••• The agenda for today’s meeting of the Historic Landmarks Commission included an interesting project—that was news to me and has since been “postponed indefinitely at the applicant’s request”—for 517 Chapala Street (Cota/Haley), currently home to Carzoid. “The project consists of revisions to a project approved by the Planning Commission on March 7, 2019. The project consists of the demolition of an existing automobile dealership with 1,300 square feet of office space and the merger of two lots (APN 037-163-007 & -008) for a combined lot area of 11,500 square feet. The proposed revisions include adding six new hotel rooms to the approved 16-room hotel project, for a total of 22 hotel rooms. The caretaker’s unit and roof deck have been eliminated. The first level would include a hotel lobby, dining/lounge area, five hotel rooms, bicycle storage, trash enclosure, and an accessible loading area for valet service. The second level would include nine hotel rooms and the third level would include eight hotel rooms. All parking spaces would be located offsite at 428 Chapala Street. […] Project site is adjacent to a designated Structure of Merit: Dancaster Residence, constructed in 1887 in the Italianate style.” And a three-story would really take a bite out of the views from the side of Jeff Shelton’s El Andaluz apartment building.
••• Speaking of Shelton, I only recently learned that El Zapato, the building he designed on Garden Street (Cota/Haley), offers vacation rentals, which sounds fabulous (ands means you can see lots of interior shot on the website). It made me think we really need a Jeff Shelton hotel….
••• The contemporary four-bedroom house at 1131 Las Alturas Road on the Riviera that recently sold for $7.25 million was bought by Pacaso, a new company that sells shares in vacation homes. The asking price of a one-eighth share is $1.085 million.
••• Sullivan Goss‘s annual 100 Grand show (“100 works of art for $1000 or less”) show opens November 29.
••• Restoration Hardware’s store at 710 State Street (De La Guerra/Ortega) has a “for lease” sign on it. According to the listing, the space is available as of February; a Restoration Hardware staffer said that the company intends to stay in Santa Barbara, in its current location or somewhere new. At one point, the owner, SIMA, planned on demolishing the building as part of a big development, but then changed its mind because too much affordable housing would be required.
••• The renovation of the Butterfly Lane pedestrian freeway undercrossing will finally start on December 6. “This project will include reconstructing the stairs and adding new ramps for wheelchair and mobility scooter access at each end of the Undercrossing that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The railroad crossing at the south side of the Undercrossing will include a new walkway, handrails and crossing arms with visual and audio signals. The mural inside the Undercrossing will be maintained as part of this project.” Unfortunately, it entails closing the undercrossing 24/7 for for the duration of the project, which is expected to be finished in the summer of 2022.
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