Paso Robles touts itself as the wine capital of the Central Coast, and area wineries have done everything they can to uphold that image in the past year, adding thousands of square feet in expansions and remodels. In fact, construction at the wineries surrounding Paso Robles may soon outpace growth in the city itself.

A vacancy report from Stafford McCarty Real Estate in San Luis Obispo shows that in 2009, more commercial square footage was put up outside the city of Paso Robles than in it — and most of that growth can be attributed to the area’s $1.5 billion wine industry.

“It’s kind of a sleeper phenomenon,” said Stafford McCarty’s Steve Davis, who helped crunch the numbers. “You can’t really see it all happening because the wineries are scattered in the countryside, but you can sure feel it driving economic activity in the area.”

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