New housing and childcare are headed to this SLO County marketplace
With a grocery store, retailers and soon-to-be residential units and childcare, Atascadero’s first mixed-use property project continues to make progress toward completion.
Located along Highway 101 at the Del Rio Road exit, Del Rio Marketplace is the city’s first attempt at vertical mixed-use zoning — a new strategy as land availability becomes more scarce, Atascadero economic development manager Loreli Cappel said.
“This is a really awesome pilot program to show people and just developers how this project is going to work in Atascadero,” she said. “So it’s really the right step forward for us.”
The recently completed Valley Fresh Market anchors Del Rio Marketplace, but the 12-acre plot also includes plans for other developments including retailers, restaurants and office space, as well as a childcare facility and 102 residential units, Cappel said.
According to the project plans, the marketplace will encompass more than 200,000 square feet total among all the buildings.
The tallest buildings are three stories with commercial uses on the ground floor and residential on the second and third floors.
One of the buildings will have space for 42 apartments, while the other will have 60.
Cappel said she estimated that the 102 residential units would be move-in ready within the next six months, but pre-leasing could start within as little as a month, depending on weather and other factors that could affect construction.
Floor plans include studios and one-bedroom units located on the second and third floors above the commercial spaces. The apartments also include in-unit laundry, elevators and Google Fiber wifi.
Estimated rent rates haven’t been released yet, however.
According to Max Zappas with Z Villages Real Estate, the company overseeing the residential units, leases will be comparable to other new units that are currently on the market, like La Plaza Atascadero and Blue Oak Paso Robles, he told The Tribune via email.
Cappel said she hopes future tenants will see the value in Del Rio Marketplace and the amenities it offers from the grocery store to others retailers that currently include Central Coast Distillery, upscale clothing Anna and Company, and eventually, pilates studio Ritual Reform.
“It’s kind of like an all-inclusive community, and I feel like at this point, it’s got its own value. There’s nothing quite like it,” she said. “But I’m hoping that the people that are attracted to opening their businesses or their companies on the ground floor, may also want a unit above, or maybe they rent it or lease it for their employees that are visiting. So, yeah, there are all sorts of ideas that are kind of swirling around.”
Another enticing amenity is childcare, Cappel said, after corporate child care company The Learning Experience recently signed to move into the marketplace.
“They’re the next building to go up, so very exciting,” she said. “Even though we have lots of in-home childcare centers, this is an opportunity for a bigger, larger footprint and more jobs for some of those early childcare educators that are being trained locally here, too.”
What’s also to come is filling in the available commercial spaces, which can accommodate businesses like healthcare and manufacturers, creating more local jobs in Atascadero.
“Atascadero has historically been a bedroom community where people go to sleep, and then they commute out for work, and we’re really working to shift that and bring quality jobs here,” she said. “So, I hope that with them coming to the Del Rio corner, that’s going to be a really big shift in this project and a really important ingredient.”
