Los Olivos Street

Project Status Report (as of 4-8-2026)

The developer of the 505 E Los Olivos St site proposes the construction of an eight-story, 468,816 square foot building atop a three-story parking structure. The building would contain 270 residential rental units, and the underlying parking structure would accommodate 445 cars. The almost 5-acre development site adjoins Mission Creek on its north side and the Santa Barbara Mission on its south side. The two existing residential structures built by the Hazard family in the 1880s would be demolished, and the new building would then cover most of the hillside.

After having issued the developer, Mission LLC, several letters of incompleteness regarding the company’s application for a building permit, and after having received several revisions, the City of Santa Barbara deemed the application complete in April 2025. This did not mean the project would be approved, but that it could proceed through the appropriate project reviews. The project has remained stalled since that time because Mission LLC has not paid any of the requisite fees for the cost of either the construction review or the environmental review, as explained below:

• The City requires payment of fees for an official review of construction plans. The initial review identified 46 of 55 construction mandates that the application failed to address or addressed in a way inconsistent with code. These were all outlined to the applicant in a consistency review letter issued by the City on April 29, 2025. To continue the process, the applicant needs not only to address the inconsistencies with the City’s codes, but to pay for additional city review.
• Under a law passed last August, Senate Bill 158, the proposed project meets the criteria for which a complete environmental impact review cannot be waived. The applicant, thus, must pay for the City’s consultant to study and report on many areas of potential environmental impact and assess whether the project can achieve acceptable levels of mitigation if necessary. Areas of environmental study include, but are not limited to, fire hazards, traffic impacts, watershed issues, and archeological and historic impacts contained within the site and its surroundings.

In the meantime, three distinct lawsuits concerning this proposal have been filed:

1. The County of Santa Barbara has sued the titular property owner, Mission LLC, demanding payment of back property taxes. The owner claims the current two residential buildings are being used as religious facilities and are thus exempt from property taxes. This suit is pending in Santa Barbara Superior Court.
2. The Mission LLC, as represented by Ben Eilenberg, has sued the City of Santa Barbara, asserting that under a clause of California law known as Builder’s Remedy, the project should be allowed to proceed directly for review by the City’s Building and Safety Department without design or environmental impact review. This suit is also pending in local Superior Court.
3. Mission LLC has filed a lawsuit in United States Federal Court against the State of California and the City of Santa Barbara, alleging violation of their constitutionally protected property rights. This filing is in response to California Senate Bill 158, passed into law in August 2025, which would require a full environmental impact analysis for this project, or any similar ones in the state. The judge has put this case on hold until the plaintiffs can show actual damages.

Key Documents