Saks Fifth Avenue OFF FIFTH starting to close down in Santa Barbara

Saks Fifth Avenue OFF FIFTH is closing its multi-story store on State Street in Santa Barbara. Signs with large discounts and others announcing the closing are now posted in the widow. An employee with a portable sign is waving it to passersby in the downtown area. The store was scheduled to close a year ago, but the building was sold and an additional year of operation was approved. The vacancy opens up 47,000 square feet or retail or possibly retail and downtown housing on the corner of State and Carrillo streets. Over the years the address has been a bank, and the vault is still inside. An official closing date has not been announced. The building is currently owned by Michael Rosenfeld from Woodridge Capital Partners. He also owns the Californian Hotel property at the foot of State Street. Many business analysts have been hoping to see a big name such as Amazon come into the area but no official announcement about the future of the property has been made. The city of Santa Barbara has been reviewing some proposals for the site. Nearby several other stores in the 900 block of State Street have announced they are closing soon, or are empty. In the next few months however, about a dozen new businesses are expected to open in the downtown area based on projects in the pipeline. There will also be a holiday store in the vacant Macy’s building on State and Ortega after the World of Magic closes its seasonal store in about a week. Recently opened in the 600 block are SB Nails where CRSV shoes previously had a store. Nearby a sign is posted for an alcohol beverage license where Blush restaurant used to be at 628 State Street with the applicant listed as Patio X LLC.