San Diego Hotel Moves Forward

By Karen Robes Meeks

The Chula Vista Bayfront resort hotel and convention center project in the Port of San Diego moved forward last week when port commissioners agreed to issue a Coastal Development Permit and granted project approval to RIDA Chula Vista, LLC.

When completed, Gaylord Hotels will operate the Chula Vista Bayfront resort hotel and convention center. It will include up to 1,600 hotel rooms, about 400,000 square feet of convention and meeting space (including pre-function space) and retail and resort amenities including a spa, a pool with a lazy river and bike and boat rentals.

The project will also include “a public esplanade and a plaza and activity village with pedestrian promenades and bike paths, dining and snack stands, game activities, public art, and a pool with public access.”

“These are significant milestones,” said Chairman Garry Bonelli, Board of Port Commissioners. “Residents from around the region as well as visitors and conventioneers can experience our revitalized bayfront. Thousands of folks will be employed at the Chula Vista Bayfront.”

If the next steps - which include securing financing, getting building and grading permits and closing escrow - are accomplished, site preparation and public infrastructure could take place in mid-2020.

“We established many goals in the very beginning and we’re delivering,” said Port of San Diego Commissioner Ann Moore, the Board’s Chula Vista Representative. “This project will bring a world-class hotel and convention center to the Chula Vista Bayfront while also providing a vehicle to build future public parks, restore sensitive habitat, and construct public infrastructure.”

San Diego Port to Develop Bayfront

By Mark Edward Nero

The Port of San Diego said June 2 that it would seek bids this month for a plan to develop more than 500 acres of waterfront property. A convention-oriented hotel and resort fronting the San Diego Bay will be the centerpiece of the project, the port says.

According to the port, a Request for Qualifications will be issued seeking a developer for a convention destination resort hotel as part of the Chula Vista Bayfront. The project will, according to the port, “transform 535 acres on San Diego Bay into a world-class destination for domestic and international visitors alike.”

Respondents to the RFQ will need to demonstrate their skills and ability to finance, design and construct a large-scale environmentally sustainable convention-oriented destination hotel and resort.

“The port’s investment in this important new waterfront destination will truly transform the City of Chula Vista and San Diego’s South Bay region,” Port Commissioner Ann Moore said.

A recent report by the San Diego Tourism Authority estimates that San Diego’s overnight visitor volume is expected to increase nearly two percent annually over the next four years. The port says the bayfront project will provide the necessary infrastructure for convention demand.

Also included in the plan are marina improvements expected to create an active commercial harbor with retail shops, restaurants and public space at the water’s edge.

“Chula Vista and the port have cleared the way to create a shovel-ready project on prime bayfront property,” Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox said.

More information about the project is available at http://www.cvbayfront.com.