Whole Foods Market open for business at Regency Centers' Paseo del Sol in Santa Barbara

PRLog (Press Release) - Nov 27, 2009 -
Regency Centers (regencycenters.com), a national owner, operator and developer of grocery-anchored and community shopping centers, has announced the grand opening of Whole Foods Market at Paseo del Sol shopping center along with the formal opening of the center.

On October 7, the grocer held a welcoming event for customers including a bread breaking ceremony, tours and complimentary food tastings, goodie bags and a free barbeque. Additionally, a week-long schedule of activities began with more giveaways and promotions along with a community service day dedicated to giving five percent of net sales to the Santa Barbara PARC Foundation. The Whole Foods location features a permanent tile mural created by the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students of Hope Elementary School, with help from a locally-owned ceramic store.

According to Erwin Bucy, Regency Centers senior vice president of investments, Whole Foods features its high quality line of natural and organic foods at 3761 State Street in Santa Barbara, CA. The 29,700 square foot store is the first Whole Foods Market location in Santa Barbara and the key anchor tenant at the new development. The store will feature an expanded variety of natural, organic and gourmet grocery items and deli products, exotic meats and seafood, cheeses and salads, locally grown fruits and vegetables, European-style bakery, chef-prepared and take-out foods along with a premium and organic beer and wine section and extensive natural health care and beauty products department. The store will also carry eco-chic clothing, shoes, accessories and home goods.

The Whole Foods opening at Paseo del Sol marks the shopping center’s formal name change. Previously known as Shops of Santa Barbara, Paseo del Sol features 51,848 square feet of space for retail, restaurants and service businesses. “With our new name and prestigious anchor tenant, we are poised to serve the neighborhood as an active member of Santa Barbara’s business community and to satisfy shoppers with quality retail in the region,” said Bucy.

The Whole Foods opening is a milestone event for the center which is registered for certification with the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The center features a cutting-edge green and sustainable design as chartered by Regency’s greengenuity™ program. The program follows the latest advances in green building design, construction, operations and maintenance to reduce the use of natural resources and to increase operational efficiencies at the company’s new developments and existing shopping centers.  

“As a LEED registered project, we are working towards achieving sustainability credits at Paseo del Sol in five USGBC green design categories, including sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources and indoor environmental quality,” said Bucy. “We expect that our specifications will exceed the State of California’s Title 24 requirements for buildings with energy-efficiency standards. We’re also expecting to achieve a 30 percent reduction in water use through the installation of a smart irrigation system,” he said.

Some of the center’s greengenuity™ features include a new parking lot lighting system to contain illumination within the project and reduce light pollution. Bicycle storage areas will be installed to encourage the use of bicycles in the community. Also, the center is located in a public transportation corridor to encourage pedestrian traffic along with close access to the City of Santa Barbara’s non-polluting electric shuttle buses.
The center will also feature one of Regency’s first computer monitoring software programs to view operating performance and ensure that mechanical, electrical and irrigation systems are operating per specifications. Additionally, a portion of the power consumed by the project will come from renewable sources to include collection facilities that will encourage merchants to recycle waste materials. Use of materials that are extracted, harvested and manufactured locally will be used to reduce the impact of hauling and transportation.

“Regency Centers and Whole Foods Market share the same strong commitment to sustainability,” said Bucy.  “Although Regency and Whole Foods are pursuing certification under the USGBC’s LEED program independently, we worked together to incorporate sustainable standards into the site work such as drought-resistant landscaping, water-efficient irrigation, and preferred carpool parking, just to name a few,” he said. “In addition, the City of Santa Barbara has a strong commitment to sustainability. City officials assisted us with an expedited plan for project check points due to the sustainability commitments from Regency and Whole Foods,” he said.

“We are honored to welcome Whole Foods Market to our center. The upscale grocer has strict criteria that we met in customer demographics along with population and high traffic requirements. Whole Foods will offer a unique shopping environment and enhance the local retail shopping experience,” said Bucy.

Regency is the leading national owner, operator, and developer of grocery-anchored and community shopping centers. At June 30, 2009, the Company owned 409 retail properties, including those held in co-investment partnerships. Including tenant-owned square footage, the portfolio encompassed 54.7 million square feet located in top markets throughout the United States. Since 2000 Regency has developed 194 shopping centers, including those currently in-process, representing an investment at completion of $3.0 billion. Operating as a fully integrated real estate company, Regency is a qualified real estate investment trust that is self-administered and self-managed.

More on retail space in Santa Barbara: http://www.regencycenters.com/retail-space/CA/Santa-Barbara