City of Santa Barbara Leaders Are Split on Proposed 66-Room Hotel Replacing The Press Room
After a Heated Debate and a Split Vote, City Planning Commission Kicks Project Down the Road
A proposed four-story, 66-room hotel that would take the place of longtime downtown hangout The Press Room sparked a heated debate last week at the Planning Commission, where the six commissioners were split down the middle over the development, eventually agreeing to kick the project down the road until the applicants could prove the hotel wouldn’t have an adverse effect on the city’s housing crisis.
The hotel, which is on property owned by SIMA and designed by architect Kevin Moore, was originally proposed with housing in 2020, but since then the developers pivoted to a hotel project, citing higher costs for construction that would make building housing financially unfeasible.
Community members flooded the city with public comments after hearing The Press Room would be demolished, and the fact that the city has been prioritizing housing has earned the project a “significant outpour of opposition,” according to Commissioner Devon Wardlow.
