Concerns have arisen concerning the Ritz-Carlton Entrada de Santa Barbara project at the foot of State St. Developer Bill Levy and the luxury hotel operator want to rebuild the vacant, four-story, seismically unstable Californian Hotel last instead of first as was expected when the project was approved in 2001.
The big concern in placing the hotel renovation on the backburner raises the spectrum of the Carrillo Hotel that gave downtown Santa Barbara nothing but a big hole in the ground for many years. The city wants to make sure that the financing for the project is in place before they authorize the changes.
The La Entrada development calls for 62 units of one, two and three bedrooms and about 18,000 square feet of commercial and retail space. The developers also have agreed to several public improvements such as 95 parking spaces, underground utilities, street upgrades and payment of $1 million to the city’s Redevelopment Agency.
my question is, will be make sure if they do build something there, will they make sure if fits in with the rest of the downtown charm? I hate it when people build something modern and it clashes with the original deco.
Posted by: Jim at December 3, 2003 09:40 AMI walked by the Californian Hotel on an amazingly beautiful day a few weeks ago. For some reason I had never really noticed it before. I am now very curious about the old hotel. I would love to see it restored. I think it would be a fun place for live music and dancing. If you have any news or stories about the hotel please email me.
Posted by: Amy at March 18, 2004 09:51 AM