Isla Vista businesses get makeover

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

An effort to spruce up the exterior of Isla Vista businesses with the help of tens-of-thousands in matching dollars from Santa Barbara County has been underway for more than four months and the first project has already reached the finish line.
C.T. Brandt, owner of the Eclectic I.V. restaurant on Pardall Road, said he and his landlord took the county up on their offer to provide as much as $10,000 in matching, reimbursement funds earlier this spring and now have a new store front.


“We already serve some of the best food in IV, but now we also have a cool looking lace for people to hang out,” Brandt said, adding that the final touches of plaster are being added to the storefront this week.
The program, dubbed the Downtown Facade Improvement Program for Isla Vista, was developed late last year and was funded with about $75,000 in county money in June.
Since then, Jamie Goldstein, deputy director for the County Redevelopment Agency, said the program has reached capacity and won’t be accepting new applications from business and land owners anytime soon.
“It’s really about helping find ways how to get some private sector investment in Isla Vista,” Goldstein said.
Goldstein said about 10 applications from businesses and landowners are currently in the pipeline.
In order to streamline the process and cut individual business expenses, Goldstein said all of the projects have been designed by Shubin and Donaldson Architects.
Of the $75,000 provided by the county, $15,000 goes toward design while the remainder is funneled directly to construction costs, Goldstein said.
He said each business is eligible to receive a maximum of $10,000 in matching grant money.
If several different businesses share one building, which is often the case in Isla Vista, each business could be eligible to receive that amount, which could then be used to multiply the size and quality of a project.
For example, Brandt shares a building with a Wells Fargo bank branch. He said the contract between his landlord and the county says the landowner could receive as much as $20,000 in funds from the county, which would fund half of a $40,000 project.
Brandt said he did not yet know the total cost of his building’s project and as a result, could only say that the county would contribute half of the total if it is at or under $40,000.
According to a statement issued by Third District Supervisor and Chair of the Board Brooks Firestone, “projects funded by the program should improve the overall visual character of Downtown Isla Vista and can include paint, display windows, signs, doors and entrances, awnings and landscaping.”
Given the success of the program so far, Goldstein said the Redevelopment Agency will likely request additional funding next year.
“Overall I think it’s been real positive from our perspective as staff and I know the supervisors are excited about it as well,” he said. “It’s a good little program.”
Firestone agreed.
“Working with small business owners continues to be one of our priorities,” Firestone said. “This program is another example of how we are finding creative ways to form partnerships and see positive improvements in the community.”