Bowling alley, restaurant could be coming to downtown SLO

A bowling alley, restaurant and banquet/entertainment area are being proposed for a key vacant location in downtown San Luis Obispo.

The plans, submitted to the city, would fill the 24,500-square-foot space that had long housed retail stores — most recently Sports Authority — at 1144 Chorro St., at the corner of Marsh Street.

Discovery San Luis Obispo envisions a 14-lane bowling alley — with six lanes on a mezzanine level — a restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating, a bar and banquet area where live entertainment could possibly be held.

The plans are expected to go before the city’s Planning Commission in about three months, said Doug Davidson, deputy director of development review.

Three of the proposed uses trigger the need for a conditional-use permit from the city: the bowling alley, the entertainment area and the ability to serve alcohol past 11 p.m., he said. The business’s hours would be specified as part of the use permit.

“The hours would be a key part of the use permit, especially the entertainment area, to close at a certain time to minimize noise impacts on the neighboring area,” Davidson said.

Project owner Jeremy Pemberton was not available for comment Friday. He is founder and chief executive officer of Discovery Ventura, a renovated bowling alley in Ventura that offers nine lanes, shuffleboard and billiards, live music, a bar and banquet space for up to 150 people, according to its website.

According to the plans, the Discovery San Luis Obispo’s first floor would include 3,949 square feet of bowling lanes, 3,718 square feet of restaurant space, 4,114 square feet of banquet space and 3,674 square feet of service/storage space. (There’s also a basement and mezzanine level, including 3,279 square feet of bowling proposed on the mezzanine.)

Discovery San Luis Obispo would lease the property from Jamestown, an Atlanta-based real estate investment and management company that acquired several Copeland Properties buildings in downtown San Luis Obispo in 2013.

Mark Rawson, the Copeland Properties’ architect, declined to say whether the company was already leasing the site.

Sports Authority relocated from downtown to the Madonna Plaza when Borders bookstore closed its location there in 2012. Sports Authority had opened in 2007 in the former Copeland Sports buildings on Marsh and Chorro streets (originally about 45,000 square feet of space).

Copeland Properties is an equity partner with Jamestown and retains an ownership stake in their properties, Tom Copeland said in a 2013 interview.

Rawson said that Copeland Properties also continues to manage the San Luis Obispo properties owned by Jamestown.

This story was originally published April 3, 2015 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Bowling alley, restaurant could be coming to downtown SLO."