Edhat Staff
By edhat staff
The Santa Barbara Public Market and an adjacent building have sold to two local families.
The sale is estimated to be about $10 million and was purchased by Winn and Twining families. The market at 38 W. Victoria St. sold for $7.65 million and the vacant commercial condo at 28 W. Victoria St. sold for $2.25 million., according to the Pacific Coast Business Times.
The market on the corner of Chapala and Victoria Streets used to be the home of a Vons grocery store and parking lot. The market opened in 2014 with a grocery store, butcher, and cheese shop fashioned after the Ferry Building in San Francisco where visitors shop daily for fresh groceries.
The concept didn’t exactly catch on with Santa Barbara residents and the market pivoted to a “premier food hall” featuring beer and wine service with merchants selling ice cream, sushi, pizza, noodles, and tacos.
The new owners plan to fill the vacant spots with new ideas so the space can be more of a community meeting place, and the empty condo might turn into a private club with an event center, reports the Pacific Coast Business Times.
Congrats to new owners. I love the building and the concept. Initial idea was great. Rents were high and most of the high end groceries for sale were too expensive. Sheets of pasta for a lasagna for eight was more than $70!!! Kid behind the butcher counter was clueless as to how to cut up a whole chicken. Biggest lesson is that the quality places like Empty Bowl and Corazon still thrive and are among the best restaurant food in town. I hope new owners have a nose for talent and hard work and will be willing to give a foot up to new businesses and even some managerial advice in order to create a consistent standard and help new businesses flourish. (That goes for all of State Street I guess)