Sidewalk and street work set for site near proposed hotel

The long awaited La Entrada project in Santa Barbara may finally be coming off the drawing boards and turning into a reality.

One sign of work will be the start of improvements at State and Mason Streets where the project is proposed on three of the four corners.

Developer Michael Rosenfeld met with residents and business owners last night to discuss the project, a construction timeline, and some of the preliminary work that is scheduled.

The site was first proposed as a hotel project in 1999. The owner at that time Bill Levy, suffered a financial fallout and the project has been largely untouched.

Last year, the historic Californian Hotel, which is part of the proposal, was partially torn down to make sure the aging building did not collapse in an earthquake.

Rosenfeld says if all goes well, construction on the 123-room hotel project with 20,000 square feet of retail could begin next year and be finished in 2016.