The Pad Santa Barbara
Goleta, California
Specs: “After nearly 15 years of searching, dreaming, and finally building,” a recent press release detailed, The Pad’s newest mixed-discipline gym opened on September 15th in Santa Barbara, California. The Pad Santa Barbara’s story started in 2008, when the team began looking into expanding The Pad’s SLO Op model into Santa Barbara. “We never found the real estate in all that time—and obviously, as we matured and the demand changed, the project evolved from a small bouldering-only space to a full-scale gym,” said Kristin Horowitz, founder and CEO of The Pad, which has developed several gyms over the years and currently operates facilities in California and New York. She described the city of Santa Barbara as “a very old town with mountains trapping a coastal valley” and “very little expansion or cheap real estate,” so it took persistence and meetings with many landlords before the team found a spot they felt was right for the gym. Meanwhile, The Pad rented out a space in the city for the BoardRoom, which opened in May 2023, while working on permitting and raising the roof for the larger space. The BoardRoom is across the parking lot from the newest Santa Barbara location and will remain open.
Located about an hour and a half from The Pad’s home base in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara is Horowitz’s “second family hometown,” where she grew up visiting siblings, she said. “Santa Barbara is a really unique place that’s beautiful, outdoors [and] adventurous,” and the team saw it as “the next logical expansion” site for the business, Horowitz added. They had looked at locations in downtown Santa Barbara that Horowitz said weren’t feasible for the project, since they did not like the proximity to other offerings, the drive and the lack of parking. So, The Pad focused its search on Goleta, a college and corporate town just north of Santa Barbara proper, where the gym was eventually constructed in the Magnolia Shopping Center. The team felt there was a need for their new gym in the community, Horowitz said, and believed The Pad was in a position to build and operate it. “I don’t think we’d have been able to do it without the scale and connections we got as we grew to multi-location over the years,” she continued.
The Pad Santa Barbara features over 15,000 square feet of amenities, including a coworking lounge, yoga studio and community space, in addition to 5,000 square feet of bouldering and 9,000 square feet of roped climbing surface. “I do think one differentiator in the climbing space is that we go a lot more aggressive on the walls than most commercial gyms do,” Horowitz said. “My husband [Yishai] works with our setting director, Joe Maier, to design climbing terrain, but some of our walls we know won’t get as much use—but they’re positioned to be impactful upon entry.” She noted that all The Pad’s open gyms and the future Las Vegas location—tentatively opening Fall 2026—will have multi-floor experiences, designed to “keep kids out of the way of adults” and provide “lounge and observation space.”
To operators considering expansion, Horowitz said “if you have one really successful location, it doesn’t mean every location will be,” but often “expansion opens up opportunities for more expansion.” She added, “[Operators] really have to be focused on the why and preparing for failure at all times to be comfortable.” Horowitz said a force that has been driving expansion for The Pad is giving employees “the life they want,” adding, “they need career trajectory, and I want to provide that for folks under them, too.” Horowitz also described how climbing changed her life and provided her with so much. “The more people we can provide that to, the better,” she concluded.
Walls: Walltopia
Flooring: Walltopia
CRM Software: Approach
Website: thepadclimbing.org/santa-barbara/
Instagram: @ThePadSB
In Their Words: “Even we are shocked at how much we exceed our budget and end up stressing out at the beginning of openings, even though we’ve literally opened (and acquired) seven gyms and closed five of them (either to expand or due to failure to launch). The partners you have in your real estate agent, real estate attorney, construction team, and wall builders matter. If any of those are weak, do not tolerate them, find someone you would trust with your life.” – Kristin Horowitz, CEO and Founder of The Pad
