"The Lofts"
[ Excerpt from SBN-P, 2/27/2005, article by JOSHUA MOLINA ]
Upper State Street is at the center of a ferocious fight over housing, traffic and the future of development in Santa Barbara.
In one corner is architect Barry Berkus, whose innovative designs and willingness to take risks have earned him both praise and scorn.
This time he wants to build 55 one-bedroom condos, or lofts as he refers to them, a block from La Cumbre Plaza, in a three-story development that he sees as a melting pot of cultures, lifestyles and occupations.
However, Mr. Berkus is facing an army of angry opponents who want to stop or slow growth and say his project will degrade Santa Barbara by worsening traffic and setting a dangerous precedent that other developers will follow.
"My opinion of Berkus is, he is like a wolf," said Joe Guzzardi, a Samarkand resident, candidate for supervisor, and vice president of the Allied Neighborhood Association, which opposes the project. "You know how they mark their territory. He is just going around Santa Barbara and urinating on different pieces of property with his monstrosity architecture that doesn't fit and is too big."
... Mr. Berkus' project has been approved by the Planning Commission, but four powerful community groups have appealed, forcing the City Council to sort it out. In addition to the Allied Neighborhood Association, established community organizations Citizens Planning Association and the League of Women Voters have come out against the project. The fledgling Coalition for Sensible Planning is also against the development, mounting its no-growth positions in the city for the first time...
Mr. Berkus said the naysayers don't understand planning and that they say "no" to all growth because they lack creativity. "These are people who don't have vision," Mr. Berkus said. "They are running in fear because change is here. You are not going to stop growth."
The project comes at a time when Santa Barbara is sizzling with debate over what type of housing is needed in a city where the middle class is fleeing because of an out-of-reach housing market where the median cost of a house is $1.2 million.
Developers no longer build rental apartments because such projects would not be as profitable in a city where the land is so expensive. Instead, developers are seeking to maximize the value of their land by building condominiums, fitting in as many units as the city will approve.
But when those condos go on the market, they often sell for nearly $1 million, too expensive for most working Santa Barbarans. As a result, middle-class residents and families are moving to more affordable communities such as Ventura, Oxnard, Solvang, Santa Ynez, Lompoc and Santa Maria, and driving to their jobs in Goleta and Santa Barbara.
All of the commuting has resulted in increased traffic congestion on Highway 101 in both directions at different times of the day.
... many believe that the small, quaint Santa Barbara that they remember is vanishing with every high-density condominium project approved by the city.
To many, Mr. Berkus' project symbolizes that slow erosion, particularly in an area of Santa Barbara where several other housing and commercial projects are in the pipeline.
"This is the problem -- you got it right here" said a fired-up James Kahan, pointing to a steady hum of traffic on State Street near the project site. Mr. Kahan, the president of the Allied Neighborhood Association, a former assistant city attorney for Santa Barbara, wrote the appeal letter for the project's opponents...
Mr. Berkus couldn't disagree more.
He proposes a three-story project, with office space on the bottom and condos above. He plans to build an underground parking garage with 101 spaces. Of the 55 units, 17 of them, he says, will be sold below the market rate. Those 644-square-foot units would sell for between $175,000 and $219,000, he said.
The rest of the condos well sell at market rate. They range from 1,083 square feet to the largest unit at about 1,700 square feet. Mr. Berkus said he hopes most of the market rate units will sell for less than $1 million...
He said his project, on two parcels at 3885 and 3887 State St., will house the "critical work force" of nurses, teachers, police officers and firefighters who can stay in town and close to their jobs...
Anne Anderson is a high school English teacher who supports the project...
The opponents believe that the upper State Street area should be studied as a whole, not just one project at a time...
If the project goes through, about 17 people who live in a converted motel would be displaced. The residents have mental illness or physical disabilities.
Santa Barbara City Councilman Das Williams doesn't want to see the residents put on the streets and would like to see a stronger, more concrete relocation plan, and even more affordable units. Replacing 17 affordable units with 17 affordable units, but then building 38 market-rate condos, doesn't equate to a community benefit, he said.
Further, he thinks the project is too big, should be moved back from the street and needs to lose some of the commercial space. A vision for the overall area is needed, he said.
"We should have a very strong plan for what to do with all the blocks between Hitchcock (Way) and Five Points because there may be good opportunities for affordable housing there," Mr. Williams said...
e-mail: jmolina@newspress.com
Santa Barbara News-Press
Upper State Street is at the center of a ferocious fight over housing, traffic and the future of development in Santa Barbara.
In one corner is architect Barry Berkus, whose innovative designs and willingness to take risks have earned him both praise and scorn.
This time he wants to build 55 one-bedroom condos, or lofts as he refers to them, a block from La Cumbre Plaza, in a three-story development that he sees as a melting pot of cultures, lifestyles and occupations.
However, Mr. Berkus is facing an army of angry opponents who want to stop or slow growth and say his project will degrade Santa Barbara by worsening traffic and setting a dangerous precedent that other developers will follow.
"My opinion of Berkus is, he is like a wolf," said Joe Guzzardi, a Samarkand resident, candidate for supervisor, and vice president of the Allied Neighborhood Association, which opposes the project. "You know how they mark their territory. He is just going around Santa Barbara and urinating on different pieces of property with his monstrosity architecture that doesn't fit and is too big."
... Mr. Berkus' project has been approved by the Planning Commission, but four powerful community groups have appealed, forcing the City Council to sort it out. In addition to the Allied Neighborhood Association, established community organizations Citizens Planning Association and the League of Women Voters have come out against the project. The fledgling Coalition for Sensible Planning is also against the development, mounting its no-growth positions in the city for the first time...
Mr. Berkus said the naysayers don't understand planning and that they say "no" to all growth because they lack creativity. "These are people who don't have vision," Mr. Berkus said. "They are running in fear because change is here. You are not going to stop growth."
The project comes at a time when Santa Barbara is sizzling with debate over what type of housing is needed in a city where the middle class is fleeing because of an out-of-reach housing market where the median cost of a house is $1.2 million.
Developers no longer build rental apartments because such projects would not be as profitable in a city where the land is so expensive. Instead, developers are seeking to maximize the value of their land by building condominiums, fitting in as many units as the city will approve.
But when those condos go on the market, they often sell for nearly $1 million, too expensive for most working Santa Barbarans. As a result, middle-class residents and families are moving to more affordable communities such as Ventura, Oxnard, Solvang, Santa Ynez, Lompoc and Santa Maria, and driving to their jobs in Goleta and Santa Barbara.
All of the commuting has resulted in increased traffic congestion on Highway 101 in both directions at different times of the day.
... many believe that the small, quaint Santa Barbara that they remember is vanishing with every high-density condominium project approved by the city.
To many, Mr. Berkus' project symbolizes that slow erosion, particularly in an area of Santa Barbara where several other housing and commercial projects are in the pipeline.
"This is the problem -- you got it right here" said a fired-up James Kahan, pointing to a steady hum of traffic on State Street near the project site. Mr. Kahan, the president of the Allied Neighborhood Association, a former assistant city attorney for Santa Barbara, wrote the appeal letter for the project's opponents...
Mr. Berkus couldn't disagree more.
He proposes a three-story project, with office space on the bottom and condos above. He plans to build an underground parking garage with 101 spaces. Of the 55 units, 17 of them, he says, will be sold below the market rate. Those 644-square-foot units would sell for between $175,000 and $219,000, he said.
The rest of the condos well sell at market rate. They range from 1,083 square feet to the largest unit at about 1,700 square feet. Mr. Berkus said he hopes most of the market rate units will sell for less than $1 million...
He said his project, on two parcels at 3885 and 3887 State St., will house the "critical work force" of nurses, teachers, police officers and firefighters who can stay in town and close to their jobs...
Anne Anderson is a high school English teacher who supports the project...
The opponents believe that the upper State Street area should be studied as a whole, not just one project at a time...
If the project goes through, about 17 people who live in a converted motel would be displaced. The residents have mental illness or physical disabilities.
Santa Barbara City Councilman Das Williams doesn't want to see the residents put on the streets and would like to see a stronger, more concrete relocation plan, and even more affordable units. Replacing 17 affordable units with 17 affordable units, but then building 38 market-rate condos, doesn't equate to a community benefit, he said.
Further, he thinks the project is too big, should be moved back from the street and needs to lose some of the commercial space. A vision for the overall area is needed, he said.
"We should have a very strong plan for what to do with all the blocks between Hitchcock (Way) and Five Points because there may be good opportunities for affordable housing there," Mr. Williams said...
e-mail: jmolina@newspress.com
Santa Barbara News-Press
Posted by Malcolm on
2/27/2006
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