South San Diego County hits pay dirt in construction boom.

When architect Eugene Marchese leaves his native Australia to work in San Diego's booming South County, he heads toward an environment he's not used to.

"Everyone tells me how difficult it is to do business in the United States," said Marchese, managing director of Marchese + Partners International, now building National City's first high-rise residential development, called Revolution. "This is easier than what we've done in Australia for the last 12 years."

It's one example of what many see as a renaissance unfolding in South San Diego County, which includes the suburban cities of National City and Chula Vista.

Much is already being developed, including plans by Chula Vista for a first-of-its-kind collaboration of public and private universities on both sides of the border, research institutes and related business and technology firms.

Also in the works is the University Park and Research Center, to be developed on 1,500 acres overlooking the Otay Lakes and the San Ysidro Mountains and next to the planned communities of the Otay Ranch and the U.S. Olympic Training Center. Another project is Otay Ranch Town Center, an 860,000-square-foot shopping complex being built by General Growth Properties Inc.

A major boon is the long-anticipated state Route 125, an 11-mile highway alignment that, when it opens in the fall of 2006, will complete the missing link in San Diego's third north-south freeway corridor. "It's becoming a completely balanced community," said Gary Asaro, senior vice president of McMillin Land Development.

'Our own niche'

Eric Crockett, redevelopment manager for Chula Vista's Community Development Department, said that the city and the community are sharing a vision of how the western portion of the city can be reborn.

"We are enabling people to bring in mixed-use, higher density development and get feet on the street, with businesses staying open until after 5 p.m., and more pedestrian friendly in western Chula Vista, encouraging people to get out and walk," he said.

While Chula Vista isn't far from downtown San Diego, the markets are very different. "We are our own niche," Crockett said. "We are in a great location, between downtown and the border. It's a market that hasn't been tapped, and there are great opportunities for the community and developers to get a return on their investments."

Cindy Gompper Graves, chief executive of the South County Economic Development Council, said that the revitalization of older neighborhoods is changing the face of South San Diego County. "It is a destination point for business to locate here," she said. "The time for South County is right now, and we need to capture the moment."

Veteran San Diego developer Douglas Wilson is heeding the call with a couple of mixed-use projects valued at more than $100 million. Plans in the pipeline include an exclusive negotiating agreement with Chula Vista to help rejuvenate the old downtown area.

"I am bullish on the west side of Chula Vista," said Wilson, president and chief executive of Douglas Wilson Cos. "I don't know if it's the last frontier, but it's certainly a large frontier."

But, Wilson warned, it's not enough for just the city or the developer to feel good about the area's potential. "It's important that this is an affordable alternative to more of an urban lifestyle," said Wilson, who estimates that buyers of his properties in Chula Vista will pay about $350,000 to $400,000 per unit.

At National City's Revolution project, the average prices will be in the $450,000 to $470,000 range. The development "will be a catalyst for change in the National City downtown area and will set the benchmark for future development," said Matthew Cummings, a senior associate with Marchese + Partners International.

Chip Buttner, president and chief executive of Diamond Management Inc., said that big-box retailers are knocking on his door these days.

"We're getting calls from major national tenants, who want to be in the area, who, before, wouldn't answer our phone calls," he said. "Now, the market is proven. But we don't have space for them right now. We want the profits to stay here, so they don't end up in some corporate accounts. We do have some franchisers, but we like these to be owned by local entrepreneurs."