Bishop Street Studios

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA

Bishop Street Studios is a multi-building project including a complete structural retrofit and adaptive reuse of the original Sunny Acres Orphanage (c. 1931).  The current Unreinforced Masonry  building had fallen into a state of complete disrepair and presented as severely dilapidated in every facet. Helped along by the nefarious activity that it attracted over the its recent history of unoccupied status. Additionally the project includes three new multi-story, more conventional residential buildings of concrete and timber construction.

Transitions Mental Health Association, with the assistance of the Housing Authority San Luis Obispo,  is developing the property to operate 33 new affordable studio residences for adults living with mental illness, along with a single on-site caretaker unit. The project broke ground in April 2018, and is tracking to be USGBC LEED rated.

The project opened in October 2019.