Daily Business Report-Nov. 5, 2015
Rendering: Southwest aerial view of the IDEA1 project for East Village
$90 Million Mixed-Use Developement
Slated For Full City Block in East Village
Officials hail it as a milestone project for the area
A full city block in Downtown San Diego’s East Village is going to be developed into a $90 million mixture of apartments, live/work lofts, restaurant, and retail and office spaces built around an open communal gathering space called The Hub.
That’s the vision for IDEA1, the name given to the project by Lowe Enterprises, LaSalle Investment Management and I.D.E.A. Partners, which held a groundbreaking on Tuesday. The block is bounded by E, F, Park and 13th Street.
IDEA1, designed by The Miller Hull Partnership, will be a mid-rise, six-story complex featuring 295 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments with 25 ground floor live/work lofts and eight luxury penthouse units, all featuring polished concrete floors and top-line appliance packages, and 13,000 square feet of commercial space, according to the developers.
“IDEA1 will bring new residents and businesses to the area, particularly those who are engaged in emerging creative technologies and who are drawn to an urban lifestyle,” said Mike McNerney, senior vice president of Lowe Enterprises. “Our team is at the forefront of establishing a strong resident and talent base which is key to moving communities like East Village forward and creating value for all.”
IDEA1’s communal features include a clubhouse, roof top pool — designed to look like an urban water tower — exercise room and event kitchen. A central feature is The Hub, an interior courtyard envisioned as a flexible events space, adjacent to a café and collaborative environment called the IDEA Box, available to residents and workers as well as accessible from the surrounding streets. Programming for The Hub will include social gatherings, educational offerings, and informal events offering multiple opportunities for creative work between community members.
“Today’s groundbreaking is a game changer in that San Diego is changing the way communities live, work and interact. It is my hope that the I.D.E.A. District will spark more innovative ideas that will change the world,” said Mayor Kevin Faulconer.
Construction barricades have been erected at the site featuring an original artistic design composed by Visual Asylum and brought to life by students from the City College Graphic Design program, Urban Discovery Academy and the New School of Architecture and Design. Construction on IDEA1 will be in full-swing by mid-November.
IDEA1 is one of the first developments in the I.D.E.A. District, a 95-acre sustainable, mixed-use initiative spearheaded by I.D.E.A. Partners Pete Garcia and David Malmuth.
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San Diego’s iboss Cybersecurity
Raises $35 Million From Goldman Sachs
Yahoo Finance
San Diego-based iboss Cybersecurity, a 10-year-old cybersecurity company, raised $35 million from Goldman Sachs in its first-ever fundraising round.
Started in 2005 by twin brothers Peter and Paul Martini in the aftermath of the dotcom bubble, the company brought its first product to market in 2009, at the height of the Great Recession.
“It’s been a pretty interesting run we’ve had,” president Peter Martini told Business Insider in a telephone interview. “It did discipline us into creating a table platform selling on the technology itself.”
Iboss has been profitable since its early days, Peter said, and has no debt. In a statement, the company said it has grown 1,800 percent but didn’t specify what measure that figure refers to.
Iboss uses technology that prevents hackers from stealing data by monitoring and detecting suspicious network traffic movement. The company’s clients include Xerox, Sears, Urban Outfitters and the U.S. Department of the Interior. The sons of Cuban immigrants, the Martini brothers developed an interest in technology at a young age, Peter said. Beginning at age 7, they spent their summers and weekends working at their father’s auto repair shop in Los Angeles.
“A lot of it was taking apart things. In the late ’80s, early ’90s, cars were becoming more digital. We were playing around with electronics,” Peter said. The cars were sophisticated computers for their time…. It was pretty fun. It grew our interest in technology being able to fiddle with that stuff as a young kid.”
Alvarez Seeks State of Emergency
To Speed El Niño Preparations
Times of San Diego
San Diego City Councilman David Alvarez called for the city to declare a state of emergency to clear storm channels before the winter’s increasingly likely El Niño.
“This is on everybody’s mind today because of yesterday’s rainfall,” said Alvarez at a news conference Wednesday at City Hall. “If we were to have an event of the magnitude that people are talking about, we’re going to have some severe damage in our city.”
Alvarez was joined by Councilman Scott Sherman in calling for the city to immediately begin clearing 25 storm channels that are obstructed by vegetation and debris. These channels are mostly on the south and east sides of the city, and Alvarez distributed photos of the 10 worst.
“We want to act now,” he said “We don’t want to wait for rain to come and it be too late.”
Alvarez said he is asking for the city to request a special permit from the Army Corps of Engineers to begin clearing the channels.
The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts a 95 percent chance of a major El Niño condition in the Northern Hemisphere winter that will gradually weaken through the spring. An El Niño usually brings intense rain to Southern California.
Alvarez also introduced a public website — BeReadySanDiego.org — with information about preparing for an El Niño.
“I believe that the city is capable of doing much more,” said Alvarez.
$50 Million Hotel Tower
Project Finished At Viejas
Construction has been completed on the new $50 million hotel tower project at Viejas Casino and Resort in Alpine.
Xpera CM was retained by the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians to manage the design and construction of the four-star resort project, which includes a new five-story, 109-room hotel tower, a top-floor technology suite, added gaming floor, specialty bar, ballroom, meeting and board rooms, resort-style pool and extensive multi-use grounds.
Construction began in June 2014, and involved the demolition of an existing administration building and reconfiguration of the site to blend with the existing facility.
The project was designed by the San Diego offices of JCJ Architecture, with Swinerton Builders as the general contractor.
Viejas held a grand opening/ribbon-cutting celebration for the new luxury hotel tower on Friday.
Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Completes
$40 Million Series A Financing
Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, a therapeutics company focused on specialty endocrine disorders, announced the completion of a $40 million series A financing led by 5AM Ventures, Versant Ventures, and Vivo Capital. Crinetics plans to use the proceeds to advance development of its small molecule somatostatin agonist program to clinical proof-of-concept for the treatment of acromegaly, as well as to move additional programs into development.
Wendell Wierenga has been appointed chairman of Crinetics’ board of directors. In addition, Mason Freeman, representing 5AM Ventures, Steve Kaldor representing Versant Ventures, and Mahendra Shah, representing Vivo Capital have joined Crinetics’ board of directors
“This financing is a major step forward in advancing our pipeline of novel, internally-discovered therapeutics into clinical development,” said Scott Struthers, founder and chief executive officer of Crinetics. “We are thrilled to have on our side top-tier institutional investors to provide the financial resources to continue building our company and pipeline, and new board members who are so experienced in guiding drugs through clinical development and regulatory approval to commercial success.”
San Diego Attorney Heads National
Association of Former U.S. Attorneys
Gregory A. Vega, an attorney with the San Diego law firm of Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek, has been elected president of the National Association of Former United States Attorneys.
Vega served from 1999-2001 as United States Attorney for the Southern District of California, the seventh largest office in the nation at the time. Today his private law practice focuses on business litigation, white collar criminal defense, cross border international transactions and advising corporate clients in regulated industries.
During his time as U.S. attorney, Vega prioritized improving bi-national cooperation between the United States and the Republic of Mexico in attacking the Tijuana drug cartel. Several successes that resulted from his efforts were the first extradition of a Mexican citizen to the United States (United States v. Arturo Paez) and the arrest in Mexico of Ismael Higuera, a leader of the Tijuana Cartel.
In 1987, Vega joined the United States Attorney’s Office in San Diego, where his work focused on major frauds and economic crimes. He joined Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek in 2001.
Microsoft Academy Expands to
San Diego-Area Military Bases
Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday announced that Microsoft Software & Systems Academy (MSSA), which provides IT career training to eligible active-duty U.S. service members, is expanding from three locations to nine and will be servicing 12 military installations, including Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Naval Station San Diego, Naval Station North Island and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
Launched in November 2013, the academy helps active duty U.S. service members develop the career skills necessary to meet the IT industry’s high demand for cloud developers, cloud administrators, and database and business intelligence administrators. Upon successful completion of the program, participants gain an interview for a full-time job at Microsoft or one of its hiring partners.
Qualcomm Quarterly Profit Falls 44 Percent,
But Executives See Improvement Ahead
Times of San Diego
Qualcomm Inc. reported declines in revenue and earnings in its fourth fiscal quarter, but company officials said the results were “at the high end of our expectations” and see improvement ahead. The wireless communications giant reported earnings of $1.1 billion, or 67 cents per share, in the quarter ended Sept. 27, down 44 percent from $1.9 billion, or $1.11 per share, in the same quarter a year ago.
Revenues for the quarter totaled $5.5 billion, an 18 percent decline from the $6.7 billion reported a year ago.
“Our fiscal fourth quarter revenues and EPS were at the high end of our expectations, with stronger-than expected MSM chipset shipments offsetting slower than expected progress concluding new license agreements in China,” said Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm.
The report was issued after the close of markets in New York, and the company’s shares were trading near $57 after hours, down nearly 6 percent from its Thursday closing price.
Personnel Announcements
Oster and Associates Adds 2 to Staff
Oster and Associates has added two new members to its accounts team — Laurissa Lane and Yasmine Grignard.
Lane is a recent graduate from San Diego State University with a degree in journalism and marketing. She spent much of her senior year as an intern for Oster and Associates. She joins the team as a part-time account coordinator with a focus on new business development. Previously, she gained experience at internships in social media, graphic design and marketing. Grignard, a native of Belgium, interned from February to June 2015 with Oster and Associates as part of her graduate program. With her undergraduate degree in communications, Grignard decided to focus on public relations and intercultural relations for her masters program. She returned to Belgium to finish her thesis in public relations at IHECS Academy and now joins the Oster team as a full-time account coordinator.
Klinedinst PC Hires Employment Attorneys
Nadia P. Bermudez and Patrick Goode II have joined the Downtown law firm Klinedinst PC as employment attorneys.
Bermudez has represented businesses and individuals in state and federal courts in a wide range of employment matters such as sexual harassment, discrimination, wage and hour, wrongful termination, defamation, and trade secrets. She also is a professional trainer in sexual harassment prevention, as well as other employment topics.
Goode provides clients with guidance on employment, business, and commercial litigation. He counsels corporations and individuals in labor and employment matters, contract disputes, and entity formation and dissolution issues. He has advised public entities in labor and employment matters, including collective bargaining agreements.
Sally Howard Joins Human Longevity
As Head of Regulatory Affairs and Policy
Sally Howard has been hired as head of regulatory affairs and policy by San Diego-based Human Longevity Inc., a genomics-based company. Howard, who has more than two decades of health policy and regulatory expertise, will lead all efforts related to federal and state regulatory oversight for the firm.
Howard previously was with the United States Food and Drug Administration, where she served most recently as senior adviser and acting chief of staff to the FDA commissioner. In this role, Howard coordinated the FDA’s response to rapidly emerging issues such as bacteria resistant infections from medical equipment and response to adverse events from compounded drugs.
She also spent two years as FDA deputy commissioner for policy, planning and legislation, during which time she directed the team implementing the White House’s Precision Medicine Initiative.
UC San Diego Health Appoints Alumnus
To be its New Chief Information Officer
Christopher Longhurst, M.D., chief medical information officer for Stanford Children’s Health, has been appointed chief information officer for UC San Diego Health Sciences, according to Healthcare Informatics magazine.
Longhurst fills the position being vacated with the retirement of Ed Babakanian, who served as CIO for 20 years.
As CIO, Longhurst will be responsible for all operations and strategic planning for information and communications technology, according to an internal UCSD memo announcing his hire.
Longhurst will also oversee the creation of a comprehensive information strategy to meet future needs of the health system along with developing and implementing a common set of processes for creating standards, architectures and policies for information technologies across the university and with the UC system.
Longhurst holds degrees from UC San Diego and UC Davis. At Stanford Children’s Health, he led strategic efforts to improve children’s health and provider workflow using information technology. He also founded and led the clinical informatics fellowship at Stanford.
