CHULA VISTA, Calif. (CNS) - The Port of San Diego could take a big step Tuesday toward the development of a major hotel, retail and sports complex along the Chula Vista Bayfront.
During Tuesday's Board of Port Commissioners meeting, the seven-person body will consider allowing a development team to move forward with plans on a "mixed-use retail and hospitality development anchored by a tennis center affiliated with an elite professional athlete."
The action, if approved, will specifically allow the port to enter a six-month exclusive negotiating agreement with The McGarey Group for the 124- acre Otay District in Chula Vista, approximately between L Street and the Chula Vista Marina. The project would be located about a mile south of the newly opened Gaylord Pacific Resort.
The McGarey proposal -- the Pangaea Chula Vista Sports Entertainment District -- includes the tennis center, three hotels with up to 700 rooms (in the project's first phase), a water polo academy, a multiple-use stadium, a 300,000-square-foot retail area, two golf courses, an IMAX theater and about 150,000 square feet of "aquaculture and bluetech space."
"The fusion of mixed-uses with globally recognized sports, entertainment, dining and wellness will bring the water to the land and the land to the water for the community and tourist alike, all in a thoughtfully curated environment, capitalizing on the optical business and motion of the harbor," according to a joint letter from F. Denver McGarey and Gerald Divaris, the project's developers, to port President and CEO Scott Chadwick. "A true mission to change the life of the people."
Greg Mueller with Tucker Sadler Architects is the architect attached to the project. He has worked on The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, Portside Pier and the Sun Outdoors San Diego Bay RV Resort in Chula Vista.
The project is Phase 3 of Chula Vista and the San Diego Unified Port District's decades-long plan to redevelop the Chula Vista Bayfront.
Phase one of the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan was to bring the Gaylord Pacific Resort and convention center, Sweetwater Park and the Sun Outdoors RV Park.
Phase 2 "contemplates the development of retail parcels around the northeastern edge of the marinas and development of a large parcel across the street from the resort hotel and convention center, which is entitled for hotel, retail and cultural use," a port statement said.
Phase 3 involves the redevelopment of the 124-acre Otay District, which includes the former South Bay Power Plant site.
If the board approves Tuesday's item, the developers must formalize the partnership with the unspecified "elite professional athlete" and conduct a market study to determine whether geographic exclusivity is required.
At the end of the six-month period, the developers must return to the board to report on progress and seek further direction.
Port staff recommends the board approve the item for multiple reasons, the first of which being the South Bay's interest in tennis.
In preliminary market research, the port found South Bay residents are demographically inclined to play and watch tennis, as well having as a dearth of available courts for both tennis and pickleball players.
Another reason? The McGarey proposal to take the site as-is could save the port hundreds of thousands of dollars in scoping and entitlement planning on the Otay District parcel.
"With tennis participation on the rise, specifically in Southern California, an elite professional athlete affiliated with the proposed project and a Development Team with a successful track record, this Unsolicited Proposal is unique," a port document reads.
"Staff believe this use is a demand driver that would attract locals and visitors from the region, including Mexico, to the CVB. This attraction would be ideal for the CVB, attracting new visitors from the region while giving those visitors already here for conventions, meetings and leisure travel another reason to spend time on district tidelands."
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