After more than three decades of planning and discussion, the city of Chula Vita is a significant step closer to breaking ground on a bayfront that will include a resort hotel and convention center.
The city and the Port of San Diego held a joint meeting Tuesday afternoon to approve a development agreement with Houston-based RIDA Development for a resort hotel and convention center on the Chula Vista bayfront.
Port commissioners will just need to approve a final permit at a future meeting before construction can begin.
Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas said the development will benefit the entire region.
“We have a premier developer that has a track record of building magnificent resorts that are not only for tourists but for the families that want to enjoy it around us,” she said. “This is going to be a great asset. An asset to all of us in San Diego County and to the south of us because we live in a mega binational region.”
The $1 billion project will be financed by both private and public entities. RIDA Chula Vista, a private entity, will invest about $785 million into the project while the city and the port will pay a combined $343 million.
To pay its share, the city and the port will issue bonds to finance the $343 million. Revenue generated by the project will be in the form of sales tax, property tax, vehicle license fees and transit occupancy taxes. The city would also subsidize the project from its existing general fund.
RIDA will be tasked with the design and construction of the resort hotel and convention center. Gaylord is said to be scheduled to operate the 1,600-room hotel.
The council and port also on Tuesday agreed on a revenue sharing plan and accepted an economic development subsidy report regarding a hotel convention center project.
City and port officials say the resort hotel and convention center will be a job generator. It will bring 120 construction jobs to Chula Vista and 3,300 on-going jobs in the city.
Last August the city and the port publicly released renderings of the bayfront hotel and convention center.
