The City of Chula Vista celebrated the start of construction on the first phase of the UniverCity at Chula Vista, with a groundbreaking ceremony Monday morning. The event highlighted the City’s progress in fulfilling long-held visions to bolster higher education, employment, and workforce development opportunities and provide a new library on the City’s eastern side. The much-anticipated development will add state-of-the-art office space and the first new City library since 1995. The $96.4 million first phase of UniverCity is in the Millenia master-planned community. Of this, $30 million is being funded by the state of California, and administered through the California State Library.
Local and state elected officials, city leaders, and industry partners commemorated the start of construction with a spray of confetti and ceremonial plunge of shovels into the ground. The 168,000-square-foot, Class A building under construction is expected to be finished in fall 2025. A new City library will be the anchor tenant, delivering in-demand services and resources. The event also marks the start of the City of Chula Vista and real estate broker CRBE’s acceptance of interest from prospective tenants that will strengthen the City’s higher education and workforce pipeline.
“This is an unparalleled opportunity for higher education and business partners, and for our entire community,” said Mayor John McCann. “Our vision is to provide access to quality higher education and teach the latest, most effective curriculum to bring high paying jobs to our area.”
The City of Chula Vista has long envisioned bringing additional higher education opportunities to the area, to meet the significant need in the South Bay. State Senator Steve Padilla, a former Chula Vista Mayor and member of the City Council, played a critical role in the City getting to this point. He and Assemblymember David Alvarez helped secure approval of a Surplus Land Act exemption on a nearby 383-acre site, to be able to use the land for higher education and employment-related development.
“Today marks an important step toward our goal of bringing a four-year university to Chula Vista,” Padilla said. “This project has been something I have been committed to for decades. This community deserves the economic and academic opportunities that will be created here.”
The new library will replace a smaller facility in Otay Ranch Town Center. Providing this new library would not be possible without the considerable support of Senate President Pro Tem Toni G. Atkins and Assemblymember David Alvarez, who helped the City secure the state funding for this needed resource. Alvarez said that as the South Bay population grows, there is a need to continue to expand services and educational opportunities for everyone.
“I am proud to be part of this project and in helping secure $25 million in State funding,” he said. “I will continue to find new opportunities for educational growth with the goal of a university in Chula Vista.”
An additional $5 million was secured thanks to Atkins.
The building marks the beginning of the UniverCity of Chula Vista, which will altogether provide more than 12 million square feet of available development space across three locations in the City. Two locations are within the Millenia master-planned community, and the third is a 383-acre site at Hunte and Eastlake Parkways. The library, in this first phase, will serve as a versatile community hub, providing services and resources to users of all backgrounds and ages. Among the features that the City hopes to include are community meeting spaces, a passport office, and a business incubator providing support for small businesses.
State Librarian Greg Lucas has visited the site several times, including today. He said he would like to see more library projects like this one across the state. “California is the fourth largest economy in the world and should be creating more world class libraries like Chula Vista’s UniverCity,” Lucas said.
Chesnut Properties is the developer of this phase of the UniverCity at Chula Vista, along with general contractor McCarthy, and architectural firm Gensler. Lee Chesnut, CEO of Chesnut Properties, said he forsees this development changing “the landscape of opportunity in eastern Chula Vista and catapulting the region to become the place where great things happen for generations to come.”
