Chula Vista City Council approved two agreements last week with real estate and legal professionals for negotiations and recruitment for the city's University and Innovation District.
The city has sought to bring a four-year, “multi-institutional and bi-national” university since the late ’80s. Agreements with the real estate company CBRE for $653,500 and with Stradling, Yocca, Carlson, and Rauth for an amount not to exceed $150,000, will help kickstart marketing for its 383.7-acre University and Innovation District in Eastern Chula Vista.
According to a city staff report, the district is adjacent to the HomeFed Corporation, which is a “uniquely qualified developer” that is under evaluation with the city for a development partnership, “potentially filling the role of a master developer”.
The California State University Board of Trustees announced in July 2020 that Chula Vista, along with four other proposed locations, was not viable based on enrollment demand for its new campus.
The city has only seen interest from the University of Saint Katherine, a San Marcos-based university, in a 2018 option-to-lease agreement that allows them to lease 10 acres of the University and Innovation District for $1 a year.
There have not been any recent plans to relocate.
Under the new agreements, the city aims to complete a terms sheet that outlines the terms and conditions of a potential agreement and a final master development plan.
According to Chula Vista special projects manager, Miranda Evans, CBRE will help the city with both tasks by November. Legal support for negotiations and documentation of a master plan development agreement will be provided by Stradling.
The agreements were unanimously approved by the City Council, with Councilmember Steve Padilla absent.
