Daily Business Report-April 28, 2015
The hospital estimated that 2-3 percent of children are born with a defect that is recognizable at birth.
Rady Children’s Hospital
Begins Birth Defect Project
Researchers at Rady Children’s Hospital said Monday they have started whole genome sequencing of San Diego County children born with birth defects that don’t have a known origin.
Hospital officials hope to study data on children born with abnormalities like congenital heart defects and cleft palates, to learn risk factors that could help prevent such cases in the future, or gain insight into treatments.
“By adding the power of genomic sequencing (to other research), we have the opportunity to increase the speed of scientific discovery exponentially and expedite the translation to actionable prevention, treatments and cures,” said Christina Chambers, who is leading the effort as the first faculty member of the Rady Pediatric Genomics and Systems Medicine Institute.
The hospital estimated that 2-3 percent of children are born with a defect that is recognizable at birth.
“The Rady Pediatric Genomics and Systems Medicine Institute promises to be a groundbreaking incubator for discovery for birth defects research,” Chambers said.
She said she’ll look at both genetic and environmental factors, since birth defects often don’t have just one cause.
Chambers is a reproductive and perinatal epidemiologist with a research focus on environmental causes of adverse pregnancy outcomes, including birth defects. She is also a professor in the UC San Diego Department of Pediatrics.
— City News Service
SDSU Students Take Home Top Prize
In 2015 NAIOP University Challenge
Six students at the Corky McMillin Center for Real Estate at San Diego State University have won the fifth annual 2015 NAIOP University Challenge. SDSU, which has won the competition four of five times, competed with students from the University of San Diego and UC San Diego.
This year, teams were asked to create a development proposal that would recommend the best use of a 13-acre property in the Encanto Hills neighborhood of San Diego in accordance with the interests of the community and the property owner, the Jacobs Center for Innovation.The teams had to work within the parameters of a set master plan, which included a movie theatre and a parking structure.
“The SDSU students worked especially hard on this project as they attended planning meetings, conducted detailed market research and vetted their presentation with local industry leaders,” said Mark Goldman, SDSU real estate lecturer. “They got the support and assistance of many of the board members from the Corky McMillin Center and SDSU alumni who are real estate professionals.”
The teams were judged by local real estate professionals who reviewed the proposals and the presentations made by each team. The team from SDSU consisted of students Jeffrey Crocker, Jack Losey, Byron Fisher, Madison Amaral, Abbie Hawkins and Zach Lawless. Goldman, Seth Kaplowitz and Dana Kuhn served as faculty advisors
NAIOP is a national commercial real estate development association for developers, owners and related professionals in office, industrial, retail and mixed-use real estate.
San Diego County Economy
Shows Sharp Gains in March
The USD Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate’s Index of Leading Economic Indicators for San Diego County rose 1.3 percent in March. It was the third straight strong gain for the USD Index and the third month in a row where all six components were positive. As was the case in the two previous months, initial claims for unemployment insurance, help wanted advertising, and building permits led the way with sharp gains, while consumer confidence, local stock prices, and the outlook for the national economy were up more modestly.
March’s increase was the tenth advance in a row for the USD Index, and the gains have been large in four of the last five months. This signals strong growth in the local economy through the rest of the year and into early 2016 at the least.
San Diego is mirroring what is happening at the state level. Despite concerns about regulations, taxes, and the cost of housing among other issues, California had the sixth best employment growth rate of all the states for the year that ended on March 31. It will be interesting to see how the plunge in oil prices affects the state’s relative standing, as it reduces the ability of states like Texas to lure companies away from California. To the extent that budget problems in some states reduce funding for higher education, that should also benefit the state in the competition for the cutting edge firms in science and technology.
Delaware North Gets Five-Year
Qualcomm Stadium Contract
A five-year contract with Delaware North Sportservice Inc. to take over concessions at Qualcomm Stadium was approved Monday by the San Diego City Council.
The agreement includes a $6 million investment to upgrade concession areas, clubs, restaurants and kitchen equipment. City Real Estate Assets Director Cybele Thompson said $1 million of the work will be performed over the next six months.
A contract for the stadium’s long-standing concessionaire, Centerplate, expired in February. A committee of city executives chose Delaware North over three other bidders, including the incumbent. Centerplate received backlash late last year after its former CEO was caught on camera kicking a dog.
Delaware North currently operates concession booths at Petco Park.
At a committee hearing earlier this month, some council members expressed concerns over Delaware North’s plans to interview Centerplate’s employees at the stadium instead of hiring them directly. The company had only promised to keep the workers — some of whom have worked the concession stands for a couple decades — for 90 days.
However, Thompson said Delaware North and a union representing the workers subsequently reached a deal, and former Centerplate employees will be retained without interviews. The company and union also began collective bargaining for a long-term agreement, she said.
The deal with Delaware North would be renegotiated if the Chargers leave, and the city would have to reimburse the firm for some of the initial $1 million capital outlay.
The proposal passed the council on an 8-1 vote. Councilman Todd Gloria said he was concerned about the contract’s potential impact on plans to build a new football stadium in Mission Valley, and that the item was rushed to the council without a full vetting.
— City News Service
Tentative Ruling Supports Taxi Deregulation
A tentative ruling issued Monday by Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Prager supports the City Attorney’s position that the California Environmental Quality Act does not apply to the deregulation of the San Diego taxi industry.
In a separate tentative ruling, Prager allowed applicants for taxi new permits to intervene in the case, which will be heard tomorrow in the San Diego Hall of Justice.
A group of taxi-permit holders has asked the court to order a preliminary injunction against the Metropolitan Transit System that would prevent MTS from taking administrative steps necessary to prepare for the issuance of new taxi permits later in the year. The injunction would halt activity until the court rules on the permit holder’s claim that taxi deregulation is a “project” under CEQA and that its November 2014 approval by the City Council should have gone through a CEQA review.
In his tentative ruling denying the injunction, Prager wrote that CEQA applies only to “an activity which may cause a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment…”
“Petitioners only provided speculative and unsupported evidence in support of its contention that (deregulation) would have negative environmental impacts,” Prager wrote. On the other hand, he noted, the city showed that the deregulation ordinance includes requirements for zero- or low-emission vehicles.
Kilroy Centre Del Mar and San Diego Tech Center Honored
Kilroy Centre Del Mar and San Diego Tech Center have been named the Pacific Southwest regional winners of The Outstanding Building of the Year award in the Suburban Low-Rise and the Suburban Mid Rise Categories by the Building Owners & Managers Association. Kilroy Centre Del Mar is owned and managed by Kilroy Realty Corp. San Diego Tech Center is owned and managed by EdgeCore Real Estate Group
The regional winners will now advance to the International TOBY Awards competition June 30 in Los Angeles.
Kilroy Centre Del Mar is a 19-acre, Class A campus built between 1999-2002 and is located in the heart of the Del Mar Heights area.
San Diego Tech Center is a 10-building site including an eight-story office building, three two-story buildings, and five one-story buildings spanning across 645,000 square feet. The 38-acre campus serves as a landmark of San Diego’s cutting edge technological capabilities.
Advertising Fund For Emergencies
Holds 14th Annual Fundraising Party
The San Diego Advertising Fund for Emergencies (SAFE), a volunteer, nonprofit organization providing confidential financial assistance to local advertising and marketing communications professionals and their families facing a life crisis emergency, will host its 14th annual fundraising party from 5 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, April 30, at the San Diego Hilton Resort on Mission Bay, 1775 East Mission Bay Drive, San Diego.
The party, SAFE’s major fundraiser of the year, will feature food, networking, entertainment, a raffle and silent auction to benefit grant recipients. Theme of the party is “Party in Paradise.” Cost to attend is $50 per person, $35 per person for students, or $60 per person at the door. For tickets and more information, visit www.safesandiego.org.
Personnel Announcements
Phillip Wing Joins Hecht Solberg
Phillip C. Wing has joined Hecht Solberg Robinson Goldberg & Bagley LLC as of counsel. His practice focuses on litigation and risk management, particularly in the areas of real estate and construction disputes, contractor licensing and liability, landlord-tenant issues, premises liability and business litigation.
Wing previously spent 29 years as a partner with Circuit, McKellogg, Kinney & Ross LLP of La Jolla, where he concentrated on civil litigation.
Wing is a member of the Litigation and Construction sections of the California State Bar and the San Diego County Bar Association.
