The Port of San Diego has announced a new development plan for an open area right on the San Diego Bay in Chula Vista.
“For decades, the city of Chula Vista and the port have really sought to make the most of this land and make a plan going forward," said Tanya Castaneda, spokesperson for the Port of San Diego.
Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox said this new plan has been in the works for more than a decade.
The land up for development is 535 acres of property which sits between Interstate 5 and the San Diego Bay.
About half of that area will remain an open-space preserve and public park.
During the month of June, the Port of San Diego is looking for a developer to finance, design and construct an official plan which would ideally include a convention center site and resort hotel.
Cox said the Chula Vista convention center will not compete with the San Diego's, but instead will offer more meeting space and bring more tourism to the South Bay.
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There’s currently construction to open H Street between Interstate 5 and the bay, and that will help attract people to this new development site, according to Cox.
This is not the first time a development plan has been in the works. In fact, there’s been a long history of bayfront plans -- none which have come to fruition.
"A few years ago there was discussion with a developer about this same area," Castaneda said. "But right now we're going out with a fresh request for qualifications, and we're beginning a formal development process."
In 2007, a billion dollar development plan fell through because a deal could not be reached with the labor union.
"There were several developers who had interest," said Cox. "This master plan has been in the works since 1972. So there was a bayfront, local coastal plan done in 1984. It was revised in 1992 and most recently, Gaylord Entertainment -- which has now reformed itself -- was looking at this site for a possible convention center site."
Cox said this time, the project will definitely go through and construction should start in 2016.
