After two decades of providing puzzles, party games, and a place for connection on lower State Street, Game Seeker will soon close its doors. Owner Ingrid Estrella confirmed that her lease was not renewed, and a visit to the ground-floor tenants of the Hotel Santa Barbara found that others expected to be moving, too.
The facade of the hotel property is currently draped in black netting as the windows are replaced in an ongoing renovation by new owner Hendricks Commercial Properties of Beloit, Wisconsin. Hendricks purchased the parcel in December 2021 under the LLC name 527 State Street. First to depart was Stabiles Boutique, which loaded up the contents of its 527 State Street store at the end of January 2024 and trucked it to 100 East Yanonali Street in the Funk Zone.
Game Seeker's Estrella said she understood last November that her lease would not be renewed, and she had remained on a month-to-month basis until she received a 60-day notice to vacate by the end of April. “We knew this might happen — we’ve seen it before,” Estrella said. “But we were hoping we’d have more time. It just came a little sooner than we expected.”