Project rendering (Pacifica Companies)

On the growing Chula Vista Bayfront, Pacifica Companies envisions a brand new luxury condominium community. Amara Bay is planned to host 1,500 condominium units spread across seven towers, becoming the sole residential development in the Chula Vista Bayfront’s master plan. However, given the surrounding bayfront is tailored to tourism—local or otherwise—the site will also feature a 250-room hotel, as well as 400,000 square feet of office space.

Bayfront Master Plan, 2013. Amara Bay is located in the area marked "Residential."

Amara Bay’s location sits at the foot of what once was Rohr Aircraft Corporation’s main factory, a massive facility that stretched nearly a mile west of Interstate 5 from F Street to J Street. The factory served as a cornerstone of Chula Vista’s economy during World War II and the years following. Rohr was eventually bought by B.F. Goodrich Co. in 1997, which was then bought by United Technologies in 2012 before being merged with Rockwell Collins to form Collins Aerospace in 2018. Collins is still active at the northernmost portion of the Rohr site today—however, the segment of the facility from H Street to J Street was demolished in 2005, after being sold to the Port of Chula Vista in preparation for future Bayfront developments. Now 20 years in the making, the southern half of this demolished segment has become the domain of Amara Bay.

The developer of Amara Bay, San Diego-based Pacifica Companies, broke ground on the project in 2024. Pacifica has previously undertaken development projects in the hospitality, senior housing, and multi-family sectors. Construction of the project will occur in many phases, with the current phase being the improvement and reconstruction of roads and public utilities surrounding the site and is expected to take roughly 18-24 months to complete. It is currently unknown when construction of the buildings themselves will begin.

Further reading

City of Chula Vista - Chula Vista Bayfront https://www.chulavistaca.gov/residents/chula-vista-bayfront

Port of San Diego - Chula Vista Bayfront https://www.portofsandiego.org/projects/chula-vista-bayfront