Mountainbrook Community Church’s new sanctuary, on the hills south of San Luis Obispo.
Mountainbrook Community Church’s longtime vision of building its own sanctuary is shaping up on the Irish Hills above San Luis Obispo’s cityscape.
Its multimillion-dollar project includes five buildings, grading and electrical work, septic tank and a 120-gallon well water system, the Rev. Thom O’Leary said.
Mountainbrook, established in 1978 in San Luis Obispo, has more than 1,200 members and now meets at 4029 S. Higuera St.
The church had led a $2.5 million capital campaign for the land, permits, environmental reports and other costs.
O’Leary hopes to bring in another $2.5 million to continue to pay for the first tier of the church’s plan, which boasts a 28,500-square-foot sanctuary and community-accessible trails set to debut in the fall.
The trails will include signage for rare vegetation species.
A roughly $4.7 million loan from Mission Community Bank now is paying for the construction, he said.
“All those monies combined will help us get actually moved in,” project manager Rob Staniec said. “Costs keep going up. Oil was $40 a barrel when I first stared doing the budget in 2005.” A barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude cost $116.27 a barrel on Friday.
The rooftop of the now-framed sanctuary visible from Los Osos Valley Road and Highway 101 is designed to house a worship hall, youth center, children’s Sunday school rooms, coffee bar and offices.
The church’s hilltop home also will have a gymnasium, children’s center, ministry center and chapel to complete the build-out over the next 10 years, O’Leary said, depending on funding availability.
Most of the spaces are slated to be about 20,000 to 30,000 square feet each, and the special events chapel is set for 15,000 square feet.
The church entered escrow on the approximately 63-acre parcel in 1999 and purchased it for $557,000 in 2001.
The land on the edge of San Luis Obispo city-owned open space is now valued at $7.9 million, O’Leary said.
“Our church has never owned a building,” he said. “My eyes were open and searching for a perfect property, and now it’s a dream come true.”
As part of the purchase agreement, Mountainbrook will limit its build-out to 14 acres, O’Leary added, leaving the rest as open space.
When complete, the steel-framed sanctuary will have stucco siding and an earth-tone palette.
“There will be incredible views,” O’Leary said. “With big windows on both sides, you see (Cerro San Luis) and Bishop Peak through one and the Irish Hills out the other. It’s breathtaking.”
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