Downtown Santa Barbara, which is in the midst of an economic slump, may have a road map back to success in the months ahead.
Businesses owners are looking to get creative with the designs for their available spaces, from the Waterfront to Sola Street primarily.
There are still many unanswered questions for a redesign of La Cumbre Plaza, but there are no shortage of ideas, including developing hundreds of housing units, or new retail in the area.
The Radius Group held an event Tuesday in Santa Barbara where they displayed their economic forecast review.
The Group says that some blocks of the downtown's State Street are rebounding faster than others, and it's clear some of the proposals would take longer in large retail spaces like the vacant Macy's and Staples stores.
On the other hand, multiple offers are coming in on available smaller sites.
The forecast adds that commercial space is almost unavailable in large sizes in Carpinteria and Santa Barbara, and that if businesses want to grow, they must move to Goleta, where big companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have already set up shop.
