‘Mythical Being’ Wants Naples

Chinese-American Investor David Liu Eying Prized Gaviota Property

 According to the recent story in the Santa Barbara Independent (Feb. 26, 2015), "The long-dormant fight to carve 1,000 acres of breathtaking Gaviota real estate along both sides of Highway 101 into 72 parcels ​— ​a k a the Naples Project ​— ​just woke up. Matt Osgood, whose bankruptcy in 2010 put the development of Santa Barbara Ranch into a state of suspended agitation, is back, hoping to revive his old project with a new ownership structure. Osgood and his brother Mark, a real estate investor, enticed Chinese-American investor David Liu of Arcadia to buy the Naples property for $44.5 million."

According to Gaviota Coast Conservancy board president Phil McKenna, "The Conservancy will continue its opposition to inappropriate residential estate development on the Gaviota Coast. A large tract of over-sized houses is antithetical to our objective of preserving the rural character of the Coast. This has been our position since 1998 and we will continue to actively promote it."

Here's a history of the contentious Naples area from articles in the Santa Barbara Independent.