Construction lending in Santa Barbara County isn’t just about access to capital. It’s also about meeting tight deadlines, navigating complex permitting, and ensuring seamless coordination between lenders, borrowers, and contractors. American Riviera Bank makes providing support for these projects a top priority with construction loans, commercial lines of credit, and Commercial and Industrial lending solutions. Their approach is designed to help keep work moving and safeguard their clients’ long-term operating cash flow.
One organization that recently benefited from their expertise is the Sansum Diabetes Research Institute. The Institute is wrapping up a $10 million remodel of its downtown facility, and Michael Hamman, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the nonprofit, credits American Riviera Bank with helping make the project a success.
“Andrew Chung has been our primary contact, but we have relationships with numerous other folks there at American Riviera. Everyone has been 100% supportive along the way. We can pick up the phone and call people and know they'll take our calls. You can't really find that with larger banks that aren't local like ARB.”
Michael Hamman, COO and CFO, Sansum Diabetes Research Institute
Founded by Dr. William David Sansum, the first doctor to synthesize insulin in the United States, the Institute has deep roots in the Santa Barbara community. Today, it’s a hub for groundbreaking research and clinical care for people dealing with diabetes.
“We conduct research that has led to treatments and the adoption of protocols worldwide,” Hamman shared.
When the time came for the remodel, Hamman recounted that American Riviera Bank was the right partner for construction financing. “There are lots of restrictions on medical facilities in general, and even a different set of restrictions for facilities that are doing medical research involving human subjects,” he explained.
The project was anything but simple. “We had to find temporary space (eventually landing in Goleta) that met the zoning requirements for medical research on human subjects. Then, we had to bring that facility up to standard, relocate our staff while ongoing research studies were still in progress, renovate our downtown Santa Barbara building, get it recertified for medical research, and finally move everyone back,” Hamman recounted. “We accomplished all of that in just about a year and a half.”
Finding the right financing was crucial. “We talked to a number of banks and inquired about construction financing. American Riviera's proposal was by far the best,” Hamman said.
As a nonprofit, the Institute relied on donations raised through a capital campaign. However, because many of those donations are pledged over four or five years, they needed construction financing to get the project off the ground.
Hamman emphasized how American Riviera’s understanding of the process and their hands-on involvement made a difference.
“Andrew Chung has been our primary contact, but we have relationships with numerous other folks there at American Riviera. Everyone has been 100% supportive along the way. We can pick up the phone and call people and know they'll take our calls. You can't really find that with larger banks that aren't local like ARB.”
American Riviera Bank is proud to be a reliable, community-focused institution that understands the needs of local businesses. To learn more about how their commercial lending experts can help support construction projects, visit https://americanriviera.bank.
“Working with American Riviera was really, really, a huge win,” Hamman concluded.
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