Skepticism Continues About Port Proposal

Media
10 hours ago
2 min read

Commissioners at the Port of San Diego voted Tuesday to enter a two-year negotiating agreement with a Virginia Beach-based developer proposing to build a massive sports, retail and hotel complex on 124 vacant acres along the Chula Vista bayfront.

The developer, Divaris Group, first proposed the $2.2 billion project last year. The proposal includes a promise the development will be anchored by a tennis center affiliated with what a port staff report called an “elite professional athlete.”

I have held off writing about this project because, behind the scenes, most of what I’ve heard about it since it first appeared has been highly skeptical.

Sources at both the port and the city of Chula Vista say they’re excited about the prospect of bringing another major development to the bayfront. But they’re not convinced the developer can deliver.

One port commissioner at a meeting this week called the proposal “half-baked.”

So far, the developer has worked to secure agreements with local labor leaders, who can make or break development projects, depending on whether projects stand to benefit union members.

A port staff report said the developer also secured what it called a letter of interest from an elite athlete organization that would anchor the tennis center.

A source close to the port said the tennis center could be similar to a tennis training

academy in New York helmed by tennis legend John McEnroe.

The port staff report said the elite athlete organization signaled in its letter that Southern California is an important tennis market and that the proposed development is aligned with the organization’s long-term growth strategy.

But the report also acknowledged that “a binding public commitment from the tennis center…is the critical component upon which the entire proposed development is predicated.”

In other words, no tennis star, no project.

Port officials said initial market studies indicate there’s a need for more tennis facilities in San Diego County.

But is there a need for a world-class tennis facility in Chula Vista? That’s what residents now have an opportunity to ask themselves.

Based on my own observations, I’d say Chula Vista is more of a soccer town than a tennis destination.

Still, I’ll keep an eye on this development and report more when it looks like it might come to fruition.