In the '90s, the city of Chula Vista annexed 14 square miles of Otay Ranch, now called east Chula Vista, where entire communities are popping up.
In east Chula Vista, Realtors like Denise Gomez are busy showing completed and under-construction properties in Cota Vera, one of the several master-planned communities in the works. There will be an estimated 5,000 units built over the next 20 years.
In Your Neighborhood: The Future of Chula Vista
“This one's pretty awesome because it has its own casita,” said Gomez as she showed NBC 7 a model home with a starting price of at least $1 million
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Gomez is a Chula Vista native.
“It’s home to me," Gomez said. "I was the first graduating class of Otay Ranch High School, so I really feel like I have deep roots within the community."
The building boom in east Chula Vista has been a long time coming — the city estimates it needs about 11,000 new units to meet demand.
“Single-family residents, townhomes, condos, 55+ communities, shops, restaurants — so a lot of exciting things coming,” Gomez said.
As California’s housing crisis has worsened, Realtors have seen interest from unexpected places like the tech central communities in the Bay Area. Gomez said the pandemic kicked demand into overdrive.
“Over the years, they outgrew their spaces and then realized they can come to San Diego — in Chula Vista, specifically — and have this awesome weather," Gomez said, "and then they look at this house and go, 'A million dollars? Wow, that’s a steal.' ”
That price is not shocking in the Golden State these days, but in east Chula Vista, SANDAG, which conducts regional housing assessments, approved the city to build units for all levels of income based on the median income for a family of four ( $86,300).
And the new neighborhoods won’t just bring new schools; there will also be community events like farmers' markets and movies in the park.
“All of these things that really encourage the community to just kind of hang out and have a culture,” Gomez said.
Over the past couple of years, Chula Vista issued 1,100 new housing permits in 2020, 1,750 last year and 800 permits so far in 2022.
