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Fresh produce giant Taylor Farms, a company based out of Salinas with farms all over North America, will break ground in August on a new building located on Main Street in downtown Salinas. The headquarters will be 97,000 square feet, hold 200 employees and feature a ground floor retail space and a public plaza.

Taylor Farms purchased the property from the Salinas Redevelopment Agency last fall before redevelopment agencies across the state were dissolved. Included in the purchase was a public parking lot which is scheduled to close July 28th.

Taylor Farms will be the first agricultural company to locate their headquarters in downtown Salinas, says Alan Stumpf, assistant director of development for the city of Salinas. He hopes Taylor's new office building gives other ag businesses the idea to relocate their headquarters to downtown as well.

Mayor Dennis Donohue expects the daily influx of Taylor employees and their customers to provide a much-needed boost to the downtown economy and hospitality industry. "It's an exciting and pivotal moment for the future of downtown," he says. "It's a sea change event."