It was years in the making but the centerpiece of Chula Vista’s Bayfront redevelopment project is now open.
That 535-acre project includes parks, open space and a huge new hotel and convention center — The Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center.
On Thursday, festivities included a ribbon cutting for invited guests. The resort will open to the public on Friday.
With the chairs laid out by the pool, the lazy river and slides ready, the long-awaited $1.3 billion Gaylord Pacific is "the most highly anticipated event in the hospitality industry,” resort marketing and PR director Pete Borum said.
That anticipation is not just felt locally but nationwide. This is Gaylord Hotels' sixth resort and its largest yet.
Borum said guests can expect a larger-than-life experience.
“Whatever you think of when you think of a hotel, this is bigger. It’s bolder," he said. "It has a lot more interesting components to it.”
That includes 1,600 rooms,12 bars and restaurants (including a speakeasy) and a 4.25-acre water park with a view of San Diego Bay.
“It’s going to be the town center for this community,” said Ira Mitzner, CEO of RIDA Development and Gaylord Pacific managing partners.
But getting there took more than two decades. Plans to revitalize the Chula Vista Bayfront started in 2002. The California Coastal Commission approved the master plan in 2012, and the groundbreaking happened in 2022.
"Some people say this project dates back even more than 20 years," Port of San Diego chair Danielle Moore said. "There's been a lot of consideration about the Chula Vista Bayfront master plan and making sure that they can even develop this area the way that they've envisioned."
She said the city and the Port have been mindful of the area from an environmental standpoint, making sure people have a space to gather and preserving the marina.
Along the way, however, there were challenges, such as COVID-19, inflation and rising interest rates, Mitzner said.
Now that the resort is here, he envisioned it to be the hot spot in Chula Vista.
“Dad wants to come with his son to go see a soccer or basketball game, they're going to come to our sports bar," he said. "Mom and daughter are going to come and have a spa day here.”
This is part of the overall redevelopment project for the Bayfront, which includes more parks, restaurants, more hotel rooms and protection for wetlands and habitats.
The Gaylord Pacific is expected to be an economic development catalyst for the nearby empty lots. The resort is already employing more than 800 people and expects to hire a total of 1,600 when it’s all said and done.
"The Gaylord Pacific is one of the anchor tenants," Chula Vista Mayor John McCann said. "South of this though, we have the Amara Bay project, a 35-acre community, which is going to have housing and it'll have fine dining."
He said with the Gaylord Pacific here, people will have a destination point on the bayfront and the entire area.
The Port of San Diego expects the resort to generate around $475 million a year for the local economy.
