Local and state leaders marked the start of construction on the Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center along the Chula Vista bayfront.
Plans called for 1,600 hotel rooms and a large convention complex as the commercial centerpiece of a 535-acre waterfront redevelopment. The city approved $275 million in public bond financing connected to the project.
The groundbreaking turned a long-running South Bay planning effort into visible construction and raised expectations for jobs, tourism and new public access along the shoreline.