Headlines in the financial press speculate about a “second shoe to drop” in the stock market, with writers noting that hundreds of billions of dollars of commercial real estate loans will come due, triggering massive foreclosures, further crippling the banking system and ruining the broader stock market. It won’t happen, says columnist David Marino in the August issue of San Diego Metropolitan Magazine.
$90 Million Apartment Project Slated for Spectrum Center
San Diego Spectrum Center Rendering
Multifamily project developer Wood Partners LLC has purchased a 5.9-acre site in the Spectrum Center business park and plans to develop a $ 90 million, 379-unit luxury apartment community. Construction is expected to start by Sept. 1 and the first units are to become available for lease in the first quarter of 2012. The project will include two separate apartment buildings over two levels of basement garage with 750 parking spaces. The property is located in the master-planned, 244-acre San Diego Spectrum business and residential community. It was owned by Sunroad Enterprises, a local real estate development firm that envisioned the apartment complex as part of its 40-acre office, residential and retail center that was stalled during the recession. Wood Partners will revive the apartment community using the original plans and building permits, which it also purchased. The apartments at 8798 Spectrum Center Blvd. will be centered on a pool area with cabanas, a spa, barbeque pits, a waterfall and trellises. Wood Partners also will build a two-acre public park on a parcel of land in front of the project that is being designed and will be owned by the city of San Diego. Funding for the acquisition was provided by a private equity real estate fund. Chase Bank is providing the debt for construction and Ed Rosen of Cushman & Wakefield’s San Diego office brokered the transaction. The general contractor for the project is Cobalt Construction.
Plans for Downtown Courthouse to be Aired
The California Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) will hold a Sept. 8 public meeting to air plans for the new San Diego Central courthouse proposed for Downtown San Diego. The meeting will be from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Downtown Information Center, 193 Horton Plaza. The AOC’s Office of Court Construction and Management will present project information and an overview of the project. The courthouse is proposed for a 1.4-acre site bounded by West C Street, Union Street, West B Street and State Street. The courthouse would replace the County Courthouse, the Family Courthouse and the Madge Bradley Courthouse, which have been found to be unsafe, overcrowded and inadequate for modern court operations. The project also includes a tunnel between the new courthouse and the Central Jail and a bridge between the new courthouse and the Hall of Justice. After completion of the new courthouse, the AOC intends to demolish the County Courthouse and jail sometime in the future. The project, estimated to cost $633.9 million, will be funded by Senate Bill 1407, which finances critically needed courthouse construction, renovation, and repair through a portion of judicial branch fees, fines and penalties.
Law Firm Leaves Downtown
Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP has moved its Downtown San Diego office to newly renovated and larger office space at 12790 El Camino Real in the Del Mar Heights area. The office occupies 65,000 square feet, with options to grow to 80,000 square feet in the future. The space also includes a 100-seat auditorium to support select events for clients and the legal community. The new office will house more than 60 attorneys and six patent scientists, making it the largest intellectual property law practice in San Diego. Knobbe Martens had been Downtown for 26 years.
Thomas Jefferson Law School Selects Furnishings Firm
Innovative Commercial Environments (ICE) has been awarded a $1.3 million contract to furnish the offices and provide outdoor furniture for Thomas Jefferson’s new eight-story, 177,000-square-foot campus at Island and 11th streets in Downtown’s East Village. The campus will open for classes in January. ICE will partner with several furniture vendors, including Indiana Furniture, Omni Pacific, Keilhauer and Stylex as well as ID Studios Inc., an interior design firm, to provide custom furniture. DeLinda Forsythe is founder and president of ICE.
Jim Kelly Joins CT Realty Investors Corp.
Jim Kelly
Real estate veteran Jim Kelly has CT Realty Investors Corp. as managing partner and executive vice president of the firm’s San Diego division, located at 10650 Treena St., Suite 111, in San Diego. Kelly has more than 25 years of experience in real estate development and investment. Before joining CT Realty, he was president of Emerald Venture Group Inc., a San Diego-based real estate development company that he formed in 1999. Kelly, a licensed Realtor and general contractor, is a member of the Urban Land Institute, Design-Build Institute of America and a past member of the National Golf Course Owners Association.
Real Estate Purchases
• Fred J. Hansen Trusts A & B purchased a 2,390-square-foot retail building at 3595 North Loop 336 East, in Conroe, Texas, from Jack In The Box Eastern Division LP for $1.96 million. Chris Rink of Cassidy Turley BRE Commercial represented both the buyer and the seller in the transaction.
• Benamel Development, Inc. purchased a 2,000-square-foot, three-unit apartment building at 620-622B South Kalmia St. in Escondido, from Dolores R. Flanders Trust for $302,000. Ray Adams of Cassidy Turley BRE Commercial represented the buyer in the transaction. Barbara Peterson of Great Dane Realty represented the seller.
Affordable Housing Forum
The San Diego Housing Federation will hold its next event in the Affordable Housing Roundtable series — “Retrofitting Multifamily Affordable Housing” — on Sept. 2 from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the NTC Command Center at Liberty Station in Point Loma. Panelists will discuss solutions to help organizations serving low-income communities become more sustainable. For more information, e-mail kelly@housingsandiego.org.
Upcoming SCORE San Diego Workshops:
• Aug. 18 – Internet Marketing 302: E-mail Strategy – 9 a.m. to noon at Point Loma Nazarene University in Mission Valley (4007 Camino del Rio South, San Diego 92108; pre-paid registration $49, $59 at the door).
• Aug. 20 – Financing Your Business – Carlsbad – 9:30 a.m. to noon at National University in Carlsbad (705 Palomar Airport Road, Carlsbad 92011; pre-paid registration $29, $39 at the door).
• Aug. 21 – Costing, Pricing, Break-Even Analysis – 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Point Loma Nazarene University in Mission Valley (4007 Camino del Rio South, San Diego 92108; pre-paid registration $49, $59 at the door).
• Aug. 23 – Financial Statements – 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at SCORE Entrepreneur Center (550 West C St., #550, San Diego 92101; pre-paid registration $29, $39 at the door).
• Aug. 24 – Internet Marketing 303: Social Media – 9 a.m. to noon at Point Loma Nazarene University in Mission Valley (4007 Camino del Rio South, San Diego 92108; pre-paid registration $49, $59 at the door).
The Daily Business Report is produced by REP Publishing Inc., publisher of San Diego Metropolitan Magazine, the North Park News, Kensington News and the West Coast Craftsman. (619) 906-4104.
