Nearly 200 new condos coming to SLO as housing development continues to grow
Nearly 200 homes are coming to San Luis Obispo as the Avila Ranch housing project continues to implement its long-term development plans.
On Wednesday, the San Luis Obispo Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the fourth of six planned phases of the Avila Ranch development.
While this is considered the fourth phase of building, this piece of Avila Ranch is actually the fifth to be approved after the 101-home fifth phase was approved by the San Luis Obispo City Council in September.
Consisting of 194 homes spread across 67 buildings, the fourth phase of building represents one of the 720-home development’s final approvals by the city, planner John Rickenbach said.
“Here we are, toward the end of the Avila Ranch project,” Rickenbach said. “Overall, 400 to 500-odd units have been approved — tonight, we’re talking about 194 units.”
Avila Ranch now approaching more than 600 approved homes
With Wednesday’s approval, Avila Ranch’s six phases are now more than halfway complete.
In August, project developer Trumark Homes put the 121 homes from the second phase on the market, starting in the mid-$700,000 range and ending in the mid-$900,000s for the larger units
The initial phase of homes got underway in 2022 and have since sold to their current residents, while the third phase was approved in February 2024 and is still in the building process.
Sitting on a lot zoned for R-3 uses — meaning medium-high density residential zoning — the fourth phase is set to consist entirely of condominiums, fitting 194 units on a 12-acre lot, according to the staff report.
The project features a total of 67 buildings — essentially, three condos per building — and each three-story condo will include a two-car garage, according to the staff report.
The fourth phase employs six different building designs and six different unit types to break up the project’s look, visually arranged around a park near the center of the neighborhood, according to the staff report.
Affordable housing is also included in the new phase, with 18 moderate-income units and 12 “workforce” units planned for sale.
With multiple phases in varying states of construction, it’s unclear exactly when phase 4’s condominiums will go for sale, or how much they will cost.
Of the development’s 297 homes that have gone for sale so far, 170 are already purchased or occupied already, project representative Carol Florence said.
Meanwhile, phases three and five’s apartments and single-family homes will be coming online over the next year or two, Florence said.
“The condo project is simply residential, common-interest development that blends individual ownership with collective stewardship, typically via homeowners association for common areas,” Florence said. “It’s interesting, listening to public radio this morning, that the state is now pursuing and taking a hard look at some of the laws surrounding condos in that 10-year period, trying to modify that some form of fashion, because I think there’s a recognition that for-sale condos is a really good component of the housing that’s so needed in California.”
More information on Avila Ranch’s fourth phase will be available on Trumark Homes’ website as construction progresses.
