Ratings agencies unfazed as county pension costs rise
Despite dire warnings that future pension costs could cause a fiscal meltdown for tri-county governments, credit ratings for Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo county bonds remain mostly unaffected by looming gaps in their retirement obligation funding.
Standard & Poor’s, a leading rating agency, ranks all three counties near the top of a scale that spans from its highest AAA to C, the lowest rating a bond can have without defaulting. Santa Barbara County carries the agency’s second highest AA-plus designation. Ventura County is assigned a slightly lower AA-rating this year and SLO County is ranked AA-minus.
Santa Barbara tourist hostel sells as developers eye lower State St.
“We were drawn [to the property] by the proximity to the Amtrak station and lower State Street, but really the hostel is in its own class for budget-savvy kinds of travelers and international students,” said Jared Filippone, a vice president with Capitoline Properties, which recently purchased the hostel.
Paso looks to future after long-delayed step toward 11 AVAs
The TTB designates viticultural areas to help vintners better describe the origin of their wines and to inform consumers about wines they might purchase.
Massive retail and apartment project in Goleta is under way
Developer Westar Associates has broken ground on Hollister Village, a mixed-use project in Goleta that will include 266 apartments and a shopping center.
After years in the planning process that included fierce opposition from some neighborhood activists, Costa Mesa-based Westar secured approvals for the project at Hollister Avenue and Glen Annie Road in October 2012.
Banking on downtown SLO: Heritage Oaks buys former Union Bank building
The multimillion-dollar sale of a prime property in the heart of the Central Coast’s busiest downtown comes amid a flurry of building activity that had some developers bidding on the lot in hopes of developing the bank building’s adjacent parking lot, which faces the corner of Marsh and Osos streets. But the timing was too good for Heritage Oaks to pass the location up, said Simone Lagomarsino, the bank’s CEO.
Central Coast opens doors for flood of Chinese tourists
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