The Clock Ticking, Yardi Seeks Worker Housing

Santa Barbara Newsroom
By Tom Schultz
April 9, 2007

An 11th-hour request by company officials Monday has set the stage for the addition of employee housing to an Old Town Goleta project that's been years in the making.

Yardi Systems Inc. is now on track for a construction time extension that could bring up to 50 homes in addition to office space on property near the Santa Barbara Airport.

At a hearing before the City Council, company officials said that without worker housing it would be difficult to recruit and retain employees.

In a 5-0 vote, the City Council agreed to engage Yardi officials in a new round of project review. The council set a May 7 hearing to consider amendments to an approved 2001 development plan currently governing construction at the site near the Santa Barbara Airport.

“We have had some issues with recruiting and retaining employees,” Gordon Morrell, Yardi executive vice president and chief operating officer, told the council.

It’s a refrain that has filled board rooms, economic forecasts and government chambers up and down the South Coast in recent years, as housing costs have soared. Morrell said that Yardi might incorporate up to 50 new homes, including perhaps 10 rental units.
“This is a very, very rough number,” Morrell said. “We are very new at this.”
Yardi employees would get first priority for the new homes, according to the company.

On Monday, all five council members appeared sympathetic and several complimented Yardi on its effort to expand employer-sponsored housing for workers.

“This is a vital thing we need to consider, housing for our employees,” Mayor Jean Blois said.

Councilman Michael Bennett said the city and Yardi had nothing to lose by exploring their options. The project might help Yardi stay local, he said.

“This is an opportunity for us to be flexible,” Bennett said.

Councilman Eric Onnen suggested that a long extension could be a problem and said he hoped the city would pressure the company to finish in a reasonable stretch of time.

The coming months could bring a clear test of how the council members who were elected last November may handle the design review questions — the size, bulk and scale of projects and how many units to include — that haunt Goleta politics week after week.

Yardi's request came formally in a Thursday letter to the city, which had first learned of the idea about two weeks ago, according to Planning Director Steve Chase.

As currently approved, the Yardi project along South Fairview Avenue near Ekwill Street would add a 73,000-square-foot office building to properties that already hold a 60,800-square-foot workplace and a 108,000 square-foot office building.

Before the extension, the construction of Yardi's third and newest building was slated to begin before Oct. 23 to satisfy terms of the original project approval. Santa Barbara County signed off on the project before Goleta incorporated in 2002.

The third round of construction might have started in a couple of weeks, Morrell said.

“We are that close,” he said. “Our preference, however, is to take care of what we consider the real need.”

While supportive of working with Yardi, Councilwoman Jonny Wallis suggested that a degree of caution was warranted.

Choosing between housing and space for high-paying jobs could prove tricky, she said. Wallis said that adding housing should not get in the way of the expansion of nearby industrial areas.

“We have to be careful,” said Wallis, who lives in Old Town. “Let’s get the issues on the table."