Jacaranda Court – Under Construction – Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara

The Housing Authority is in the process of developing a new affordable housing project at 400 W. Carrillo St., targeted to Santa Barbara’s workforce, specifically “missing middle” households that earn too much to qualify for low-income affordable housing but not enough to afford market-rate rents. These are typically moderate-income households, defined as earning between 80% and 120% of the Area Median Income.

The project will provide 63 new rental apartments in a three- and four-story building. There will be 7 units restricted to low-income households (80% of area median income (AMI) and below) with Project-Based Section 8 Vouchers already approved. The remaining units will be for moderate income households (residents earning incomes ranging from 80% to 120% of AMI) except that one unit will be an onsite manager apartment. The overall unit mix will be: 21 studios, 37 one-bedroom units and 5 two-bedroom units. At-grade parking will be provided for 63 vehicles.

This is a well-located property, walking distance to downtown’s State Street, with substantial retail and service amenities. It has excellent transportation access to the bus system along both Castillo Street and Carrillo Street and is a short distance from the Carrillo 101 Freeway on/off-ramp.

Timeline of the project

Since 2018, Housing Authority staff have been working with the City of Santa Barbara on exploring the possibility of developing rental housing on City-owned surface parking lots.
In 2019, the Santa Barbara City Council provided approval for Housing Authority and City staff to determine the feasibility of developing rental housing on a specific, underutilized commuter lot, 400 W. Carrillo St.
In 2020, a Memorandum of Understanding was executed between the City and the Housing Authority to memorialize this intent.
July 27, 2020, the Housing Authority, City of Santa Barbara staff and Cearnal Collective held a community meeting for neighbors to introduce the concept and gather feedback (recording below).
In September of 2021, the Housing Authority entered into a Project Agreement with the City allowing the Housing Authority to move forward with affordable housing development plans for the site.
In August of 2023 the Santa Barbara Planning Commission unanimously approved the project.
In September 2023 the Santa Barbara City Council voted unanimously to approve the development agreement with the Housing Authority. Under the terms of the development agreement, the City donated the site for the purposes of creating this housing complex.
Late December 2025 or early January 2026 – construction expected to begin.
September 2027 – Completion of construction and full occupancy.

Community Meeting – July 27, 2020

We received valuable feedback and questions from the community at the meeting, which was an essential component in the planning process.

If you have any questions or feedback for the Housing Authority, City of Santa Barbara or Cearnal Collective, please feel free to email us at: 400WCarrillo@hacsb.org

Link for watching the video of the Carrillo/Castillo Commuter Lot – Community Meeting 7/27/2020

password to view video: $KKXxv0?

Link for PDF of PowerPoint slides presented at meeting