Daily Business Report-Feb. 23, 2015

 Opponents of Kilroy Realty’s One Paseo Project in Carmel Valley rally on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Jennewein)

Controversial One Paseo Project

Faces Key City Council Vote Today

Opponents of Kilroy Realty’s $650 million One Paseo project, which would bring a large mixed-use development to Carmel Valley, are calling on residents to show their opposition at a key City Council meeting today.

“We’re here not to kill One Paseo, but to get a reasonable project for Carmel Valley,” said Ken Farinsky, a spokesman for the What Price Main Street? opposition group, at a rally Saturday that drew about 100 people.

Kilroy’s plans call for 199,000 square feet of retail space, a move theater, 484,000 square feet of office space and 608 residences on 24 acres of vacant land across from the Del Mar Heights Town Center and near other offices.

The project is larger than current zoning allows, but is designed to follow the city’s “smart-growth” guidelines and includes parks and open space. The San Diego Planning Commission conditionally approved it in October and forwarded it to the City Council for final action.

Opponents say the project is too big for the site, the nine-story office towers will be too high and the resulting traffic will make life unbearable in Carmel Valley.

“The square-footage isn’t an issue. It’s the traffic,” said Ray Ellis, a former City Council candidate who lives in the district.

Kilroy plans to alleviate traffic problems by installing a $6 million state-of-the-art, computerized signal system to speed up movement on Del Mar Heights Road and and El Camino Real.

Adding to the controversy is a report by Voice of San Diego that the owner of nearby Del Mar Heights Town Center has spent over $1.2 million to drum up community opposition to the project.

The council meeting begins at 2 p.m. Monday on the 12th floor of the city administration building Downtown.

— Times of San Diego

Brookwood Financial Partners Pays $113M

For Office Buildings in Carlsbad, San Marcos

Brookwood Financial Partners LLC, a Massachusetts-based real estate investment company, has acquired a seven-building group of Class A and Class B office properties in Carlsbad and San Marcos for $113 million.

The package, which totals 484,573 square feet of multi-tenant space, includes:

• Civic View Corporate Centre, a four-story Class A office building containing 95,446 square feet located in San Marcos.

• Ventana Real, which consists of two three-story and one two-story Class A office buildings totaling 219,162 square feet in Carlsbad.

•  The Campus, which consists of two one-story and one two-story Class B office buildings totaling 219,162 square feet, also in Carlsbad.

Current occupancy in the properties is 71.3 percent.

With the acquisition, Brookwood now owns and manages 14 buildings in the greater San Diego area containing over 921,000 square feet of space.

“These three properties were acquired as a portfolio, but each one of the assets represents a unique investment opportunity for Brookwood and our investors,” said Thomas W. Brown, Brookwood’s president and director of real estate acquisitions. “These are high-quality properties, which we were able to purchase for a substantial discount to replacement cost in markets where both rents and occupancies are rising.”

“One of the attributes that most attracted us to this portfolio is that it contains some of the few remaining blocks of large, contiguous vacant space in Carlsbad, which is in short supply,” said Kurt M. Zernich, Brookwood’s director of asset management. “We will be able to offer prospective large-block tenants best-in-class product with high-end finishes and an array of amenities that cannot be found elsewhere in the market. Since the previous owner meticulously maintained and upgraded the portfolio, these properties will require very little capital and will have a number of market-ready suites.”

3M Acquiring Ivera Medical Corp. of San Diego

Ivera Medical Corp., a San Diego company that makes health care products

that disinfect and protect devices used for access into a patient’s bloodstream, is being purchased by 3M of St. Paul, Minn. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Ivera employs 60 people and has annual sales of $30 million. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2015, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Ivera makes I.V. port connector caps, sold under the Curos Brand, which are used to disinfect and act as a barrier to contamination on devices that provide access to I.V. lines. These products complement 3M’s vascular access products, the company said.

The addition of Ivera will enhance 3M’s vascular access product offerings at a time when health care facilities are looking for cost-effective solutions that improve patient health outcomes, particularly in the area of hospital acquired infections such as catheter-related blood stream infections, according to 3M.

“3M’s great products, ample resources and worldwide presence coupled with Ivera’s best-of-class Curos Brand product line and sales force will accelerate global acceptance and growth of the Curos Brand here in the U.S. and worldwide,” said Bob Rogers, CEO of Ivera Medical Corp.

Atkins Introduces Legislation

Directed at Small Businesses

Assembly Speaker Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego) has introduced legislation that she says would help small businesses cash the research and development tax credits that they are already earning, but have trouble using.

AB 437 would allow small businesses with $5 million or less in gross receipts to cash out a portion of the tax credits they have earned and use them to reinvest in further research and development. The bill authorizes eligible businesses to cash out 10 percent of all tax credits received in 2014 and 2015. From 2016 onward, eligible businesses will be able to cash out 15 percent of the credits generated. Any remaining credits would be carried forward by the businesses.

The measure has drawn support from Joe Panetta, president and CEO of Biocom. “As the majority of Biocom’s members are small to mid-size life science companies still in the research and development phase with no approved product, we praise and thank Speaker Atkins for this legislation,” said Panetta. “It is an inventive way to allow smaller companies to utilize the tax credits they have already accrued in a way that will help these companies to continue to power California’s economy. Ultimately, Speaker Atkins’ bill will save and create high-skill, high-wage life science jobs for all of California.”

Atkins said data from the Franchise Tax Board shows that there were $100 million in tax credits generated for businesses with $1 million to $10 million in gross receipts, but only $13 million of those credits were used. Small and medium businesses earned the research and development credits but weren’t able to use them due to lack of tax liability.

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photographer

Visits Cal State San Marcos for Lecture

SAN MARCOS — Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Don Bartletti will visit the campus of Cal State San Marcos on Tuesday for a lecture titled “Product of Mexico.”

The talk by the Los Angeles Times photographer will focus on the recent and ongoing newspaper series “Product of Mexico” which has raised awareness about the closed world of Mexico’s farm labor camps, which contribute much of the produce that fills American supermarket bins and salad bars.

Bartletti’s appearance, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral and Social Sciences. It will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the University Student Union ballroom.

Barletti was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 2003 for his memorable portrayal of how undocumented Central American youths, often facing deadly danger, travel north to the United States.

The event is the first in a series of CSUSM spring events focusing on food justice. The next event is the Arts and Lectures event, “Storytelling with Erin O’Brien,” on March 3, followed by the film screening of “Food Chains” on March 11.

North San Diego Business Chamber

Hosts 2015 Economic Outlook Program

The North San Diego Business Chamber will host the 2015 Economic Outlook for State, Regional and Local Commerce on Friday, Feb. 27, at Sony Electronics, 16535 Via Esprillo in San Diego. The program is presented by Northrop Grumman. Check in is at 11:30 a.m. and the lunch and program are from noon to 1:30 p.m.

Keynote speaker will be Diane Harkey, 4th District representative on the California State Board of Equalization, who will talk about the state’s fiscal position, its relevancy to taxpayers and provide an economic forecast for the state.

The luncheon program also will include a panel talk by local public officials on the local business climate. Panelists will be Assemblyman Brian Maienschein, San Diego City Councilman Mark Kersey, Oceanside Mayor Jim Wood and moderator Cynthia Curiel of Northrop Grumman.

Grossmont College Opens

Tough New Tennis Courts

Grossmont College has opened 10 new tennis courts that are designed to prevent cracks, last longer and reduce maintenance costs. The new courts

replace courts that were installed in 1967 which have numerous cracks and drainage issues that limited their usefulness and required repeated repairs.

The new courts feature a post-tensioned concrete slab reinforced with a grid of high-strength sheathed steel. The compressed concrete reduces the likelihood of shrinkage cracks and is recommended by the American Sports Builders Association to provide the best overall experience on the courts.

The five-month project, which also included renovations of nearby bathrooms and additional ADA-accessible parking, is expected to cost less than its $2.7 million projected budget. The work was performed by Court Concepts Inc., a Santee-based firm.

Two of the 10 courts are specifically designed for tournament play.

 Ideal Legal Group Opens San Diego Office

Ideal Legal Group Inc., a Los Angeles-based law firm specializing in workers’ compensation, family law, immigration, and labor and employment matters, has opened a San Diego office at 501 W. Broadway, Suite 800, in Downtown.

Founded in 2006 by Managing Partner Evie P. Jeang, the firm has expanded its national footprint with offices in Alhambra, San Francisco, New York and San Diego.

Pathway Genomics Names V.P.

Of Research and Development

Genetic testing company Pathway Genomics Corp., of San Diego has named Anja Kammesheidt as its vice president of research and development. Kammesheidt brings more than 15 years of experience to the role.

Kammesheidt joined the molecular diagnostics space in 2002, serving as chief scientific officer at Ambry Genetics for a 10-year period. She then focused on oncology, working on genomics-based personalized diagnostics at Agendia, where she was also directing translational science projects.

Kammesheidt received her bachelor and doctoral degrees in biological sciences from UC Irvine. Her early research interests centered on Alzheimer’s disease models and viral vector gene transfer systems. After completing her postdoctoral training at UC San Diego, where she studied protein-targeting mechanisms at the neuromuscular junction, she joined Purdue Pharma as a research scientist working on neuropathic pain targets.

Kyoto Symposium Honors a Creator

A teacher, engineer, inventor, entrepreneur and pioneer — just some of the words that describe Robert Langer, the founder of the field of tissue engineering used in medicine for the regeneration of tissues and organs, and the creator of the revolutionary drug delivery system technologies.

It is estimated his work has impacted at least two billion lives.

Langer is the Kyoto Prize Laureate in advanced technology for this year’s Kyoto Prize Symposium at San Diego State University on Wednesday, March 18 (10 to 11:30 a.m. in Montezuma Hall at the Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union). He will be honored and will lecture on “Biomaterials and Biotechnology: From the discovery of the first angiogenesis inhibitors to the development of controlled drug delivery systems and the foundation of tissue engineering.”

“I am thrilled personally for myself, and I also am thrilled that my field, bioengineering, is being recognized,” Langer said.

Sponsored by the Inamori Foundation, the Kyoto Prize Symposium features lectures by esteemed scholars in three fields, including basic sciences, advanced technology and the arts and philosophy. One of SDSU’s signature events, the annual symposium honors these laureates who have had outstanding lifetime achievement.

Langer, who said he was inspired to create and invent because of his desire to do good and use science and engineering to accomplish that, founded tissue engineering which is indispensable for the implementation of regenerative medicine. His technique applies biodegradable polymer technologies to construct “scaffolds” for cell growth, contributing to the regeneration of tissues and organs. His development of drug delivery system technologies allows for the controlled release of proteins, nucleic acids and other macromolecular drugs.

Though his contributions to his field are monumental, Langer said he is most proud of the young minds he has trained in his lab — 800 is the latest count. Many have gone on to successful careers and more than 270 are now professors.

— Natalia Elko/SDSU NewsCenter

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