Daily Business Report — Jan. 23, 2012

Palomar Oaks Technology Park Sells for $15.8 Million

Palomar Oaks Technology Park, a 170,915-square-foot R&D and office property in Carlsbad, has been acquired by Bixby Land Co., an Orange County commercial real estate firm and investment manager, for $15.8 million. Bixby plans to invest an additional $3 million to upgrade the exterior of the property, improve tenant suites and rebrand the property. The seller was Arden Realty Limited. Bixby purchased six buildings in Palomar Oaks Technology Park, including five R&D buildings totaling 124,378 square feet and one three-story office building with 46,537 square feet. The entire project was 58 percent leased at closing.  Bixby represented itself in the transaction and Arden Realty was represented by Bob Pendergast and Lynn LaChapelle of Jones Lang LaSalle.

Cubic Subsidiary Names VP of Worldwide Human Resources

Cubic Transportation Systems Inc., a subsidiary of Cubic Corp., has named Mari McAvoy to the newly created position of vice president of worldwide human resources. Prior to her new position, McAvoy was HR director in charge of all North American HR activities. The company created the position to support the high growth levels it has achieved in recent years. McAvoy began her career at Cubic in 1995, working in the procurement and human resources departments. She later studied HR management at San Diego State University and earned a degree in organizational leadership from Chapman University.

NASSCO Lays Keel for Mobile Landing Platform

NASSCO has held a keel laying ceremony for the first Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) ship at the company’s shipyard in San Diego. Pat Mills was the honoree for the ceremony. She is the wife of U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Richard P. Mills, deputy commandant for combat development and integration. Delivery of the first MLP ship is scheduled for May 2013. The 765-foot long ship will be used as staging areas for the Navy and Marines. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus recently announced that this first MLP ship will be named Montford Point, for the North Carolina facility where 20,000 African American Marines were trained over seven years, starting in 1942.

Chairmen’s RoundTable Elects New Chairman

The Chairmen’s RoundTable (CRT), a San Diego nonprofit that provides pro-bono mentoring and strategic advice to businesses, has elected Steven Mendell as its chairman, succeeding Jeff Compbell, who will remain on the board as chairman emeritus.  Mendell has more than 25 years experience leading established and early stage organizations in the medical device and biopharmaceuticals businesses. He headed European marketing and German operations for Becton Dickinson and is the former chairman and CEO of XOMA Corp. He served as president and CEO of LMA Medical Corp. and Prizm Pharmaceuticals.

Property Management Company Adds Staff

Erica Kerrin and Christy DaPrato have joined Cassidy Turley BRE Commercial’s local property management team. Kerrin joins as a senior property manager and will focus on managing key projects within the company’s 2.4-million-square-foot San Diego County portfolio. Kerrin previously was a property manager with Unire Real Estate Group. DaPrato joins the firm as an assistant property manager. Previously she was an assistant property manager with The KOLL Company in Phoenix.

Cawdrey Heads Law Library Board

Jeffrey Cawdrey, a partner at the San Diego law office of Gordon & Rees, has been named president of the San Diego Law Library Board of Trustees. he leads the group in its final phase of the Downtown Law Library renovation. Cawdrey succeeds Judge Jilia Craig Kelety. The public law library is undergoing a $5 million renovation and rebranding that will include new public spaces for research, meetings and community events. The 55-year old building will be retrofitted with new HVAC, electrical, plumbing and data cabling. Cawdrey is co-chair of Gordon & Rees’ bankruptcy, restructuring and creditors’ rights practice group.

Rock Church to Open New Church in Northern San Diego

The Rock Church, Coastal Hills will hold its grand opening and first services on Jan. 29 at Del Sur Elementary School in the Coastal Hills of Northern San Diego. The newest Rock Church is one of four (Riverside, Temecula, and Coachella Valley) non-denominational Christian churches launched by The Rock Church and World Outreach Center in San Bernardino. The Rock Church, Coastal Hills will hold services at Del Sur Elementary at 15665 Paseo Del Sur.