BY THE NUMBERS

Below is a list of the top 15 private property investors in Isla Vista, ranked by the assessed value of their holdings on the county’s 2014-2015 property tax roll. Together, they own 2,808 bedrooms, or one in three in the community.

Owner-investors No. properties / bedrooms Net assessed

property value

in millions

Tropicana Gardens Holdings LLC 1 / 279 69.4

This shell company with an address in Fort Wayne, Ind. owns Tropicana Gardens, an apartment building at 6585 El Colegio Rd. that caters chiefly to Santa Barbara City College students. The property was purchased in 2010.

Essex Property Trust, Inc. 3 / 304 63.6

This $14 billion real estate investment trust, based in Palo Alto, has ownership interests in 241 apartment complexes on the West Coast. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange: it saw revenue grow by 13.6 percent in the first quarter of this year. Essex purchased the CBC Apartments (Colonial, Balboa and Cortez) at 6711 and 6721 El Colegio Road and The Sweeps at 775 Camino del Sur in 2006. The Isla Vista Foot Patrol views them as “nuisance properties” because of the large number of calls they generate.

Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. 2 / 236 44.7

In 2010, this national real estate investment, development and management firm headquartered in Boston purchased the Breakpointe and Coronado apartments at 6672 Abrego and 6626 Picasso roads, respectively, on behalf of its U.S. Real Estate Investment Fund. Intercontinental manages a portfolio of more than $4 billion in private equity funds. Peter Palandjian, whose father started the company in 1959, is the chairman and CEO.

Fontainebleu Holdings, LLC 3 / 241 43.8

This shell company uses the same Fort Wayne, Ind. address as the owner of Tropicana Gardens, and both companies list Isla Vista Investors Inc., another shell company, as a member. Fontainebleu purchased Tropicana del Norte at 6525 El Colegio Road, Tropicana Villas at 811 Camino Pescadero and a parking lot at 6510 Cervantes Road in 2010.

James Gelb 32 / 214 39.3

Gelb, a UCSB graduate and Montecito resident, is the largest single South Coast owner of property in Isla Vista. He owns 29 properties on Del Playa Drive, more than any other owner on the street. Gelb owns Del Playa Rentals, a property management company.

Edward St. George 27 / 247 30.3

St. George of Goleta built Campus 880, an energy-efficient apartment building at 880 Camino del Sur, and the St. George Family and Youth Center across the street at Estero Park. Over the years, St. George has sold a number of Isla Vista properties to James Gelb. St. George owns St. George & Associates, a property management company in Isla Vista. Last July, St. George sold The Hive apartments at 6563 Trigo Road to M&A CP Fresno LLC, an Encino-based shell company, for $3.6 million. He purchased the property in 1999 for $225,000.

HSRE Isla Vista I, LLC 1 / 40 / commercial 29.2

Harrison Street Real Estate Capital, a Chicago-based real estate investment firm, bought The Loop, a modern building with high-end student apartments and three retail spaces at 6533 Trigo Road in Isla Vista’s downtown, in 2013. Harrison Street manages $7.5 billion in property assets and publicly traded securities across the U.S. The firm was founded in 2005 by Christopher Merrill, a former pension fund manager, in partnership with Chris and Mike Galvin, of the founding family of Motorola, Inc.

SH Icon Santa Barbara, LLC 3 / 90 / commercial 28.8

This shell company with a Chicago address bought the Icon, a mixed-use building, and Icon Gardens, an apartment building, for $38.5 million in March from a shell company called Campus Icon Gardens LLC with a Beverly Hills address. It is the largest real estate sale in Isla Vista in 2015 to date. The Icon properties are located at 6545 Trigo and 6530 Seville roads in downtown Isla Vista.

Warkentin family 17 / 377 23.1

This family owns more bedrooms in Isla Vista than any other property owner. John Warkentin of Santa Barbara was a national champion in the decathlon in 1970. He and his wife Mardi began buying rental property in Isla Vista in the early 1970s, when John was training at UCSB. The Warkentin family owns Kamap Property Management and the Penthouse, Aladdin and Carriage House apartments at 6621 Abrego Road, 6512 Segovia Road, and 796 Embarcadero del Norte, respectively, among others. In 2011, John and Mardi Warkentin donated $500,000 toward a synthetic turf field for the newly-named Warkentin Stadium at San Marcos High School.

Capitoline Properties LLC 1 / 66 14.4

Capitoline Properties, a Santa Barbara real estate firm, bought The Tahitian, an apartment building at 6739 El Colegio Road, for $14 million in 2013. The Isla Vista Foot Patrol views The Tahitian as a “nuisance property” because of the large number of calls it generates. Capitoline also owns the Santa Barbara Tourist Hostel in Santa Barbara. Jared Filippone is a vice-president of Capitoline. The president’s name is hidden under LLC registration.

Kitson family 18 / 98 12.6

Brent and Sally Kitson of Goleta founded an orchard and gardening service in 1969 to help pay their way through UCSB. Kitson Landscape Management Inc. now has 90 employees and regularly wins the Independent’s annual “Best of …” reader’s poll in the gardening and landscaping category.

MJW Investments Inc. 3 / 83 11.9

This Santa Monica real estate company bought the Capri Apartments at 6598 Seville Road and 6778 and 6788 Abrego Road in 2007. MJW also owns student housing near universities in four other states. The Capri Apartments on Seville were the site of three of the six murders in Isla Vista on May 23, 2014, and the parents are suing the owner and manager for alleged negligence. In January of this year, MJW brought in Redstone Residential to manage the Capri Apartments in Isla Vista. The president and founder of MJW is Mark Weinstein, a UCSB graduate.

Harwin family 19 / 107 10.3

The family of the late Jerry Harwin, a founder of Elings Park and the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table, also owns Harwin & Co., a property management company. Ed Harwin and the late Howard Harwin began building rental apartments in Isla Vista in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Harwin family members today live in Goleta and Los Gatos, Calif. and Incline Village, Nev.

Islay Investments Santa Barbara 1 / 303 7.4

Tony Romasanta, a Santa Barbara lawyer, is the general partner of Islay Investments, which purchased Garden Court at 6689 El Colegio in 1978 for $4 million. Garden Court is the single largest apartment complex in Isla Vista. Romasanta also owns the Harbor View Inn, a luxury hotel on the Santa Barbara waterfront.

Eckert family 3 / 123 7.1

Chuck Eckert, a semi-retired Goleta lawyer with a general practice, is the chairman of the Isla Vista Property Owners Association and the owner of La Loma Apartments at 851 Camino Pescadero, Seaview Apartments at 6565 Sabado Tarde Road, and Abrego Gardens Apartments at 6679 Abrego Road. Eckert also is a part owner of the Skyview Luxury Apartments at 910 Camino Pescadero (assessed value: $2.3 million, 42 bedrooms), and he owns Eckert Investments, a property management company.

Sources: Santa Barbara County Assessor’s 2014-2015 property tax roll for Isla Vista; Isla Vista Recreation and Park District, 2014-2015 Final Engineer’s Report and 1997 Special Tax Roll; independent research.