Sethi Management broke ground Monday at the site of a future Hampton by Hilton and Homewood Suites in Eastlake.The dual-brand $30 million hotel is expected to be completed in first quarter of 2019 at 2424 Fenton St., serving nearly 160,000 residents east of Interstate 805.
The hotel will sit on 3.2 acres with 91 units of Homewood Suites and 104 units of Hampton Inn rooms, totaling 205 units.
A dual brand hotel is a relatively new concept, said Gaurav Sethi, vice president of development with Sethi Management. It’s basically two hotels in one. The hotels will share a pool, one gym, and a joint lobby.
However, separating the hotels from a Hampton by Hilton and a Homewood Suites will be two front desks, and two different elevator banks.
One elevator will lead to Homewood Suites while the other will take guests to Hampton rooms.
Homewood Suites will have much larger rooms than the Hampton by Hilton because they are designed to be for family vacations. Hampton Inn is more for for business travel so the rooms will be much smaller.
“Hilton is a brand leader in this market,” Sethi said. “They focus on a lot of family and business travel.”
The hotel is much needed in east Chula Vista, said Sethi.
“You have all kinds of services and homes in Eastlake,” he said. “It’s such a huge population that live down here and I don’t think the rest of San Diego (county) realizes how thriving it is.”
He said the hotel is in an ideal location since it will be just two-miles away from the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center, near Montevalle Recreation Center and the Scripps Coastal Medical Center is nearby.
Chula Vista District 1 Councilman John McCann said athletes and visitors of the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Center now have a near by place to go, instead of staying in Mission Valley or downtown San Diego.
“At the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center we just don’t attract athletes, we attract managers, teams and crews,” he said. “They need a place to stay and this will allow them to stay in a quality hotel here in Chula Vista.”
McCann also highlighted the fact that with the hotel the city will get significant Transient Occupancy Tax. Assistant City Manager Maria Kachadoorian said about $700,000 to $1 million is estimated to be collected in tax with the hotel.
“This will bring significant revenue to the city via TOT to help fund fire and police,” McCann said.
The city receives 10 percent of the TOT which was $3.8 million in 2016 and is projected to be the same in 2017, said Deputy City Manager Kelley Bacon. She said with the addition of new hotels in eastern Chula Vista the city anticipates those numbers to increase significantly in years to come.
In addition, Sethi said he anticipates the hotel to bring 65 to 70 jobs in Chula Vista.
Medearis Construction is the general contractor for the project.
