The opening of Hotel Californian brings new life to lower State Street

The Hotel Californian is Santa Barbara’s newest resident.

The luxury hotel is located on State Street and Mason Street. It encompasses 3 buildings at the entrance to lower State Street. Its event deck offers panoramic views of Santa Barbara. The property features Spanish colonial revival architecture.

“The opportunity to be involved in the redevelopment of Santa Barbara’s waterfront is once in a lifetime,” said Michael Rosenfeld, chief executive officer of Woodridge Capital Partners.

The property has 121 rooms, a rooftop pool, Turkish-style spa and two restaurants.

“What we’ve done here along with the rest of lower state street is really revitalize lower State Street and create a walking path for people walking on Stearns Wharf all the way up to upper and middle State Street which is all now can be connected,” said Warren Nocon, general manager of Hotel Californian.

This revitalization brings relief to many residents who has seen more and more businesses leave Downtown Santa Barbara.

“It’s really kind of tragic,” said Dan Burnham, Santa Barbara resident.

Burnham and his wife frequently visits the downtown area. They miss what State Streetoffered and looked like.

“So many times we’ll hear we’re Santa Barbara, we’re special, but we can learn from people. All of these empty spaces is just going to get worse and worse. The landlords have to wake up and be more flexible in their rents,” said Burnham.

The Burnham’s would like to see businesses come back to the area. In the mean time, they’re happy to see a portion of State Street moving into the right direction.