One of the giants in Santa Barbara real estate — Michael Towbes — died this morning, the Pacific Coast Business Times reported. Whether you were a bank customer, home buyer, renter, or a member of the arts, education, and medical community he supported through his philanthropy , Michael Towbes affected many lives in Santa Barbara.
Towbes has been the sole stockholder of Montecito Bank & Trust since 1983, a bank he and others founded in 1975 as the Bank of Montecito, anchored by a graceful stone-and-concrete building at the corner of State and Carrillo streets. A Princeton- and MIT-educated structural engineer, Towbes came to the West Coast to work at Point Mugu, and remained after marrying his late wife, Gail Aronson Towbes. His construction company — The Towbes Group — has built more than 6,000 residential units and 1.8 million square feet of commercial over the past 55 years. Hundreds of residences remain in the Towbes Group pipeline.
He and his second wife, Anne Smith Towbes, have been honored by numerous performing arts groups for their generosity. Towbes's bank was noted for awarding more than $1 million annually to nonprofit groups and encouraging its staff to participate in civic life. His Towbes Foundation was almost equally generous.