The group seeking to build a massive, tennis-anchored sports complex on the Chula Vista Bayfront will get another two years or more to fill in the blanks of its mega proposal, even as questions remain around the seriousness of a secret athlete’s commitment to the project and the environmental ramifications of such a large development on tidelands.
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Tuesday, the Board of Port Commissioners for the San Diego Unified Port District unanimously agreed to authorize a new, two-year exclusive negotiating agreement, or ENA, with Pangaea Development LLC for the development of a 124-acre site at 990 Bay Blvd. The approved contract also allows for two 180-day administrative extensions.
The action means the agency’s staff will draft a negotiating agreement to replace the short-term ENA that expires next week.
The approval comes even though Pangaea has not completed the milestones required in the expiring contract. The group has, for instance, teased the prospect of securing a star tennis player to be the face of the anchor sports facility for more than two years, but has yet to land a formal commitment from the athlete.
The Pangaea project, as described in documents, centers around a large tennis facility with a stadium court seating up to 18,000 people and 34 surrounding courts of varying sizes, surfaces and purposes. The preliminary plans include a water polo academy, four hotels, a meandering retail village, three ocean-oriented office buildings and a public trail circling the property. A multi-purpose stadium with up to 80,000 seats is also being contemplated.
The project is said to have an estimated cost of $2.2 billion.
Port commissioners acknowledged that the proposal needs refining and includes elements that may not be appropriate for the site, but said they want to continue forward with the developer.
“This type of project would be a game changer for the entire region, and especially the South Bay. And the Chula Vista Bayfront deserves to see an aspirational project become reality, a type of project that can make a difference to the community by providing opportunities never considered possible in the South Bay,” said Commissioner Ann Moore, who is chair of the agency’s seven-member board and represents the city of Chula Vista.
“I understand the concerns that have been raised, and I too don’t like aspects of this plan, nor do I think certain aspects are practical or would even work on the Chula Vista Bayfront. And I can tell you that if it was my proposal, I would have a red pen over a number of the uses that are there today,” Moore said. “But groundbreaking development projects are characterized by transformative vision, maybe a few disruptive ideas, imagination, and a future-proof design.”
The Pangaea proposal was quietly submitted to the port in February 2024 and first became public in July 2025, when the board considered the project in open session. At the time, commissioners agreed to waive its policy for a competitive solicitation process and granted the group an exclusive, six-month negotiating period. The contract was executed on Jan. 1 and expires on July 1.
The abnormally short length was designed to give the developer time to procure a non-binding, public letter of intent with the tennis pro. The initial agreement established five other milestones, requiring the developer to produce a market demand study, submit a preliminary project description and land-use plan, enter into a project labor agreement with relevant unions, develop a local hire plan and implement a public outreach plan.
To date, Pangaea has signed a contract with the San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council. The group also submitted a confidential letter from representatives affiliated with the athlete expressing interest in the project. The interest letter is distinct from a letter of intent, which is more serious in nature and outlines preliminary deal terms.
With Tuesday’s board vote, the development entity will have an extended period time to make good on its promise.
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The authorized agreement grants the group the exclusive right to negotiate a lease and redevelopment deal for the entirety of the Otay District on the Chula Vista Bayfront. The expansive district, south of the Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center, is an undeveloped area that was the former home of the South Bay Power Plant. The area is currently entitled for an RV park, industrial business park use and a passive public park.
Commissioners said they were satisfied with the Pangaea team’s progress during the initial six-month negotiating window, but stressed that the new ENA term does not mean they are fully on board with the project, as proposed.
“It’s still a less-than-half-baked project with those program elements to be determined,” Commissioner Sid Voorakkara said. “I see (the interest letter) as a milestone that is close to being met. … So I’m looking forward to a robust discussion and deep engagement with the community to ensure this is as successful as some other projects that have happened at the port, including the Gaylord project.”
Commissioner Dan Malcolm warned the developer that the road ahead is long, costly and uncertain.
“We are going to be leveraging your money, your knowledge, your expertise on an ENA process that is going to be very robust. And at the end of the day, the Port of San Diego has ultimate discretion,” he said. “I just want the developers to be going into this with their eyes open about what this process is going to look like. It’s not going to be ramming a development project down the throat of the port or the people in the region.”
Chula Vista Mayor John McCann, as well as other city officials and groups, urged the board to keep the Pangaea proposal in play, whereas representatives from environmental groups pressed commissioners to walk away.
“Rewarding this lack of progress with a two-year extension is procedurally irresponsible, as it undermines the very purpose of the July 1 deadline,” said Alexandra Martin with nonprofit San Diego Coastkeeper. “Coastkeeper also agrees with commenters from other environmental organizations that the port has a strict legal obligation under the public trust doctrine to protect our diminishing tidelands for the public benefit, not to lock them up for a speculative, unviable private mega complex.”
The group, she said, is also concerned that replacing pervious soil with a concrete sports complex, parking structures and artificial turf will generate toxic runoff.
The sentiment was echoed in part by Sandy Vissman, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who also serves on the Chula Vista Wildlife Advisory Group, or WAG. WAG was formed in 2010 as part of a settlement agreement between the port, the city of Chula Vista and the Bayfront Coalition over the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan.
“(The Pangea project) has the potential to significantly intensify uses on the Chula Vista Bayfront in an area that will increase pressure on sensitive resources,” Vissman said. “The Otay District represents one of the last remaining opportunities for habitat restoration in San Diego Bay to ameliorate the impacts to the shoreline and bayfront, which are largely developed.”
Pangaea Development LLC is 100% owned by Gerald Divaris, who is the chairman of Virginia Beach-based commercial real estate firm Divaris Group of Companies. The development team includes Divaris subsidiary The McGarey Group and local design firm Tucker Sadler Architects Inc. The project, if it continues to move forward, will require a Port Master Plan Amendment and review under California’s Environmental Quality Act, which are lengthy, multi-year processes.
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