Paseo Nuevo Explained

34.419°N -119.7005°WPaseo Nuevo is an 458000square feet open-air shopping center in downtown Santa Barbara, California. It is integrated into the street grid on and around lower State Street, both in terms of its Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, but also in that its pedestrian promenades, are similarly positioned mid-block at right angles to the surrounding streets, as are the traditional alleyways of the city's downtown.

The center opened in 1990, was anchored by Nordstrom and a 140000square feet Broadway department store.[1] The mall was built by the Santa Barbara City Redevelopment Agency, and John Field was the architect.[2]

The Broadway was converted to Macy's, which closed in 2017. That building is, as of mid-2020, still empty, and is now referred to as the Ortega Building. The Nordstrom closed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Plans were put forward in 2019 for the center's renovation and repositioning.[3] With the closing of Nordstrom, plans were presented to convert that space to housing and a hotel.[4] [5]

Notes and References

  1. News: The Broadway to Open Friday . September 10, 2020 . Lompoc Record . August 16, 1990 . 3.
  2. News: A mall for Santa Barbara . The Sacramento Bee . June 24, 1989 . January 1, 2021 . F4.
  3. https://paseonuevoshopping.com/pacific-retail-capital-partners-and-j-p-morgan-acquire-former-macys-building-at-paseo-nuevo-in-downtown-santa-barbara-2/ "A Classic Reinvented: Paseo Nuevo Renovations Underway: Renovation of Paseo Nuevo Plans Revealed" (Press Release), Paseo Nuevo website
  4. Web site: Molina . Joshua . 2020-06-17 . Management of Paseo Nuevo in Santa Barbara Considering Housing, Hotel for Nordstrom Building Business . 2023-09-21 . Noozhawk . en-US.
  5. Web site: Welsh . Nick . 2023-09-20 . Santa Barbara City Council Excited to Rebuild the Paseo Nuevo Mall . 2023-09-21 . The Santa Barbara Independent . en-US.