Since taking over Third Avenue Village Association last fall, New City America, Inc. worked to get a sense on how Third Avenue was getting promoted to the Chula Vista community and the broader South Bay community at large. TAVA District Manager Dominic Li Mandri said when they “arrived on scene,” they did an assessment of the current branding capital that promotes the Third Avenue district.
“After completing the assessment after the first 10 months it became extremely apparent that there were many different monikers, titles, shorthand uses of what people use when they refer to Third Avenue or downtown. People referred to it as The Village, Third Avenue, The Marketplace, or downtown,” he said. “Rather than continuing to promote the district with all these different brand names, we decided to move forward consolidating our brand awareness on the one, the Downtown Chula Vista brand. We think that is more resonant with what people think of when they think of the Third Avenue commercial corridor.”
Li Mandri said this was forward thinking with the Bayfront project moving forward over the next few years. He said the makeup and composition of Third Avenue will become increasingly dense and increasingly mixed-use residential.
“The empty parcel at Third Avenue and E Street is going through the entitlement phase and the development site at 435 Third Avenue is slated to start construction in a few years,” he said.
“We want to have a brand name that is considerate of that increased density. That is the goal for a new generation of families moving to downtown,” he said.
The motion to change the name to Downtown Chula Vista Association passed unanimously at the July 19 board meeting after hearing the recommendations from the District Identity and Placement Committee.
The current boundaries are from E Street to the north, I Street to the South, Church Avenue to the east, and Landis Avenue to the west. It also extends west on F Street to Fourth Avenue, encompassing the City of Chula Vista central library and police station.
TAVA is coalescing the new Downtown Chula Vista Association brand name, and over the next few months, will be implementing that association brand name through various mediums, and a new website to be released soon at downtownchulavista.com.
“We are changing just the DBA name to Downtown Chula Vista to the corporation that is managing the Property and Business Improvement District is still Third Avenue Village Association. We have created a 501(c)(3) with the intent of transitioning the maintenance contract that the City has with TAVA currently, transferring this contract to this new 501(c)(3), because our board determined last year that a 501(c)(3) would be much more advantageous to operate TAVA versus under the current (c)(6),”he said. “We are currently transitioning to the new c3, but as of right now we are still operating under TAVA corporation and its bylaws. When we change there will be a new set of bylaws. The new set of bylaws are very similar to the existing bylaws in which they determine that stakeholders within this district. The new district will simply just designate stakeholders versus the old plan that designated members. It is the same eligibility, but people that wan to join the board have to be a property owner in the district, must be caught up on their assessments, and be willing to serve on one of our advisory committees.”
TAVA Board secretary and Grind House Chula Vista business owner Ron Richie was on the District Identity and Placement Committee, voted for the change and rebranding design. Riche said the committee spent much time discussing on both the district identity and placement, then took it to the board for further discussion and the vote.
“We discussed and decided as the west side of Chula Vista continues to grow and the bayfront coming along, and there has been a lot going on at H Street and E Street corridors, we thought it was a good idea to rebrand or rename the neighborhood.
“Just to get the community as a whole, especially those who are not local from the west side of Chula Vista, to think of it more as a region as opposed to just one street,” he said. “TAVA really honed people into those few blocks of Third Avenue. We felt it was a good idea to widen our reach of what people think about when they say Downtown Chula Vista.”
TAVA Board treasurer and Tavern at the Vogue co-founder Dr. Gonzalo Quintero said he voted for the change after months of meetings.
“When the idea came up to change from a village association to the Downtown Chula Vista Association it was literally to think bigger,” he said.
“Before, as TAVA, we had a smalltime operation and once we started to grow with New City America and everything they brought to the table, it seems to make so much more sense to think bigger and use bigger language to rebrand to Downtown Chula Vista.”
Quintero said this makes it more about the region and not just Third Avenue.
“Many other businesses and supporters in our area wanted to join our ranks but were not sure how to go about it or if they were even capable of doing so because they were not located on Third Avenue,” he said. “We can increase our ranks with other businesses and organizations. We can increase our ability to add to the BID and use our ability to bring more to the region. With the bayfront, if you are thinking of the future, whether it be people in town for a convention, people utilizing it as a resort, when they hear there is a whole downtown to visit nearby, they are going to be thinking shopping, bars and restaurants, and thinking about all the services that a downtown has to offer. That is going to keep people from going to downtown San Diego and bring them to downtown Chula Vista. Chula Vista already has a great public transportation option. It is already very walkable, and, in the future, I think people are going to see how easy it is to get to Chula Vista, the South Bay, and what a better option just to enjoy a healthy lifestyle while being out and about.”
Quintero said Downtown Chula Vista is not just about the businesses, it is about the community as a whole.
“We hope that people come out and support the diverse culture community-driven neighborhood that is downtown Chula Vista,” he said.
With the awarding of County Supervisor Nora Vargas’ grant from the Neighborhood Reinvestment Program, Li Mandri said community gathering places will feature all new branded tables, chairs and umbrellas along Third Avenue.
“The new tagline for Downtown Chula Vista will be Where Culture and Community Meet, and we think that is resonance of Downtown Chula Vista serving as the cultural heart of South Bay,” he said. “We still think Third Avenue is going to have a place in rebranding Downtown Chula Vista. We just think downtown as an umbrella will be the most progressive forward thinking brand name that we can group under, and then still calling out our Third Avenue sign or different business on Third Avenue, will still be relevant to are marketing strategy. But we also understand that downtown, as it is known, is going to expand beyond Third Avenue, and we want to be considerate of that growth.”
Li Mandri said so far, the response to this branding change has been “positive and embracing.”
“Many people recognize that this has been recognized as downtown for generations for decades now, so leaning into that familiar brand, that strategy has been understood, recognized, acknowledged, and embraced by Chula Vistans to which we have spoken. That has reassured us that this is the right path and that we are on the right track,” he said.
District 2 Council member Jill Galvez said she “loves” the rebranding and that this is long overdue.
“Downtown Third Avenue Chula Vista is a mouthful. It is much easier to reference Downtown Chula Vista,” she said.
