Starbucks looking to open another new SLO location — at a former pizza restaurant

For those who have been wondering for months what might take over the former Village Host Pizza & Grill in San Luis Obispo — an answer may finally be here.

On Tuesday, a Starbucks representative confirmed to The Tribune that the coffee chain is “in the very early stages of considering bringing a new Starbucks to the San Luis Obispo community.”

“We want to bring the right experience at the right time,” a company representative said. “We consider a number of factors before bringing a new store to a neighborhood and need to determine if it makes sense in the community, just as we do with each new location we consider.”

It would be Starbucks’ 13th location in San Luis Obispo, including stand-alone stores and embedded outlets at places like Target and Barnes & Noble.

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The confirmation comes after the company initially told The Tribune in November there were no plans to open a new store in the space.

But rumors have abounded in recent weeks as work continues to fix up the former pizza restaurant, which closed abruptly in September after almost 20 years in business.

Since then, work has been ongoing to repair the restaurant’s parking lot and paint the building, including repainting the Village Host Pizza & Grill logo on the wall.

On April 10, an application was submitted to the city to ask for permission to make alterations and additions to the 2138 Broad St. space, according to the city’s InfoSLO search tool .

The application was to make “tenant improvement for new Starbucks,” including interior and facade improvements, a new trash enclosure and interior casework and equipment, according to the listing.

As of Thursday it had not yet been approved.

This isn’t the only new Starbucks coming to San Luis Obispo. In April the company confirmed it was converting a closed Teazer World Market at 1075 Court St. into a new location.