Chula Vista's Hollywood studio plan hits fundraising delays

Driving the news: The project "mutually parted ways" with a $15 million investor and is still working to close its initial $5 million fundraising round, Roberts said.

• It also has no firm start date.

Catch up quick: The goal of making local studio space for Hollywood movies is meant to be built in two phases.

• The first one involves converting the top two floors of Chula Vista's Millenia Library into a space for coworking, podcast recording, photography and self-taping.
• The second phase is more ambitious — creating 130,000 square feet of space that can be used for big production films.

The snags come from a due diligence process with the city. Chula Vista hired consultants HR&A Advisors to do a deep dive into Roberts's company, and staff will present their findings to the City Council by the end of the year before the city decides to move forward with the project, according to the Union-Tribune.

• As of now, there's no formal agreement with Roberts, Chula Vista's Economic Development Director David Graham told the UT.
• "You can say (we're) deciding whether we're going to date or not," he said.

Between the lines: Once ground is broken, Roberts told Axios the studio space could be up and running in 18 months.

• "The start date is the fluid part," he said.

In the meantime, Roberts said he's working to raise $150 million through a mix of debt and equity that would allow him to start the bigger studio project.

The bottom line: Roberts said delays are part of the game for startups.

• "If I could have raised $150 million within six to 12 months, that would have been awesome," he said. "It's not that that wasn't the plan, but history is filled with startups that take 12, 18, 24 plus months to raise funds."