There’s a new plan in the works for two long-vacant buildings anchoring Paseo Nuevo in downtown Santa Barbara, in a shift that could bring up to 600 employees to the empty Macy’s building and 112 units of housing to the Nordstrom property, if negotiations work out over the next few weeks.
After the previous proposal for a grand rehaul of Paseo Nuevo was put on hold indefinitely, the multiple parties sharing ownership of the downtown mall pursued alternatives, with the latest viable option coming from longtime Santa Barbara–based real estate software company Yardi Systems, which is looking to move its corporate headquarters into the Macy’s building on the corner of Ortega and State streets.
Ben Romo, a spokesperson for Yardi Systems, confirmed that the company is “exploring an adaptive reuse” proposal for the building, though he said the deal was still in negotiations and he could not provide details until all parties came to agreement…