The building that houses Borders on State Street was purchased by the SIMA Real Estate Fund for $10 million — the largest commercial real estate deal in Santa Barbara in over two years.

The 38,000 square foot building is located at 900 State St. and will be SIMA’s eighth property in Santa Barbara. SIMA also owns the current State Street locations for the Coach and Anthropologie retail stores.

Borders holds a long-term lease on the three-story building and no projections have been made as to whether it will stay in the building after the lease expires. SIMA President Kevin Burnes said that he could not disclose the length of Borders lease due to privacy issues.

SIMA’s Web site notes that the group was founded in 1984 and currently owns over $500 million worth of assets.

According to a press release, SIMA bought the building from Radius Group Commercial Real Estate.

“The purchase of 900 State St. is a wonderful addition to our portfolio of showcase properties and represents the fourth acquisition of our recently launched MetWest-SIMA Real Estate Fund,” Burnes said in a statement. “900 State is our eighth holding on State Street and we look forward to continuing our long history of beautifying and preserving State Street and Santa Barbara.” 

Before the structure was transformed for retail use, it was used as a Bank of America building. Scott Glenn, principal for Radius Group, represented Bank of America during the sale of the property in 1995.

“The 38,000 square foot space will continue to attract very high quality retailers like Borders who cannot find that size anywhere in Santa Barbara outside of a Mall or big box center,” Glenn said in a press release.

— Staff Report