Behind the scenes of the Entrada de Santa Barbara sale, handled by Radius Group Commercial Real Estate, was anything but conventional.  Over the years, since first envisioned by Bill Levy, this development has involved many moving parts. For more than 10 years now, the historic California Hotel structure has been in disrepair, so news of the sale of this Santa Barbara landmark is a win-win for all involved, perhaps most importantly, the Santa Barbara community.

This complex sale was navigated by Steve Brown, partner at Radius Group, and his colleague Austin Herlihy. Complicating factors in negotiating this transaction was the fact thatin addition to the Californian there are two land leases with two separate owners. Adding to the complexity of the deal were the multiple layers of City requirements and deadlines, Coastal Commission requirementsand easements with adjacent property owners. Add to all of this that the most recently approved project included a variety of hotel rooms, time shares and retail – all of these factors combined to present a very complicated transaction to manage.

“As the exclusive listing agents for the owner, MF Santa Barbara LLC, we were tasked with getting our hands around all the various parts of this development in a very short period of time,” explained Steve Brown, Partner, Radius Group Commercial Real Estate.  “Furthermore we were responsible for finding a buyer without the usual tools and exposure we would normally have access to for our listings, namely there was no conventional marketing via press or web sites as the owners asked to focus the marketing solely on proven buyers for similar properties. Yet we were still able to market and put the property in escrow within four months of our listing date. ”

Focusing their efforts on prospects, both in and outside of Santa Barbara, who had experience with similar developments resulted in connecting with Woodridge Capital Partners from Los Angeles who are responsible for the renovation and  revival of the famed Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

“This is terrific news for the entire Santa Barbara community as it will revitalize an otherwise blighted area of our beautiful waterfront. It’s also a positive sign for the commercial real estate sector in Santa Barbara that a proven commercial property owner and developer has the confidence to invest in this development that had been unsuccessfully marketed for years. We think this is a great fit, and are eager to follow this project’s success.” said Brown.

For further press coverage, visit the following media sources:

KEYT, Channel 3 (Click to view full story)

NoozHawk (Click to view full story)

Daily Sound (Click to view full story)

Los Angeles Times (Click to view full story)

Santa Ynez Valley News (Click to view full story)