Otay Ranch Town Center
Otay Ranch Town Center is an open-air shopping mall/lifestyle center in the Otay Ranch area of Chula Vista, California, just south of San Diego. Owned and operated by Brookfield Properties with Anchor stores like AMC Theatres, Barnes & Noble, Planet Fitness, and Macy's. Other retailers include Apple Inc., H&M, and Hollister Co. Dining options include The Cheesecake Factory, Chili's and P.F. Chang's China Bistro. History. 2000s. Otay Ranch Town Center opened on October 27, 2006 with anchors, Borders Books & Music, Macy's, REI, and AMC theaters. There is also a power center  east of the mall with big box retailers like Best Buy and Ulta Beauty and a few restaurants. The Mall had originally been planned to be a high-end mall attracting additional anchors like Nordstrom. However, due to the financial crisis of 2007–2008, those plans were changed, and the site is now a soccer field. In 2007, Borders Group moved to (nearby competing mall) Westfield Plaza Bonita and was replaced with Barnes & Noble. 2010s. Since 2010, many national chain stores including Gap, Anthropologie, Justice, Banana Republic closed. As more stores and eateries closed, Chula Vista Library opened a branch in  the food pavilion in 2012 replacing the vacant Geppettos and three eateries to attract more foot traffic at the center. Around 2012, Party City and Designer Shoe Warehouse opened stores at the east end of the mall. In 2017, Recreational Equipment, Inc. did not renew its lease and shuttered their location, and in 2018, Planet Fitness took its place. In 2018 and 2019 new eateries opened in the south parking lot including Panera and Jack in the Box. In 2019, MTS had a Rapid Bus Route 225 stop built for Otay Ranch Town Center. This new bus route also brought  with it a new bridge over SR 125, which meant that residents of the Santa Venetia area could have direct access to the town center. 2020s. In 2020, a Barons Market opened in the former DSW location after they had relocated to the former Gap location/ Toys “R” Us express. Also in 2020 the lease of the Library Branch had been extended to 2023. As of 2021 Brookfield Properties announced a reimagination of the town center, making it into a mixed-use development adding many more apartment complexes to what is the current surrounding parking-lot areas (which originally had  been planned to be retail spaces in a future extension) as well as “pedestrian-friendly green spaces”. They mentioned that there are no plans to alter retail at the existing Town Center, but the project will help bring in much more foot traffic into the mall much like the few years when the town center had first opened.