Daily Business Report — Sept. 23, 2010
Dancing Celebrities
What do SDG&E Vice President Eugene “Mitch” Mitchell, gallery owner Alex Salazar and trial attorney John Gomez have in common? They have decided to acquire a skill-set many would shy away from — dancing. All three are competing in a Malashock Thinks You Can Dance celebrity fundraiser on Oct. 9 at the Birch North Park Theatre. Read about the competition in the October issues of North Park News and San Diego Metropolitan Magazine.
La Jolla Home Prices Among Highest in the Country
The average price for a four-bedroom home in La Jolla costs $1,210,300, making La Jolla one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country, according to Coldwell Banker Real Estate’s Home Listing Report. This year, Detroit ranked most affordable, where a typical four-bedroom, two-bathroom house costs $68,007, while Newport Beach topped the list as most expensive at $1,826,348 for the same size house — a price difference of more than $1.7 million.
CCDC to Honor the Late Sheila Hardin
Centre City Development Corp.’s Downtown Information Center will be officially renamed today in honor of Sheila Hardin, former community relations manager who died last April. A ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. at the center, located in Westfield Horton Plaza. Hardin moved to San Diego from Dayton, Ohio in 1981. She worked at CCDC for 23 years, first as a volunteer and after two years as a full-time employee for the corporation as community relations manager. Hardin was instrumental in the development and management of the annual San Diego Multicultural Festival and the Downtown Information Center. Today’s ceremony will be attended by Mayor Jerry Sanders; Councilman Kevin Faulconer; CCDC Chairman Fred Maas; former CCDC board member Gil Johnson; and Beverly Boone, Hardin’s sister.
SANDAG to Study Effectiveness of Border Crimefighting
The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) has been awarded $299,136 by the U.S. Department of Justice to study collaborative efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of combating criminal narcotics activity along the U.S.-Mexico border. The Department of Justice is funding the project through a Recovery Act program called the Research and Evaluation of Recovery Act State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance. It will include a two-year evaluation of the Chula Vista Police Department and San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, which received federal funding to target crime on the California/ Mexico border. The study will look at both San Diego County and Imperial County through interviews and historical records. Additionally, surveys will be conducted with stakeholders across local, state, and federal agencies that have been directly involved in these efforts, as well as those who have not. An analysis of the compiled data will be used to determine if opportunities for better coordination exist, how drug-trafficking organizations have been disrupted/dismantled, and determine if maximum effectiveness and efficiency were realized.
Rechargeable Battery Collection Drive
Call2Recycle will hold a rechargeable battery collection drive from 2:30 to 6 p.m. on Friday at Poway High School, 15500 Espola Road, as part of its nationwide challenge to collect 1 million pounds of batteries by Oct. 1. Anyone who brings a rechargeable battery or cell phone to the event will win a prize. The individual or group who brings the most pounds of batteries to the drive will receive a $100 grand prize gift certificate from a MyCall2Recycle retail partner: DeWALT, Lowe’s, RadioShack or Staples. The drive also will feature an exhibition from Poway High School’s Robotics team, whose robots have won awards such as General Motors Industrial Design Award, the Motorola Quality Award and the Underwriters Laboratories Industrial Safety Award in Las Vegas.
Five Leases Signed for Genesee Executive Plaza
Five leases totaling 20,629 square feet have been signed with lessor Janez Properties Inc. for space in Genesee Executive Plaza, an office project in University Town Center. Financial terms were not disclosed.
• Scripps Health signed a 65-month lease for 7,119 square feet of office space. The lessee was represented by Kevin Leonard and Brian Gallagher of HealthWest Realty Advisors. The lessor was represented by Eric A. Northbrook and Christopher P. High of Cushman & Wakefield.
• InterDent Service Corp., a dental practice management company, signed a 10-year lease for 3,282 square feet of office space. Financial terms were not disclosed. The lessee was represented by Robert Chavez and Matt Davis of Guardian Commercial Realty. The lessor was represented by Eric A. Northbrook and Christopher P. High of Cushman & Wakefield.
• The NPD Group Inc., a market research company, signed a 65-month lease for 5,826 square feet of office space. Financial terms were not disclosed. The lessee was represented by Andrew Taylor and Jed Stirnkorb of CB Richard Ellis. The lessor was represented by Eric A. Northbrook and Christopher P. High with Cushman & Wakefield.
• Physiotherapy Associates, an outpatient rehabilitation service provider, signed a 64-month lease for 3,103 square feet of office space. The lessee represented itself. The lessor was represented by Eric A. Northbrook and Christopher P. High of Cushman & Wakefield.
Unilab Corporation, dba Quest Diagnostics, signed a 39-month lease for 1,299 square feet of office space. The lessee was represented by Justin Hill and Nick Bonner of CB Richard Ellis. The lessor was represented by Eric A., Northbrook and Christopher P. High of Cushman & Wakefield.
Industrial Yard sold for $1.1 Million
An industrial yard at 3757 Bancroft Drive in Spring Valley has been sold for $1.1 million to Roger Casper, owner of Casper Co. Inc., which specializes in concrete cutting, wrecking, modification and demolition. The seller was the Hurly Family Trust. Ken Ruppert, Kerry Schimpf and Cameron Czubernat of Cassidy Turley BRE Commercial represented the seller. The buyer was represented by John Lanza and Jim Marsh of Voit Commercial.
Autozone Store to Locate in National City
Highland Partners Inc. has sold a 33,846-square-foot parcel at 2100-2120 Highland Ave. in National City for $1,370,000 to Global Building LLC, a commercial real estate developer and investment company based in Encinitas. The company plans to develop the property with an Autozone store. The seller was represented by Timothy Mills of Cushman & Wakefield. The buyer represented itself.
MDA and Skyline San Diego Own New Leases
The Saywitz Co., a commercial real estate brokerage firm, has completed two leases on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) and Skyline San Diego totaling $1.2 million and more than 18,000 square feet. MDA relocated its San Diego administrative offices from Kearny Mesa to Sorrento Mesa (9990 Mesa Rim Road). Jeff Saywitz, senior vice president, negotiated the 58-month, 4,4130square-foot sublease totaling $400,000 on behalf of the tenant. The landlord, Shea Homes, was represented by Chris High of Cushman & Wakefield. Skyline San Diego, a marketing company offering exhibits, designs and trade show support, renewed its 14,272-square-foot office lease at 6455 Weathers Place in San Diego for a five year term valued at $800,000. Saywitz represented Skyline San Diego and Glen Volk of Voit represented the landlord, Weathers Place LLC.
Discount Tire Co. Leases Space on Midway Drive
Halle Properties LLC, dba Discount Tire Co., has signed a 20-year ground lease for a 46,609-square-foot parcel located at 3135 Midway Drive in San Diego. Financial terms were not disclosed. The lessee will use the site for a Discount Tire store that is to be completed in February 2011. The lessor, Faust Trust & Kelly Trust, was represented by Kyle Clark and Kipp Gstettenbauer of Cushman & Wakefield. The lessee was represented by Robert Brady of Voit Co.
Invetech Appoints 3 to Executive Team
Invetech, a company involved in new product development and custom automation for the biomedical and industrial markets, has appointed Jeffrey Baltor as vice president of business development, Paul Koenig as program manager for medical devices and Gaizka Navarro as senior software engineer. Invetech helped develop the world’s first commercial 3D bioprinter for printing human tissues. The device, developed for Organovo of San Diego, is successfully printing blood vessels and, with extensive research and experience, may have the potential to create replacement human organs, according to company officials.
Baltor has more than two decades of experience in medical devices, clinical diagnostics, remote monitoring, product design/development and contract manufacturing. Prior to Invetech, he was senior strategic marketing manager for Dade-Behring for the Syva EMIT product line, now part of Siemens. While there, Baltor was involved in the design, manufacturing and launching of drugs-of-abuse tests to detect drugs in urine or blood.
Koenig has a lead role in developing and operating projects for the medical device sector in the San Diego office. He began his career developing instrumentation for use in pulmonary physiology and critical care medicine research and has held senior positions for top medical device companies including Imed, MiniMed and Alaris.
Navarro has been involved in designing and writing software for more than 20 years. He has developed advanced software systems for a wide-variety of clients in the medical, financial, retail and defense sectors. He designed and developed a real-time mission planning system for the United States Special Operations Command as well as a medical research data acquisition and analysis system for measuring ion-transport over trans-epithelial tissue.
Memories in the Making Art Auction
Several artists have created works of art for the first Memories in the Making Art Auction to be held at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 4 at Copley Plaza at the Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. This first-time auction event has paired a total of 16 professional artists with artists with dementia. All proceeds benefit the Alzheimer’s Association San Diego/Imperial chapter. “The artwork that we are receiving for auction is wonderful and varied,” said Barbara Mulligan, chair of the event. “We have watercolor, assemblage, blown glass, jewelry — each artist paired with a painting that inspired him or her — painted by people who can no longer express themselves through words. The palette artists have been particularly creative in their use of the wooden palette as a springboard for their imaginations.” San Diego artists include Viviana Lombrozo, Al and Josie Rodriguez, Carla Christensen, and regional artists such as Patrick Carney of Carlsbad, Regine Hawkins of Ocean Beach, and Luz Comacho of San Ysidro. Also featured in the auction are 50 palette artists, including local artists Richard Stirgulz, Grace Swanson, Deidre O’Flaherty, Carolyn Thom and Jane Wheeler. Thirty stand-alone paintings will also be part of the event. Tickets are $125 and $75 for young professionals (under 35). For more information and to purchase tickets to the Memories in the Making Art Auction, visit sanalz.org.
SCORE San Diego’s Upcoming Small Business Workshops
• Sept. 24 – Hiring and Managing Employees – 9 a.m. to noon at SCORE Entrepreneur Center (550 West C St., #550, San Diego 92101; pre-paid registration $49, $59 at the door).
• Sept. 25 – Business Plan 201: How to Write a Business Plan – 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Point Loma Nazarene University in Mission Valley (4007 Camino del Rio South, San Diego 92108; pre-paid registration $99, $109 at the door).
• Sept. 27 – Internet Marketing 304: Tools/LinkedIn – Carlsbad – 9 a.m. to noon at National University in Carlsbad (705 Palomar Airport Road, Carlsbad 92011; pre-paid registration $49, $59 at the door).
• Sept. 28 – Restaurant 201 – 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).
• Sept. 29 – Restaurant 101 – Carlsbad – 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at National University in Carlsbad (705 Palomar Airport Road, Carlsbad 92011; pre-paid registration $49, $59 at the door).
To register, visit score-sandiego.org.
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