Daily Business Report-May 15, 2015
This is a rendering that Anthony’s Fish Grotto submitted in 2014 that reflects a complete renovation of its Downtown waterfront leasehold.
Port to Invite Competitive Bids to Redevelop
Anthony’s Prime Waterfront Restaurant Site
The Port of San Diego has opened the door for developers to compete with Anthony’s Fish Grotto of La Mesa for the right to redevelop prime Downtown waterfront property that has been leased to Anthony’s since 1965.
Anthony’s lease on the property — which contains Anthony’s Fish Grotto, Anthony’s Fishette and Star of the Sea Room — expires in January 2017 and the company has proposed a complete renovation of all three venues for $9.5 million.
The Board of Port Commissioners, however, voted on Tuesday to have its staff issue a Request for Proposals, allowing other parties to submit bids for the property’s redevelopment. “This is a rare opportunity for a highly qualified team to pursue a redevelopment on one of the most prominent and desirable waterfront restaurant sites in Southern California,” the port said in a release. With Anthony’s lease expiring in 2017, it presents “an opportunity for the port to explore options, test the market and ultimately select the best possible team to maximize the potential of the site at 1360 North Harbord Drive.”
The redevelopment plan submitted by Anthony’s is from a new partnership — Anthony’s Embarcadero — comprised of Anthony’s Fish Grotto of La Mesa and Fish Market Restaurants Inc.
The proposed $9.5 million redevelopment project envisions a complete renovation of the existing building that will be comprised of three distinct restaurant operations:
• Fishette — a fast casual operation featuring the current Fishette’s favorites such as fish and chips.
• Anthony’s — a revitalized version of the current restaurant operations, offering a classic seafood menu in a casual setting.
• Harbor and Ash — a new operation, replacing the Star of the Sea Room, which would be expanded to include a rooftop deck, serving seafood-centric artisanal plates, craft beers and boutique wines.
The port staff is expected to issue the Request for Proposals on May 20. The staff will review proposals and return to the Board of Port Commissioners on Aug. 11 with recommendations.
Water Authority Limits Lawn
Watering to 2 Days Weekly
The San Diego County Water Authority voted Thursday to limit lawn watering to two days a week throughout San Diego County because of the record California drought.
The order comes on response to both emergency cuts mandated by the state and a 15 percent reduction in deliveries from the Colorado River via the Metropolitan Water District.
“These are unprecedented and historic times,” said Chairman Mark Weston at the beginning of the meeting. “We will look at outside irrigation water as a very low priority.”
He said San Diego had invested in independent water supplies, and can meet 99 percent of demand, but was unable to convince the state to adjust the mandated cuts. “We believed that we should have been given some credit for all the new water supplies that have been brought on in the San Diego region,” he said.
As a result, San Diego will be storing water in the San Vicente Reservoir even as customers are asked to cut back use. “This will be water that can be available for subsequent years if it continues to be dry,” said Dana Friehauf, water resources manager for the authority.
The rules would go into effect June 1 and continue until at least June 30, 2016. Watering would only be allowed on two days, with individual agencies allowed to set the days and the maximum watering times
— Times of San Diego
Rady School of Management Ranked
High for its Executive MBA Program
The Rady School of Management at UC San Diego has been ranked 1st in San Diego, 2nd in California and 33rd globally for its Executive MBA (EMBA) program by The Economist. It’s the first time the program, the FlexWeekend MBA, has been ranked by The Economist.
“Our FlexWeekend MBA program graduates have achieved an outstanding level of success and make significant contributions to the innovation economy,” said Rady School Dean Robert S. Sullivan. “The Economist EMBA ranking reflects the quality of our program and the high opinion of that program held by our students and alumni.”
The Economist EMBA program ranking is based on a combination of factors including survey data reported by current students and program alumni, such as personal development, program quality, educational experience and career development. The ranking is also based on data points provided by participating schools including student diversity, faculty quality and student quality.
“As alumni of the Rady School of Management, we are not surprised, but certainly excited by The Economist’s recent ranking of our EMBA program,” said Jarrod Hammes, Rady Alumni Board president. “We are pleased to achieve this rank in such a short time.”
The Rady School’s unique MBA programs are tailored to professionals, often with science and technology backgrounds, who have an interest in innovation and entrepreneurship.
Celladon to Cut Half of its Staff
Following Failure of Gene Therapy
San Diego-based Celladon Corporation will slash approximately 50 percent of its staff to reduce operating expenses and cash reserves after the failure of its gene-therapy for cardiovascular disease, the company announced today as part of its quarterly report.
The company currently employs 34 full-time staff members and is hoping the reduction in staff will help save the company as it attempts to preserve value and recover from the critical hit it took when the cardiovascular gene therapy Mydicar failed to reduce hospitalizations and improve survival of cardio patients during a late stage trial.
The layoffs were expected: Celladon revealed in April that it would institute sweeping cost-cutting measures in an attempt to recover from the drug’s failures. In April Celladon’s announced that its Phase IIb CUPID2 trial evaluating the cardiovascular gene therapy agent Mydicar failed to meet its primary and secondary endpoints. Mydicar was already granted both “breakthrough” and “fast-track” status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
But in the Phase IIb trial CUPID2, Mydicar failed to show a significant treatment effect when compared to placebo.
Assembly Passes Bill That Would
Increase Oversight of Civic San Diego
A bill designed to strengthen oversight of organizations making land use decisions for cities, like Civic San Diego, was passed Thursday by the Assembly.
AB 504, authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), and opposed by San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and area business leaders passed on a 53-27 vote.
The legislator said her bill would create more oversight by local governments that rely on the planning, zoning or permitting expertise of nonprofit organizations or private individuals.
“The people of San Diego — just like any other city — elect council members to make decisions about their community’s future, but that’s not what’s happening in our city,” Gonzalez said. “AB 504 will ensure that local government remains directly accountable to the public.”
Civic San Diego was created three years ago to handle design and permitting for major projects in Downtown, City Heights and Southeast San Diego after the state abolished redevelopment agencies.
Faulconer and other Civic San Diego supporters said the bill, if passed, would thwart the ability of the agency to revitalize urban neighborhoods.
According to the mayor’s office, Civic San Diego attracted billions of dollars in investment, created tens of thousands of jobs and helped build more than 6,000 units of affordable housing for San Diego. The mayor’s office contends Gonzalez’s bill would would add unnecessary hurdles to the planning process and add layers of bureaucracy to communities in dire need of revitalization and development.
— City News Service
Bachelor’s Degrees in Nursing Now
Available at San Diego City College
Nursing students who graduate from San Diego City College will be able to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) within 15 months without leaving the Downtown campus under a new agreement between the institutions that takes effect Aug. 1.
The governing board of the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) approved the agreement at its meeting Thursday. The partnership allows cohorts of up to 15 nursing students who graduate from City College to enroll seamlessly in the PLNU nursing program each fall and spring.
Students will pay $16,200, which includes fees, tuition and books, for the major courses in the accelerated degree program that will yield a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree upon completing 12 courses totaling 36 units. That’s less than the cost of completing their bachelor’s degree at a California State University campus.
Courses through the PLNU program will be taught by PLNU faculty, and the university will provide a full-time, academic adviser at the City College campus.
The partnership is one of several new programs in development at PLNU that seek to serve new populations of students and allow PLNU to further meet workforce development needs in the San Diego region and beyond..”
Game of Drones:
Panel Talk on UAVs
San Diego networking organization 6º Business Networking will sponsor a May 19 panel discussion exploring the regulations, policies, concerns and liabilities surrounding drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
The program will be 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park. Panelists will be: David Cain, attorney, Ballard Spahr; Treggon Owens, CEO of Aerial MOB; Kevin Powers, co-founder of KAPture Digital Media; Jeff Goldfinger, instructor/facilitator, The Maher Group; and Rich Martindell, vice president of course content and experience, King Schools. Moderators: Craig Goldberg of 6º Business Networking and Ed Jenks, The Jenks Group.
Cost is $45 for members, $65 for nonmembers.
To register, click here.
Cubic Wins $1.7 Million Contract
Cubic Global Defense has won a $1.7 million contract from Support Systems Associates Inc. to support the U.S. Air Force Sustainment Center.
Work under the contract will help the U.S. Air Force Sustainment Center improve secure communications between rescue forces and isolated persons during civil and combat search and rescue missions, Cubic said in a release.
This is the first sale of the company’s control display unit for the AN/ARS-6 Lightweight Airborne Recovery System, the company said.
Solutions for Change Farm Poised
To Expand in North County
Solutions for Change has been solving homelessness for families and children in the North County community since 1999, but when it opened its doors to a commercial aquaponics farm in 2012, no one could have expected the excitement it would generate.
“We initially chose an aquaponics farm because we loved its environmentally-friendly approach and the fact that it would be an exceptional workforce training ground for the parents enrolled in our programs,” President and CEO Chris Megison, said. “What we never expected was the response from our local schools and our families, who couldn’t get enough of the organic produce it was growing.”
With that support, the farm has transformed to provide high nutritional content organically certified food for Solutions families and a learning laboratory for the area’s school children, currently reaching 22 of Vista Unified School District’s schools. The farm delivers not only healthy, organic baby greens for the students’ salad bars, but also includes hands-on experiential learning that connects the students to the source of their food – a rare opportunity in urban San Diego.
The farm’s success in North County caught the attention of a local health foundation, the Alliance Healthcare Foundation last year, who awarded the organization its $1 million Innovation Initiative Award. The award will allow the farm to quadruple production over the coming year, an expansion which will facilitate the growing of over 100,000 pounds of produce and 12,000 pounds of fish annually.
It is also an expansion that will allow the nonprofit to reach another one of its goals: expanding access to the farm’s sustainable produce for all five school districts along the Route 78 corridor, reaching the North County cities of Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos and Escondido in the next year.
Personnel Announcements
Southwest Strategies Announces 2 New Hires
Southwest Strategies announced the hiring of two new staff members, Senior Account Executive Kelli Nenaber and Account Executive Sammi Lowe.
Nenaber is a seasoned marketing and communications professional with extensive experience in strategic brand development, community affairs, public relations, event production and relationship management. Nenaber previously worked for Macerich, a national retail property management company.
Lowe, Southwest Strategies’ newest account executive, brings her experience in marketing, government relations and community outreach to her work on several transportation-related accounts, including Caltrans and SANDAG. Most recently, she worked for the city of San Diego Public Utilities Department.
Software San Diego Hires Executive Director
Software San Diego, a trade association promoting information technologies, has hired long-time tech association leader Kevin Carroll as executive director.
Carroll has served the technology community for 15 years, as executive vice president at Connect and regional vice president at TechAmerica.
Software San Diego was founded in 1994 as the San Diego Software Industry Council to help build the region’s high tech industry. In 2010, it changed its name to Software San Diego. The organization’s objectives include fostering communications and networking opportunities among its members, creating and growing a link between the tech industry and local educational institutions, and promoting a positive dialog between San Diego’s tech industry and state and local government.
Bartender Now Part-Owner of Casbah
Musician, published author and longtime bartender Ben Johnson is now a part-owner of The Casbah. Johnson, who began working at The Casbah in the late ’90s, says when former co-owner Bob Bennett died earlier this year, it left an opening in the partnership.
Johnson approached founder and owner Tim Mays about the possibility of becoming a part owner, and without much fanfare, it was approved.
“There was no formality,” says Johnson, in an interview at the 26-year-old music venue. “It was kind of just like, ‘here you are.’”
Johnson said his stake in the club isn’t a controlling interest. but it does reaffirm his commitment to working for The Casbah, which he says never stopped being fun, even after 20 years of employment. However, Johnson also says that while his actual position at the club, managing the bar, won’t
t be much different than it was before, it does “put things into perspective,” and that he’ll work just as hard as he ever has.
— San Diego CityBeat
