’ll sell out quick) on friday.
Thanks for highlighting a critical flaw in this proposed hotel, the public is not be allowed to use it. Imagine trying to build a 250-room hotel at the gateway of the Funk Zone, and provide no community benefit in return.
@keepthefunksb and keepthefunk.org to join the opposition. No more hotels.
I can remember back when the city made a deal with the Wright family to extend Garden street to Cabrillo in exchange the approval for a hotel on the site. I feel for the owners but times change. Tourism patterns change and this project is from a past time. I hope this project goes the same way as the SOMO. Both being too big and wasteful of the precious real estate. This is some of the last, and real funk in the FZ.
How is a 250 room hotel only going to have 29 parking spaces, That’s only parking for 11% of the guests. Where are the other 89% supposed to park. That is just not thoroughly thought through. These are people traveling through the area. Why not a parking structure or a subterranean structure or less rooms and more parking. The ratio is way out of whack.
There’s a 238-space underground garage.
LDR came to the Bowl in the fall of 2017….I’m sure we can get her to return. It was a great show!