The Port of San Diego and the city of Chula Vista have inked key agreements for the construction of a hotel, convention center and retail space project on San Diego Bay.

The Board of Port Commissioners and the Chula Vista City Council unanimously approved an agreement between the port, city and RIDA Development of Texas to finance and start construction on the project. The parties signed a letter of intent about the project about a year ago.

The Chula Vista Bayfront resort hotel and convention center will be operated by Gaylord Hotels, the convention hotel brand of Marriott International.

The property will include about 1,600 hotel rooms, 275K SF of convention and meeting space and associated retail and resort-level amenities, such as a restaurant and bar, a spa, a pool with a lazy river, and bike and boat rentals.

The development will also include 250 acres of wildlife habitat, parks, trails and bike paths.

Public infrastructure improvements, including preliminary site preparation, building access roads and new public streets (portions of E, G and H streets), providing utility services and building the new Harbor Park, will begin first and could get underway as soon as 2019. The hotel will be completed by 2021.

The resort hotel and convention center is the centerpiece and catalyst project of the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan, a joint planning effort by the port, the city and other parties. The plan was approved by the port in 2010 and certified by the California Coastal Commission in 2012.