What had been a steep, sloping, weedy, 13.5-acre plot on the southwest corner of Sunrise Boulevard and Douglas Boulevard in Rancho Cordova is slowly transforming into a complex that will include a Raley’s supermarket and assorted stores-to-be-named-later.

As far as what those other future stores will be, “It’s premature,” said Audrey Rhoads, Vice President of Marketing for Donahue Schriber, the Costa Mesa, California company developing the project. “We have a team working on it.”

In the past month, monster earth moving machines have leveled the land in preparation for construction of a 40,000-square-foot supermarket under the West Sacramento-based corporation’s Raley’s banner.

“Who’s in charge of the project,” one yellow hard-hatted worker at the site was asked.

“Not me,” he said. “I’m the sewer guy. Try that guy over there in the white pickup truck.”

“Not me,” the pickup truck man said. “I’m the water guy. Try that guy up on the dirt pile. The one with the white hat . . . and the clean clothes.”

Dirty clothes, it seems, is a badge of honor, and cleanliness is next to idleness.

The man with clean clothes was not the boss either. He was the storm drain guy.

The frustrating search for an overall supervisor to talk to about the project from among the 25-to-30 subcontractors employing hundreds of workers illustrates the enormous number of elements involved in developing something this large.

Rancho Cordova Public Works City Inspector Mike Robinson is at the site every day, making sure everything is up to code.

“Right now they’re doing all the ‘wet’ projects: sewer, water and storm drains,” Robinson said. “Next they will do the ‘dry’ work: gas, electrical, phone, etc.”

Only when the infrastructure is completed will building begin.

Before the projected mid-2017 target date the project will have involved dozens of subcontracting companies and hundreds of workers. Not to mention the permanent employees after the stores are completed and staffed.

“Raley will provide about 50 new jobs,” Audrey Rhoads said. “And that is an extremely conservative number.”

The Walgreens drugstore that abuts the Raley’s property stocks some groceries, although not on a scale . . . or at prices . . . that a full-blown supermarket will be able to offer. Currently, the nearest store for area food shoppers is many miles away, so Raley’s will be perfectly positioned to dominate the market. It will be a convenience for residents of the adjacent Anatolia housing complex and for commuters passing by on their way to and from Elk Grove, Sloughhouse, and Rancho Murieta. It will also bring a significant amount of real estate and sales tax money into the Rancho Cordova treasury.

The proposed grand opening next year depends, of course, on cooperative weather and if all the sub-contractors are able to complete their individual parts in the process on schedule.