Pacific Coast Business Times: Rabobank exiting downtown for new spot on upper State

Rabobank will move its downtown Santa Barbara office at the corner of Carrillo and Anacapa streets to the former Citibank location at 3757 State St.

The new 5,500-square-foot location is significantly smaller than its downtown location, which has drawn some interest. Some employees will transfer to the other Santa Barbara locations near Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and on Milpas Street, said Curt Cruthirds, Rabobank retail market manager. The move is slated for April.

The bank has been searching for a new location for more than a decade, Cruthirds said.

“We felt we needed a presence on upper State Street and this move gives us a lot of new opportunities with more parking to reach a new demographic,” he said.

The building was sold for about $10 million in 2014 in a 1031 exchange. Citibank left the location in January but will continue to pay rent until the new tenant moves in, per the buyout agreement, said Gene Deering of Radius Group, who represented the property owner.

The property went through a full renovation of the second and third floors in 2012 and is fully leased.

It is across the street from the Sandman Inn redevelopment, which will include more than 70 condos and townhomes. Office space is pretty tight in Santa Barbara, hovering around a 4 percent vacancy rate, Deering said.

“A lot of those smaller office spaces under 1,000 square feet are still hard to find but we are excited about the new incubators opening up with Regus and Impact Hub that could fill some demand,” he said.

Rabobank has a total of 37 branches in the Tri-Counties.