First Multifamily Arrives in Santa Barbara

The property has 89 units and ground floor retail space.

SANTA BARBARA, CA— The Kor Group has partnered with REthink Development and affiliates of Westport Capital Partners LLC to bring the first multifamily development in nearly 30 years to the Santa Barbara marketplace. The Marc is an 89-unit luxury development, rich in amenities and with a design slant toward indoor-outdoor living. The $40 million project is scheduled to open in September of this year. “We have been building up and down the coast, and we jumped at the opportunity to partner up with Rethink Development to develop this property,” Tripp DuBois , VP of sales and marketing at the Kor Group, tells GlobeSt.com. “We have looked at a number of opportunities up there, including hospitality and multifamily opportunities on the outskirts of Santa Barbara, and it hasn’t made sense. This was a no brainer for us. We have had great community support and great local support. In general, folks are excited to have new housing opportunities in the area, especially with this coveted address on State Street. It has been really well received.” The Marc will have a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units that range in size from 613 to 990 square feet, with plenty of interior amenities, like stainless steel energy efficient kitchen appliances and gas stoves, quartz kitchen and bathroom countertops, in-home washer and dryer. Each unit will have a patio or balcony to provide the opportunity for indoor-outdoor living, in addition to outdoor communal spaces in the complex. “We always want to respect the environment and the site and the community,” says DuBois about the developer’s vision for the project. “The void of modern product in this marketplace was an obvious one. We looked at our demographic as being 25 to 35, and these are folks that are love modern architecture, new builds and sustainable builds. We wanted to create the opportunity for true indoor-outdoor living. That is what got us super excited about this project.” The property is packed with communal amenities, from the standard fitness center and pool to the more unique landscaped sundeck and community garden, and the live-work seating areas reminiscent of popular co-working spaces. With sustainability in mind, the property has energy-saving insulated glass, energy efficient LED lighting, tankless water heaters, Low VOC paint throughout and controllable energy-efficient heating and air conditioning. However, the most important amenity is likely the location. The property is located on State Street , making it totally walkable and accessible to Downtown Santa Barbara. The developers have already gotten a great response from the community, and with pre-leasing efforts launching next week, they are expecting interest to be high. “My goal from a leasing perspective is to have it fully leased this summer,” says DuBois. “I don’t think it is overly ambitious. We know the demand is there, and we only have 89 homes, so I expected that we will be fully leased by the end of September.”