Lee & Associates Arranges $15M Sale of Saks Building in Santa Barbara

The investment sale is the former Saks 5th Avenue in downtown Santa Barbara

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—December 18, 2015—Saks Off 5th Avenue, a 46,813-square-foot retail building located at 1001 State Street in downtown Santa Barbara, was purchased for $15.5 million.

Stephen Leider and Clarice Clarke, principals at Lee & Associates Santa Barbara, represented the seller, State Street Properties LLC. The buyer was Hollywood Western Holding Co, LLC. The building, which is one block from the Paseo Nuevo Mall, is located at the epicenter of Santa Barbara retail where vacancy rates are low and barriers to entry are high.

“This iconic, trophy retail site, which is located in the downtown corridor at the main intersection in the CBD, was an off-market investment sale,” said Leider, who noted that he and Clarke had originally leased the property to Saks 5th Avenue 20 years ago. “In October 2015 the tenant re-opened the store as Saks Off 5th to a very receptive customer base. The Off 5th store is reporting brisk sales and is well received in Santa Barbara. At this point, Off 5th still has term remaining on its current lease and plans to remain for the near term.”

In recent years, State Street has become popular with cost-conscience retailers such as H&M, Marshalls and Forever 21, which occupy the prominent retail locations.