Cheryl Goldberg remembers the lightbulb moment. Her husband, Michael Goldberg, had recently died, and she was talking to Shauna Quill, then the brand-new CEO of the Music Academy of the West, about funding some guitar classes in Michael’s honor. That was last year. Back in the ’60s, when Michael Goldberg was still living in Chicago, he loved hitting the coffee-house music scene, taking in as many of the folk singers and guitar players as he could. Some would make it big; many found more modest success at home.
That was back before Goldberg himself would make it big as one of the foundational players in the Berkshire Hathaway investment universe centered in Omaha, Nebraska, and before he and his wife moved to Santa Barbara in 2002. Guitar classes and music, Cheryl Goldberg thought, would resonate with who her husband was and what he loved.
Turns out, it was more complicated than that. The buildings located on the Music Academy’s Miraflores Montecito estate was maxed out. It had no more available space for such an undertaking. Goldberg and Quill began to seek out Plan B.
This Tuesday, that plan came to fruitful conclusion, as Goldberg and Quill closed escrow on a $10 million property — the long-vacant Forever 21 building located at 901 State Street. That’s just the beginning.
Their dream is to convert the property — a two-story building with a 6,000-square-foot basement and one of the great unsung rooftop terraces in Santa Barbara — into a downtown extension of the Music Academy with high-octane classical music classes and rehearsals. To get there will require some serious interior and acoustic transformation. Goldberg donated the $10 million to buy the building from longtime downtown commercial landlord Ray Mahboob, and the Music Academy is committed to raising another $15 million to make the improvements.
For the Music Academy and Quill, it’s a big bold step. While the Music Academy has long enjoyed international renown, for many in Santa Barbara, it still remains one of the town’s best-kept secrets.
The building has solid bones, dramatic lines, a picturesque two-story window, and a prime location, but it has remained empty since the clothing store closed. A cannabis emporium was tossed about but was DOA. Then a hotel was proposed. But a first-rate music rehearsal space that would attract accomplished musicians from all over the world, be a draw for resident artists, and offer a place for the Music Academy’s tuition-free Sing! after-school program?
Little wonder Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse gushed about the new plan. Such a center, he said, “will create ripple effects for generations — energizing our historic core, attracting visitors and residents alike.”
During the off-season, the Music Academy has about 500 people a week on premises. During its summer peak — with two months of nonstop recitals and performances — that number is considerably higher. For Santa Barbara residents and business owners frustrated by downtown’s inability to transform itself, this project is intoxicating.
But the mayor’s gushing aside, this is still Santa Barbara. Everything takes time to get done. Quill estimates the permitting process will take about a year. “Give or take,” she added with a cautionary laugh. No architect has been hired yet. They’re still contemplating the possibilities.”
If all goes well, Quill said, the Music Academy’s downtown musical outpost should be done sometime in 2028. In the meantime, Quill said, the premises will get some use. “We have lots of ideas,” she said.
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