Radius Q1 report highlights record-breaking sales volume
Santa Barbara County’s South Coast commercial real estate market started off the new year with a bang, carried by the largest non-hotel CRE deal ever completed in the area, according to Radius Commercial Real Estate’s Q1 report.
Announced April 20, the south coast CRE market sales volume hit $361 million across 40 transactions, a record-high, according to the report. Despite the high figure, the actual market was carried by two deals.
One of them includes Majestic Asset Management’s sale of 17 buildings related to its Tech Park at Goleta portfolio to Praelium Commercial Real Estate. The Business Times reported that the deal was valued at $235 million, making it the largest commercial sale in Santa Barbara, not including hospitality deals.
The second-highest deal ever completed on the South Coast would be the former headquarters of software firm QAD in the Santa Barbara area, which sold for an estimated $104 million to the University of California, according to a deed filed with the Santa Barbara County Clerk-Recorder in June 2022.
The deal went through in February off-market, according to Hayes Commercial Real Estate. Francois DeJohn and Caitlin Hensel of Hayes Commercial Group represented all parties, according to Hayes CRE.
The other significant deal in the quarter was The Post Montecito, which sold for $56 million on March 18, according to a social media post by Traded. Located on 1801 East Cabrillo Boulevard, the shopping center was acquired by Asana Partners, a retail real estate investment firm based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Excluding those two sales, the quarter totaled 26 transactions and just under $70 million in volume — still an improvement year-over-year, but more indicative of a steady, selective investment environment rather than broad-based acceleration, according to the report.
“It was a record quarter on paper — but not a broad-based surge,” said Rhonda Henderson, vice president of Radius CRE. “When you strip out the two largest transactions, what you’re left with is a market that’s improving — but still very selective.”
The report also highlighted that downtown Santa Barbara’s State Street commercial corridor has seen measurable improvement in vacancy, declining from a peak of 48 storefronts to approximately 30 — closer to pre-pandemic levels.
“State Street isn’t being ‘fixed’ by a single policy decision,” said Justin Diem, vice president of Radius CRE. “What we’re seeing is steady, private-sector momentum — incremental, but real.”
Leasing activity across the South Coast showed modest but measurable gains as office vacancy declined in Santa Barbara (9.2%) and Goleta (7.9%). Industrial fundamentals improved slightly despite limited deal volume and retail vacancy remained low at approximately 3.2%, according to the report.
