Cal Poly to move downtown SLO store, business hothouse

That massive vacant space on a busy corner of downtown San Luis Obispo — which has been home to numerous ill-fated and unsuccessful development plans in the past decade — finally has a tenant.

Cal Poly on Thursday announced it plans to “revitalize 1144 Chorro St.” by moving its Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship and its downtown shop into the long vacant corner spot that was once home to Riley’s Department Store and Copeland’s Sports.

Cal Poly said the purpose of the move was “enhancing the campus community, expanding the university’s role in developing innovators and entrepreneurs and furthering regional economic development.”

“We are thrilled to announce the development of our new downtown location, which will serve as a catalyst for regional innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development,” Karen Tillman, interim executive director of the Cal Poly Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, said in a news release. “This space will bring together students, entrepreneurs and community partners to create new opportunities and support the next generation of innovators and helping to build a stronger, more vibrant Central Coast.”

The 24,500-square-foot spot was most recently home to Sports Authority until it moved into the Madonna Plaza shopping center in 2012. The sports store would close there in 2016, when it was replaced by the DSW shoe store.

It’s had a number of proposals for ways to use the prominent downtown space over the years, including a scrapped plan for a three-story entertainment center with a bowling alley and more recently, a six-story mixed-use development that would have made it among the tallest buildings in downtown San Luis Obispo.

What will new Cal Poly downtown space look like?

The redeveloped space will house the university’s Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship and Cal Poly Mustang Shop, both of which already have downtown spaces, according to the release.

The Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship currently is located at 872 Higuera St. above the former Ross Dress for Less, while the Cal Poly Mustang Shop is just down the street at 767 Higuera St.

The center’s HotHouse, which has had space downtown since 2015, is aimed at helping students and community members as they workshop business ideas and pursue startups. It offers features like a 12-week summer startup bootcamp, a two-year incubator program for early-stage companies and the Small Business Development Center, which provides business assistance to startups and established companies through San Luis Obispo County.

The HotHouse also offers community co-working spaces — an area that will grow with the move over to 1144 Chorro St.

According to the release, the new space will offer “expanded coworking capabilities,” including hot desks, dedicated desks, private offices and meeting rooms, as well as a new event space for networking events and meet-ups. It will also feature expanded spaces for companies to test their products with local customers through retail popups, the release said.

The new Cal Poly Mustang Shop meanwhile will continue to sell “a full suite of Cal Poly clothing, gifts, jams, chocolate, wine and cheese” but in a slightly larger retail space — meaning it will have room for “an increased assortment of merchandise,” according to the release.

Notably, shoppers will also be able to see into the adjacent Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, the release said, “providing an opportunity to fully connect the public to the mission and impact of the CIE.”

Kaytlyn Leslie writes about business and development for The San Luis Obispo Tribune. Hailing from Nipomo, she also covers city governments and happenings in San Luis Obispo. She joined The Tribune in 2013 after graduating from Cal Poly with her journalism degree.