Venerable Santa Barbara law firm will remain in Freitas Building

California’s oldest law firm, Price, Postel & Parma LLP, just renewed its lease for 15 years in the four-story Freitas Building  located at 200 East Carrillo Street in Santa Barbara.  The Freitas Building is one of the premier downtown office buildings, located at the corner of Carrillo and Santa Barbara streets and under continual ownership by the Freitas family for more than 30 years.  The firm will continue to occupy the entire fourth floor and a suite on the third totaling 14,235 sf of office space.

In terms of square footage, this is the fifth largest Santa Barbara office lease of the year, a year which so far has featured a spate of large office leases downtown (see table below).  For context, downtown Santa Barbara has seen 11 office leases larger than 14,000 sf signed in the past five years, and five of those leases have been completed in the past six months.

Francois DeJohn and Steve Hayes of Hayes Commercial Group represented Price, Postel & Parma, while Greg Bartholomew of Hayes Commercial Group and Jerry Beaver of Pacifica Commercial Realty represented the landlord, Joe A. Freitas & Sons.

“This was not a typical lease renewal,” said Greg Bartholomew. “The parties were in negotiation over the course of two years.  In the end, the landlord agreed to perform substantial upgrades to the common areas and other features of the building, while the tenant will provide extensive improvements to the premises to address changes in law practice over the years.  Both parties will benefit from the arrangement.”

“The Freitas Building has been an excellent location for Price, Postel & Parma for many years, and the firm was committed to staying in the downtown business district and near the Courthouse, so we were glad to negotiate a lease that allowed them to do so,” said Francois DeJohn.

Price, Postel & Parma traces its lineage back to 1852, making it Santa Barbara’s oldest continuous business and California’s oldest law firm.  Drawing on this rich tradition, the firm’s diversified practice areas serve businesses, institutions and individual clients throughout the Tri-Counties and beyond.