Eastlake residents raise concerns over neglected shopping center

CHULA VISTA, Calif. (FOX5/KUSI)--Shopping center woes are coming to a head in Chula Vista, as residents say they are disappointed in the upkeep of the Shops at San Miguel Ranch.

It’s been a decade since the grocery store in the shopping center closed, and it still hasn’t been replaced.

Residents say the problems stretch beyond just the closed store. Some explained that they are concerned about the entire shopping center, especially the courtyard area.

In fact, they have been photographing the issues since March.

“Dead grass right there, as you can see," said resident Joseph Garcia. "No watering of the plants. Pretty much graffiti at the shopping center. We don’t know what’s in there. It’s infested with rats. The trash wasn’t taken out during the strike—overfilled with trash."

Garcia lives and works in the area and has made it a point to enjoy a cup of coffee in the courtyard of the shopping center for the past 10 years.

But Garcia isn’t the only one with concerns.

Fellow Eastlake resident and Commercial Real Estate Agent Anthony O’Connor said it’s disappointing to see the shopping center fall short of its full potential.

O’Connor said he drives an extra few minutes to enjoy his cup of coffee at another nearby shopping center because he says it’s clean and refreshing.

“Me, being in commercial real estate, you’ve got a vacant anchor building, which was an Albertsons--about 52,000 square feet," O’Connor explained.

O'Cooner suggested, "Creative thinking would’ve allowed for splitting that up and placing two tenants in there; you probably could get more per square foot."

"When you have a vacant big box. It hurts the rest of the center because we have less traffic into the center," O'Connor continued.

Chula Vista Mayor John McCann is aware of the community’s concerns and says he has been meeting with the owner of the shopping center. His goal is to bring in new businesses.

“We are encouraging the owner to be able to upgrade," McCann said. "I’m hopeful that he will do that. The good thing is that we have a Tesla charging station coming, and we are hoping to be able to bring somebody in to replace the Albertsons."

Joseph Ramani is the president of PacWest Management and owns the property.

Ramani stated that he inherited these issues when he purchased the shopping center in 2023.
Since then, he has taken on maintenance projects for the property, including water reclamation. He also claims an electrical system was vandalized, and the trash pile-up is due to the recent strike.

Regardless, Ramani said he is working to fix the issues, and he expects them to be complete within weeks or months.

As for the vacant Albertsons building, initially, there was an issue with filling the space due to the lease; however, officials with Albertsons stated that it has no affiliation with the building anymore.

Ramani said he is being selective about who he puts in the building, and explained he wants to put a tenant in that generates more traffic while addressing the community's need for a grocery store and gym.

“I have two [Letter of Intent] from two different grocery stores, and I was just approached by a major Hispanic grocer that they might take the whole entire building," Ramani said.

Ramani claims he plans to build an iron wall where there is damage near the Starbucks building.

The community members said they just want action taken.

Ramani is calling on the community to contact him directly with any issues or concerns so that he can take action if and when they encounter vandals.

In the meantime, Ramani and Mayor McCann mentioned that Tesla chargers are being installed at the shopping center.