SLO Ranch Farms project breaks ground Wednesday

A new project at the San Luis Ranch housing development is breaking ground.

SLO Ranch Farms will include a 40-acre working farm as well as 10,000 square feet of retail space.

The concepts for the project began in 2012.

The new location is off Froom Ranch Way and San Luis Ranch Road in San Luis Obispo.

The project was founded originally by Gary Grossman in 2012.

“I thought it would be kind of nice to have a place where people can come and sample different beers, and I really want to have a lot of home-grown San Luis Obispo products,” said Grossman.

The construction of SLO Ranch Farms is now being executed by his nephew, Jacob Grossman, who has taken the lead as the Vice President of Coastal Community Builders.

“It's a multiphase, multi-discipline community with a variety of houses retail, commercial shopping, a hotel, and the Ag Heritage Center,” said Jacob Grossman.

“We have a variety of eateries and craft beverages, as well as a neighborhood market with some shopping, and retail, and we're going to re-use the historic elements and display those to the public.”

“It's such an amazing project, it is literally leasing itself,” said SLO Ranch Farms Leasing Manager Jason Hart.

Hart says tenants are already being booked to provide locally made and produced goods to the San Luis Obispo community.

“We put this in escrow in 2012, and so it's been a ten-year project, but it's just going to be an amazing offering for the community overall,” said Hart.

“We're going to start our first building next month, and we are working with our tenants to get layouts and designs,” said Jacob Grossman. “We're about 70% filled up so far.”

The new site will pay tribute to the farmland owned back in the late 1800’s.

The Grossmans say the hope is to restore the property back to its former glory days.

“We're going to really create a farm-to-table experience here for the whole community,” said Jacob Grossman.

“I think it will be unique and very San Luis Obispo,” said Gary Grossman.

The expectation is the project will be completed in the summer of 2023.

The location received planning commission approval in October of 2021 and construction is now officially underway.