San Diego Port Commissioner Ann Moore presented City Council members with golden shovels in celebration of the groundbreaking of the Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center which is slated to open in fall 2025 at the Aug. 23 City Council meeting. She said that this was only the beginning and wanted input from Council on a new project that may be heading to the Port for consideration at the bayfront.
Moore said a developer, Fredrick McDonald, reached out to the port with an interesting proposal for the Chula Vista Bayfront. She said the proposal had not been vetted by the Port, no application has been submitted, but that it was important to get input from Council regarding the project.
Architect Greg Miller, an architect with Tucker Sadler Architects, a 65 year-old San Diego firm and designed the new RV park at the bayfront. He provided initial concepts for a large entertainment/sports complex at the site of the old South Bay Powerplant.
“We are talking about environmental justice, social justice, and creating opportunities, low-cost, no-costs, visiting services uses in bringing people down to this wonderful bayfront, which is a true gem of the bay for Chula Vista,” he said.
Miller said the idea behind the project is to provide pathways, trails, and activities to get people near the water. The project proposes a large hotel/sports/entertainment complex, an aquatic athletic center, youth sports fields, a festival plaza, blue/green tech offices, an e-sports/performing arts center, festival and retail space, a dock-and-dine, youth sailing facility, a park, all surrounded by green spaces, allowing people access to the bayfront.
McDonald said he has a history of successfully leading complex, multi-million transactions, and has done corporate acquisitions in about 20 different states. He said this project is backed by a number of “excited investors” and would like to participate in the development of the bayfront.
Mayor Mary Casillas Salas said she is impressed with Tucker Sadler and that Miller designed the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, the new Southwestern College Performing Arts Center, and that his designs are “stunning.”
