Daily Business Report-July 2, 2013

Illustration of one of the new shops at Lindbergh Field — Craft Brew on 30th Street

16 New Restaurants and Shops

Open at Lindbergh Field

Sixteen new restaurants and shops have opened at San Diego International Airport over the past several months as part of the airport’s Concession Development Program, which is completely revamping shopping and dining throughout all of the airport’s terminals.

The newly-opened restaurants and shops include:

• Terminal 1: 10News, Ciao Gourmet Market (two locations), Craft Brews on 30th Street, Ryan Bros. Coffee, Starbucks, Stellar News Express, Where Traveler.

• Terminal 2: Best Buy (two Express locations), CNBC News San Diego, Gaslamp MarketPlace, Jer’s Chocolates, U.S. News & World Report, Duty Free Americas.

• Commuter Terminal: San Diego Bay News and Café (with Caffé Calabria).

A major aim of the Concession Development Program is to create a sense of place that is uniquely “San Diego.” San Diegans flying out can enjoy local favorites and those traveling to the area can experience the region’s restaurants and retailers the moment they step off the plane.

Highlights of the latest openings include Craft Brews on 30th Street, a bar and restaurant that pays homage to San Diego’s craft beer culture (located in Terminal 1 by gates 1 and 2); Jer’s Chocolates, a locally-based chocolatier (located in Terminal 2); and San Diego Bay News, serving coffee by local coffee roaster Caffé Calabria (located in the Commuter Terminal).

When complete, the airport will be home to a total of 87 restaurants and retail locations, increased from 55. Openings will continue to take place over the coming months, with completion in early 2014. Travelers can look forward to additions including Phil’s BBQ, Warwick’s of La Ja Jolla, Jack in the Box, Stone Brewing Company and Brighton Collectibles, as well as two spas and several wine bars. In addition, the number of concessions employees at the airport will nearly double, increasing from about 625 to approximately 1,200 in 2014.

OliverMcMillan Reports

$2 Billion in Construction Projects

Real estate development company OliverMcMillan said it is moving forward with plans to build luxury mixed-use and residential developments in San Diego, Houston, Atlanta, Honolulu and Tempe, Ariz. Representing a $2 billion investment, the projects include The Lofts at 688 Thirteenth St. in San Diego, the River Oaks District in Houston, Buckhead Atlanta, Symphony Honolulu, and The Lofts at Hayden Ferry in Tempe, Ariz. Construction is under way on The Lofts at 688 Thirteenth Street, a five-story development that will include 208 apartments, a roof deck and ground-floor retail.

San Diego to Get a New ‘Navy Mayor’ 

Navy Rear Adm. Dixon R. Smith will relinquish command of Navy Region Southwest to Rear Adm. Patrick J. Lorge during a change of

command ceremony at 1 p.m. at the USS Midway Museum in Downtown San Diego. Smith will report to Navy Region Mid-Atlantic in Norfolk, Va., where he will assume command later this month. Lorge reports from Washington, D.C., where he served as commandant for Naval District Washington. Navy Region Southwest is a six-state region with a large military presence. More than 81,000 active duty sailors serve at 11 installations throughout the region. The commander is unofficially known in San Diego as the “Navy mayor.”

Closing Shop — North Park’s The Linkery and Hubcap (Formerly El Take It Easy)

The Linkery, a sausage-focused restaurant in North Park, has garnered loads of positive press over the last decade. It helped usher in a fine-dining renaissance in the famously hipster-infested neighborhood and attracted national attention by getting rid of tips for wait staff. (No, diners don’t get a discount. They just pay a standard 18 service fee. The Linkery almost got haulded into court over it.)

Now, The Linkery — at least under its present ownership — is vanishing, according to Voice of San Diego.  Its owners are selling the place, they announced Monday, and will close in a couple of weeks: “Simply put, it’s time for us to move on.”

The owners will also close a sister North Park restaurant, Hubcap, formerly known until a recent makeover as El Take It Easy.

City of San Diego Opens Passport Acceptance Facility

The city of San Diego began taking U.S. passport applications Monday for the first time in four years, City News Service reports. The city clerk’s office opened its Passport Acceptance Facility in a corner of the lobby of the City Administration Building at 202 C St. Councilwoman Sherri Lightner was the first applicant. City Clerk Elizabeth Maland said San Diego used to accept passport applications at community service centers, but those facilities were shut down in 2009. The new location at City Hall will be open weekdays on an appointment-only basis from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Appointments can be made by calling (619) 533-4050, Maland said. Passport books cost $135 for those aged 16 and up, and are $110 to renew. For children, the cost is $105. Passport cards are $55 for first-time purchases by adults, $30 for renewals and $40 for children.

Comic Books Censored and Defended — a Law Library Program

The San Diego Law Library is celebrating the fourth year of its popular Lindley Law & Comics series with an interactive discussion, “Censorship: From 1950s Superheroes to Today’s Manga,” on July 15 from noon to 1 p.m. at its Downtown location, 1105 Front St. Led by Charles Brownstein, executive director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, attendees will learn about the many ways that comic books have been censored and defended since the 1950s. Tickets are $10. Brownstein speaks extensively on comics and law at venues all over the world, and his books on comics have earned awards within the field.

City Attorney Vows No More

Closed Sessions Until Dispute Ends

City Attorney Jan Goldsmith said Monday that he plans to suspend closed session meetings with San Diego Mayor Bob Filner and the City Council, KPBS reports. In a morning television interview on KUSI, Goldsmith said there would be no more meetings, which are held to conduct confidential discussions on legal matters and employee issues, until his lawyers are treated with respect by the mayor. Filner berated Goldsmith’s top lieutenant, Andrew Jones, and had him removed from a conference room by police at a closed session meeting two weeks ago, according to a transcript. The mayor has been critical of Goldsmith and his office in public and behind closed doors, and slashed the budget of the City Attorney’s Office for the fiscal year that started Monday.“The action I’ve taken, and will be taking based upon all of this, is there will be no further closed sessions,” Goldsmith said in the TV interview. Read more …

www.kpbs.org/news/2013/jul/01/city-attorney-vows-no-more-closed-sessions-until-d

Burn Institute Hires New Executive Director

Ronald Hendrix is the new executive director of the Burn Institute, coming off a 12-year stint as the executive director of the Parkinson’s Association of San Diego. Hendrix has more than 40 years of management experience in the nonprofit field. Before his job at the Parkinson’s Association, he spent 11 years as the CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association of San Diego. Hendrix has a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut in Educational Psychology & Rehabilitation Research and a M.Ed. in Rehabilitation Counseling from Pennsylvania State University as well as a bachelor’s degree from Susquehanna University.

Grossmont College Selects

Vice President of Academic Affairs

Katrina VanderWoude has been selected as vice president of academic affairs at Grossmont College. VanderWoude previously was vice provost at Rochester College in Michigan. She has occupied a variety of jobs since graduating from Michigan State University. Her first position was at Jackson Community College helping to develop competency-based teaching programs for adults needing job retraining. Other positions were with Wayne County Community College, the Henry Ford Community College and Schoolcraft College as an associate dean.