Why this matters
The former grocery store building, an anchor in its shopping complex, has sat vacant for more than a decade in the well-populated Chula Vista neighborhood.
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A former Albertsons that anchors an east Chula Vista shopping center has sat vacant for 12 years — but a recent vote by city officials could change that.
From the Documenters
This story came in part from notes taken by Jennifer Hua, a San Diego Documenter, at a Chula Vista Planning Commission meeting last month. The Documenters program trains and pays community members to document what happens at public meetings.
The city Planning Commission unanimously approved a request to divide The Shops at San Miguel Ranch into seven parcels, or privately owned plots of land.
Property owners hope that subdividing the center will increase interest from prospective tenants and improve the site’s maintenance. It also gives the center’s current businesses the chance to own their space.
“It makes more financial sense for anybody to purchase rather than to rent,” Joseph Ramani, whose company manages the land, told inewsource.
Residents and business owners have long complained about the shopping center’s condition and that the over 50,000-square-foot Albertsons property has remained empty. The grocery store left in 2014, with media reports at the time saying it was financially underperforming.
Rick Fernandez, owner of 3N1 Sports Bar and Grill, said the area needs some attention and that business owners — some of whom, including himself, live nearby — would better care for their property.
Ramani’s company, PacWest Management Inc., manages 16 other properties throughout California.
“He’s got a lot of other complexes and other businesses, and he doesn’t not care about this, but it’s not his main focus.” Fernandez said.
He hopes to buy the parcel that his bar is on, which also includes the business next door.
Albertsons held onto the building’s lease for years, leaving it unavailable to any other tenant. Ramani said that it took him a “long time to negotiate with Albertsons to take the building back,” but declined to discuss further. The space is now available to tenants for almost $210,000 monthly rent, according to an online listing.
A former Albertsons in east Chula Vista’s The Shops at San Miguel Ranch shopping center has sat vacant for more than a decade. (Roman Fong/inewsource)
The property will remain its own parcel under the city’s new map. Ramani said the property has garnered interest from three businesses so far. He said he is prioritizing a grocery store, and is considering a gym as well.
Planning Commissioner Charles Sanfilippo said the return of a grocery store would be especially convenient for nearby residents who otherwise have to travel to other parts of Eastlake for their shopping.
Joseph Garcia, an Eastlake resident, said that it matters less to him which business fills the space — he just wants it occupied. Garcia has come to the shopping center almost daily, for over 15 years.
“If you build it they will come, and I think that will be the case here,” he said. “If there’s a wonderful supermarket — and it doesn’t have to be the big brand supermarket — but there has to be something in there.”
Type of Content
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.