Staples closing large Santa Barbara store next month
Staples is leaving downtown Santa Barbara July 20, leaving another large building in the area vacant.
The 17,000 square foot office supply store at 410 State Street is near the corner of Gutierrez and does not open its door in the front, rather it has an entrance in the back on the parking lot side.
The Radius Group first told NewsChannel 3, and local commercial realtors last month, the store had not renewed its lease, due to expire this fall.
A new tenant is not expected for months. The site is being presented to prospective businesses with something many store in the downtown don’t have – parking. There are 77 spots on the site. It is also in an area that connects downtown to the waterfront and the Funk Zone. Thousands of vehicle trips a day go by the address.
Staples, known as “The Office Superstore”, informed its customers of the closure this week confirming the widely known timeline. The Goleta Staples in the Camino Real Marketplace will remain open.
As troubled as the 400 block appears with multiple vacancies now, the location is viewed by many brokers as an opportunity that is still to be realized.
For example, a former mid block large restaurant site and auto store is being converted into several smaller businesses under one roof including food and beverage offerings.
A Habitat Home store is moving into a corner vacancy with its first address in Santa Barbara to compliment its San Luis Obispo location.
The lowest rental offering in the area, at $2.00 a square foot, is making 427 State Street attractive according to broker Kerry Mann with Pacifica Commercial Realty.
The street has a mix of retail, restaurants and nightlife locations now.
The 400 block has been the focus of both attention from city officials and outrage from those unhappy with homelessness in the area that comes with associated issues such as liter, blocked sidewalks and several on going municipal code violations.
Not far away, several vacant stores have been leased and downtown is expected to see many new signs hung up and new foot traffic beginning this month. That includes Mollie’s Italian restaurant, Night Lizard Brewing, Industrial Ale and Creamistry ice cream.
The area was rattled by the loss of a three story Macy’s at the Paseo Nuevo Mall last year, but sources tell NewsChannel 3 a master plan for the building is coming together with new concepts and a revival of the vacant site with approximately 30,000 square feet. Across the street 7-Eleven is reportedly planning to take over a portion of 700 State Street which has been vacant more than a year.
Nearby is still a mystery on the future of four empty addresses in a row with Verizon, Tonic, CSRV, and Blush all closed in the 600 block.
Along the waterfront, Due Lune is opening where Eladios was located on Cabrillo Boulevard. It is an off shoot of the Tre Lune in Santa Barbara on Coast Village Road, owned by Gene Montessano.
The El Torrito site and bike rentals a block to the east is going to be two restaurants in with ocean front dining. That’s next to the recently opened Blue Water Grill, featuring a lighthouse structure and upstairs views of Stearns wharf and the harbor. The design was, in part, a modification when the Mission Creek improvement project took place.
