Spanish Colonial Revival arcades fold into the city block around you, home to Paseo Nuevo's 458,000 square feet of open-air shops. It sits integrated into the street grid on and around lower State Street, its Spanish Colonial Revival architecture folding into the city. The pedestrian promenades run mid-block at right angles to the surrounding streets, echoing the traditional alleyways of the downtown you can sense all around.
The center opened in 1990 and was originally anchored by Nordstrom and a 140,000-square-foot Broadway department store. It was built by the Santa Barbara City Redevelopment Agency and designed by architect John Field. The Broadway was later converted to Macy's; that Macy's closed in 2017 and that building, as of mid-2020, remains empty and is now referred to as the Ortega Building.
Nordstrom closed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Plans were put forward in 2019 for the center's renovation and repositioning, and with the closing of Nordstrom plans were presented to convert that space to housing and a hotel. Follow the Spanish-style facades along the promenades to the empty Ortega Building, then on down lower State Street.