By CHRISTIAN WHITTLE
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Santa Barbara Public Market, the artisanal food hall in Downtown’s Theater District, has been put up for sale by Urban Developments nearly six years after they opened the market.
The sale of the 19,867-square-foot “state-of-the-art” food hall located at 38 W. Victoria St. will be marketed by JLL Capital Markets, who made the announcement in a press release Tuesday.
Completed in April 2014, Santa Barbara Public Market is a two-story, LEED Gold food hall with a 4,500 square foot. basement and several space for “purveyors”. The market is adjacent to the Alma Del Pueblo condominium community and other Santa Barbara tourism hot spots such as the Arlington Theatre, the New Vic theater and the Granada Theatre.
The market has had several businesses come and go, but is now filled with food and beverage vendors including Empty Bowl Gourmet Noodle Bar, Enjoy Cupcakes, Rori’s Artisanal Creamery, Wine + Beer, Corazon Cocina, The Garden, Wabi Sabi, Ca’ Dario Pizzeria Veloce and Fala Bar. Four vendors, including Rori’s and Empty Bowl, were there on opening day five years ago.
Marge Cafarelli, the Santa Barbara developer behind Urban Developments who opened the Santa Barbara Public Market, spent five years developing the food hall into the business that it is today. Initially opened with a mix of food and grocery tenants, she pivoted the retail property from a European-style public market to become a true food hall.
“Developing the Santa Barbara Public Market has been one of the hardest and one of the most gratifying projects I have ever done,” Ms. Cafarelli said in the press release. “We wanted to create a place for Santa Barbara to come together under one roof – a place that locals have embraced and now call their own.”
The JLL Capital Markets team representing the seller was led by executive vice presidents Patrick Toomey and Tom Lagos, according to the JLL press release.
“Marketing the Santa Barbara Public Market is an exciting opportunity since it is part of the hot Food Hall trend that is sweeping retail these days. The property boasts best-in-class construction, a diverse and successful tenant mix and a fantastic Santa Barbara location, making it an exceptional investment for the next owner,” said Mr. Toomey in the press release.
Ms. Cafarelli did not respond for comment Tuesday.
email: cwhittle@newspress.com
