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Otay Mesa lot has had many tenants, owners
By Leslie Berestein
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
January 28, 2006

JOHN R. MCCUTCHEN / Union-Tribune

The 2,400-foot-long tunnel discovered by federal agents runs from a warehouse near Tijuana's airport to this Otay Mesa warehouse.
The warehouse on Siempre Viva Road in Otay Mesa never had much luck attracting long-term interest, until recently.

The building where federal agents discovered a long and highly sophisticated cross-border drug tunnel this week has had a long history of short-term tenants, according to its developer. The property on which it sits also has changed ownership several times in recent years, property records show.

The lot lies within the Border Business Park, formerly the De La Fuente Business Park, a 312-acre parcel whose one-time owner, Roque de la Fuente II, has been embroiled in a legal battle with the city for years.

The property is one of many that de la Fuente lost to foreclosure during the 1990s. In early 1997, the lot changed hands from the business park to a bank. Later that year, it changed hands again to another private owner, who never developed it.

In 2001, the lot was bought by Costa Brava Trade Center LLC, a company formed by Michael Vogt, a Chula Vista real estate broker who had arranged the previous transaction. With investors, he formed the limited liability company to develop the lot into a 48,000-plus-square-foot warehouse with 4,000 square feet of office space.

Yet, despite its generous proportions, Vogt said he had trouble getting anyone to rent the place for very long.

“We were trying to get a long-term tenant,â€