Neighborhood at State & Hope | David Baker Architects

Santa Barbara CA | In Design

Exterior street rendering corner of State and Plaza the at The Neighborhood of State & Hope.

The largest private housing development in Santa Barbara’s history, the Neighborhood at State and Hope will transform the sprawling site of an outmoded department store into a walkable community with mixed-income homes, neighborhood-serving retail, and a network of landscaped courtyards and paseos—all referencing the historic downtown fabric of the city.

Paseo.

Image Credit

David Baker Architects

The Neighborhood at State and Hope reimagines a nearly 9-acre site in the Upper State Street area of Santa Barbara with the transformation of a 1960s department store and extensive surface parking lot into a vibrant, people-first community.

The largest private housing development in Santa Barbara to date, the site and plan present a bold opportunity to create a substantial amount of sensitive, contextual homes in a low-density city facing a severe housing shortage. With a size and density unprecedented for the city, this project strives to be sensitive to place—drawing diverse inspiration from the local context to appropriately scale the urban design, public realm, streetscape, and material assemblies to complement the historic context of the city. Community engagement events have included more than 500 residents and neighbors.

Designed in collaboration with Santa Barbara firm The Cearnal Collective, the expansive plan includes 680 mixed-income homes across six buildings, supported by 27,000 sf of curated local retail space—including micro-retail, a market, and an eclectic range of eateries.

The plan and housing design draw thoughtfully on the rich history of Santa Barbara’s iconic Lower State Street, celebrated for its Spanish Colonial architecture, palm-dotted public realm, and continuous urban street walls. In keeping with these distinctive surroundings, the new community prioritizes people via a well-designed network of paseos, courtyards, and plazas that encourage walking, engagement, and connection.

Below-grade residential parking frees the site area for a rich pedestrian landscape in keeping with the overall tone of the coastal city’s distinctive urban fabric.

The all-electric residential buildings include roof-mounted solar arrays and energy efficient systems and fixtures. Site design includes low-water-use and drought tolerant, native, and regionally appropriate plantings as well as extensive stormwater management measures.

DBA is partnered with Cearnal Collective for the site planning and urban design, and DBA is the Architect for three of the six buildings.