Below-Market Housing Slated for State Street in Downtown Santa Barbara

For the last umpteen years, much of the big talk on rejuvenating downtown has focused on building housing on State Street. But given the astronomical cost of real estate, the even bigger question has been whether such housing could hope to be remotely affordable. Until Jason Yardi showed up on the scene last April and bought 821 State Street — former home of Sur La Table and before that Betty’s Fabrics — there’s been no good answer.

It simply could not be done.

But late last week, Ben Romo — agent, friend, and spokesperson for the media-averse Yardi — described exactly how Yardi got the permits needed to build 14 units of below-market workforce housing right in the heart of downtown across the Street from the El Paseo shopping complex — still dripping with history — and just spitting distance from the Paseo Nuevo mall.