od Hall Frenzy Food HAll Frenzy inside Santa Barbara’s Spin on the international trend of Shared Food & drink developments
S.B. PuBlic MArket
38 W. Victoria St.; 770-7702; sbpublicmarket.com Urban Developments’ Marge Cafarelli developed and owns the property; she is also a co-owner of many individual businesses inside and leases out other spaces to tenants. Square footage: 15,200, with 4,527 more of storage Number of businesses: 11 operating; 3 vacancies On-site parking spaces: 42 Occupancy: 400 Date opened: April 12, 2014 Estimated employees: Approximately 180-200 Development history: Submitted April 2009, broke ground June 2012, opened in April 2014 General hours (individual tenants vary): 7:30 a.m.-11 p.m.
Kirsten and Darrell Becker of The Mill
tHe WAterline 116 and 120 Santa Barbara St.; 845-1482; waterlinesb.com
Lama Dog’s Pete Burnham (left) and The Nook’s Norbert Schulz in The Waterline
Miramar Group’s John Goodman and Barrett Reed developed and own the property; they have partial ownership of one business inside, but the others are tenants. Square footage: About 10,000 Number of businesses: 6, but about 12 individual artisans at the Guilded Table On-site parking spaces: 26 Occupancy: Waiting for fire department estimate Date Opened: May 13, 2016 (phase one: The Nook and Lama Dog); around October 1 (phase two: Topa Topa, Blair Fox Cellars, Fox Wine Co., The Guilded Table) Estimated employees: About 60 Development history: About 21 months from start to finish General hours:11 a.m.-midnight
tHe Mill 406-416 E. Haley St.; themillsb.com Becker Studios’ Darrell and Kirsten Becker developed and own the property; they own a showroom on-site but lease the other spaces to tenants. Square footage: 23,356 gross (includes Mill Annex, under development across street) On-site parking spaces (including Annex): 30, plus 9 bicycle spaces Number of businesses: 13, plus 2 residential units Employees: 87 full- and part-time Development history: Started July 2013; permit issued October 2014; individual businesses varied General hours: 8 a.m.-10 p.m.
tHe lArk coMPlex 131 Anacapa St.; www.acmehospitality.com Acme Hospitality, owned by Sherry Villanueva, Brian Kelly, and other investors, developed the property but are tenants; the group owns each establishment on-site, but every entity is treated as a separate business. Square footage: 10,000 Number of businesses: 6 (The Lark, Lucky Penny, Les Marchands, Santa Barbara Wine Collective, Helena Avenue Bakery, Notary Public Wine) On-site parking spaces: 17 plus rental of private lots for valet service; 30 bicycle spots Occupancy: Varies by business Date opened: 3 businesses opened in August 2013; 2 in November 2015, and one July 2016 Estimated employees: More than 100, mostly part-time Development history: Ranged 9-18 months to get permits; 6 months to 2 or more years after that for construction
Dave Potter of Potek Winery in The Mill
Aaron Senter of Helena Avenue Bakery adjacent to The Lark
A
bout a decade ago, I stepped foot in San Francisco’s Ferry
and beverages are just part of the equation: These modern food halls, Building, and the epicurean corner of my mind was blown. often designed with sleek urban touches of wood, metal, and stone, Oysters on the half-shell here; fresh-baked sourdough place great emphasis on the communal visitor experience, making there; casual cafés and burger joints right in front of me; them a place to see and be seen. sit-down Asian noodle restaurants and Mediterranean Santa Barbara is home to four such developments: the Santa bistros across the way; wine, beer, juice, and coffee everywhere. I Barbara Public Market on West Victoria Street at Chapala, which thought about moving in. opened to much aplomb in 2014 with more than a Opened in 2003, this food-and-drink marketplace dozen vendors and recently retooled its offerings; The by Matt kettmann breathed fire into what would become the Mill at East Haley and Laguna streets, which opened country’s hottest culinary trend: the coast-to-coast in 2015 and features a barbecue restaurant, working development of what are collectively being called winery, and working brewery; The Waterline, which “food halls,” loosely defined as places where multiple opened on lower Santa Barbara Street in the Funk establishments offer a wide variety of food and/or Zone in May 2016 with its first two tenants and expects Photos by Paul Wellman to unveil the next three in a month; and The Lark beverage experiences under the same roof. complex, which is managed by Acme Hospitality It’s not a new concept. Public markets with foodserving stalls are prevalent in the Old World, and here in America, and, since opening in 2013, has become the Funk Zone’s de facto Philadelphia’s still-kicking Reading Terminal Market opened in 1892, headquarters, with restaurants, a wine bar, a wine tasting room, and Seattle’s Pike Place in 1907, and Los Angeles’ Grand Central Market a recently opened bakery. The latter is also adjacent to a separately managed but similarly minded strip facing Yanonali Street that’s paired restaurants with grocery offerings as far back as 1922. Packaged goods and produce still fly off the shelves of some home to a brewery, distillery, and two wine tasting rooms. American food halls, but today’s version —often built by urbanAll are unique in structure, both physically and financially, and each renewal-minded developers repurposing outdated, industrial combines an eclectic array of vendors. But they were created under warehouses—is dominated by food-and-drink-serving that same artisanal-food-and-drink-in-a-repurposed-space ethos that’s establishments. They’re kind of like the food courts of suburban pushing the national trend, and have all faced similar challenges in malls, yet focused on artisanal, boutique-sized, entrepreneurial getting their projects through the City of Santa Barbara’s permitting purveyors rather than national fast food chains. And the quality bites process, where concerns about adequate parking largely rule the roost. continued
independent.com
August 25, 2016
tHE INDEPENDENt
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