Daily Business Report-Aug. 19, 2016
Rendering of The Glen at Scripps Ranch (Courtesy Continuing Life Communities)
Last Big Parcel in Scripps Ranch
Sold for Assisted Living Community
Continuing Life Communities, a Carlsbad-based retirement community management company, has purchased a 53-acre land parcel in Scripps Ranch for $18.5 million to develop a continuing care retirement community.
The project — The Glen at Scripps Ranch — will be located at 10495 and 10410 Pomerado Road.
Plans for The Glen at Scripps Ranch include 450 assisted living units comprised of apartment and single-family residences with attached garages as well as 60 skilled nursing beds. The campus will include a fitness center and spa, tennis courts, short-game golf course, walking and cycling trails, and movie theater among other amenities. Continuing Life Communities plans to break ground this month.
“This is the last large undeveloped site in Scripps Ranch, which provides a spectacular location to develop a first class community that is greatly needed for the baby boomer population nearing and already in retirement,” said David Santistevan, executive vice president at Colliers International, which represented the buyer and the seller, Alliant Educational Foundation.
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Corporate Headquarters Completed
For ICW Group Insurance Companies
Construction of the new San Diego headquarters of ICW Group Insurance Companies has been completed. Ware Malcolm provided interior architecture and design services for the project at 15025 Innovation Drive.
The firm’s design completely transformed the existing 68,105 square foot corporate headquarters of ICW Group. Ware Malcomb also provided an evaluation of new guidelines for space allocation and furniture standards.
Sustainability played an important part in design and material selections, according to Ware Malcolm. Design details and amenities include:
- Open ceilings, shared natural light, the use of rich color.
- Areas of open two-story volume provide a sense of spaciousness and a strong relationship to nature.
- A “living” green wall coupled with areas of open wood plank ceiling and wall applications also provide a connection to the outdoors.
- Lighting and noise-cancelling technology to ensure productivity.
- Work stations and offices come equipped with sit/stand desks and the latest ergonomic furniture.
- New state-of-the-art gym and wellness room.
The general contractor for the project was Burger Construction.
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Rumor of Thermo Fisher Making Bid
For Illumina Dampened by Analysts
Following a report on Seeking Alpha that Thermo Fisher Scientific had made a $30 billion offer to acquire San Diego-based Illumina, a number of analysts said today that such a deal would be unlikely. Both Thermo Fisher and Illumina declined to comment on the speculation.
In a research note, Cowen and Company analyst Doug Schenkel noted that such a deal would be “highly unlikely” for several reasons. The $30 billion offer would be less than a 20 percent premium to Illumina’s stock price; a merger would raise antitrust issues; and such a deal would be difficult for Thermo Fisher to justify financially, Schenkel wrote.
Tim Evans, senior analyst with Wells Fargo, agreed that a deal would “encounter significant regulatory hurdles given that [Illumina] holds a near monopoly in high-throughput sequencing, and [Thermo Fisher] is the only current competitor with material scale in desktop sequencing.”
Bryan Brokmeier, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, added that Illumina would be unlikely to sell. Francis deSouza just took the reins as CEO of Illumina in July, he noted, and it would be surprising if he sold so quickly. In addition, he said, there is likely an “inflection point” in the clinical market that Illumina will recognize and that “isn’t fully valued into the stock.”
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Study Supports New Strategy
To Combat Cocaine Addiction
An international team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has found strong evidence supporting a new strategy against drug addiction. The researchers showed that a compound that inhibits the activity of certain brain-cell receptors can reverse signs of cocaine dependency in rodents.
Prior experiments targeting this receptor, known as the TrkB receptor, produced results that differed greatly according to the brain region involved. The new study is the first to test system-wide delivery—the way drugs are typically given in humans—of a TrkB-blocker, showing that the overall effect is to reverse cocaine dependency.
“I think this study could help revive the idea of targeting TrkB signaling to treat addiction,” said TSRI biologist Candice Contet, senior author of the study.
Scientists have long struggled to find an effective strategy against cocaine addiction, which is estimated to affect more than two million Americans, resulting annually in about half a million emergency room visits and hundreds of thousands of rehab facility admissions. There is still no FDA-approved drug specifically for treating cocaine addiction.
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Navy’s New F-35C Stealth
Fighters Land on Aircraft Carrier
Times of San Diego
The Navy is moving ahead with final testing of the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter, performing takeoffs and landings aboard the USS George Washington this week.
The trade journal Aviation Week posted a video showing the jets making precision landings.
The magazine’s Pentagon Editor Lara Seligman was aboard the carrier on Tuesday off the coast of Norfolk, Va., for the final phase of developmental testing of the stealth fighter.
The test was described as a significant milestone for the Joint Strike Fighter program, marking the first time test pilots will fly the jets from a carrier with external weapons.
The F-35 is being built by Lockheed Martin in three variants for the Air Force, Navy and Marines, with the Marine version the first to be operational. It is the most expensive defense program in history.
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San Diego Region Awarded
$66 Million to Improve Rail Services
The San Diego region has been awarded $66 million by the California State Transportation Agency to complete three coastal rail corridor projects that will help expand COASTER, Metrolink, and AMTRAK services, as well as improve the efficiency and capacity of freight operations.
The funds were part of $390 million in competitive grants made possible by the state’s Cap and Trade auction proceeds. CalSTA awarded grants this week to transportation projects statewide that seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create jobs, and expand efficient and convenient travel choices.
SANDAG, in partnership with the North County Transit District, the Orange County Transportation Authority, and the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agency, jointly applied for grant funding. The joint effort garnered $82 million, of which $66 million will come to the San Diego region. The funds will help pay for three projects to add a second track between Miramar and Old Town and improve operations and safety for the Poinsettia train station in Carlsbad.
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SDG&E to Add More Energy
Storage to Improve Reliability
The California Public Utilities Commission approved a proposal by San Diego Gas & Electric to build two new energy storage projects in San Diego County. In May, the CPUC directed Southern California electric utilities to fast-track additional energy storage options to enhance regional energy reliability.
Adding storage resources improves the overall reliability of the grid as it allows the system to accommodate greater amounts of renewable power and helps to ease congestion. SDG&E proposes to charge the batteries during times when there is an abundance of solar or wind power and discharge them during the peak usage time in the early evening.
“We were in the process of a competitive solicitation for energy storage and already had completed a pre-evaluation of respondents,” said James P. Avery, SDG&E’s chief development officer. “As a result, we could move quickly to respond to the CPUC’s request for expedited proposals.”
Construction will begin immediately and should be completed in early 2017.
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Convention Center Corporation
Names New VP and General Manager
The San Diego Convention Center Corporation has appointed Karen Totaro as senior vice president and general manager — a new position. She joins the ageny after serving as the general manager of the Atlantic City Convention Center.
Totaro starts her new job on Sept. 30.
Prior to Atlantic City, Totaro held the position of assistant general manager at the Duke Energy Convention Center. Before that, she served as the assistant executive director at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland for nine years and the associate director at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio for five years. Totaro started in the business at the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana as the marketing manager for the Assembly Hall Arena.
During her career Totaro has had an active role in the International Association of Venue Managers by serving in several capacities which have included her recent role as chair of the board as well as 1st and 2nd vice chair of the board of directors.
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Mike Marmion Named GM
Of Real Estate Brokerage
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate McMillin Realty, a San Diego-area real estate brokerage, has named Mike Marmion as general manager.
Marmion, a veteran real estate sales trainer, mentor and manager of real estate offices, has worked in real estate management since 1998. He started selling real estate in 1988.
He is a two-time recipient (2012 and 2015) of the Manager of the Year award from the Greater San Diego Association of Realtors
Marmion is returning to Better Homes and Garden Real Estate McMillin Realty after managing McMillin offices in Scripps Ranch, Carmel Mountain Ranch, Rancho Bernardo and Carlsbad. He previously managed real estate offices for Prudential California Realty and Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty offices in Point Loma, La Mesa, Mission Hills and Coronado.
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Women’s Equality Day
Aug. 24 rally and march to celebrate women’s right to vote
In celebration of 96 years of women’s equality, the Women’s Museum of California along with other women’s organizations, will meet in Balboa Park on Wednesday, Aug. 24, for a rally and a re-enactment of an early-century Suffrage march.
The Women’s Equality Day events celebrate the enactment of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on Aug. 26, 1920, guaranteeing women’s right to vote.
“Today, women continue to empower our electorate and democracy,” the Women’s Museum states in its events announcement. “In every presidential election since 1996, voter turnout rates for women have exceeded the rates for men, with women casting between 4 and 7 million more votes than men. Yet women remain underrepresented in elected office, and women are disproportionately affected by discriminatory voter photo ID laws.”
Organizations such as the League of Women Voters, Women’s Equity Council of the UNA-USA San Diego, American Association of University Women, National Organization for Women, YWCA, and Older Women’s League,will join members and supporters of the Women’s Museum at 5 p.m. on Aug. 24 for a rally on the lawn area across from the Organ Pavilion, followed by a parade through the Plaza de Panama and the Organ Pavilion where the Twilight Concert, “Moxie San Diego Girls Band,” will be held at 6:30 p.m.
The rally will include the reading of short speeches from important Suffragists of the day, such as Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt, and Alice Paul. All participants will gather on the lawn for a picnic of lemonade and snacks while enjoying the concert. The public is invited to attend. Vintage clothing is encouraged as well as banners and signs to mark the occasion of 96 years of women’s right to vote in the United States.
Women’s right to vote was on the California ballot in 1896 and also 1911. Although Susan B. Anthony chaired the campaign for women’s suffrage in 1896, male voters voted it down. Men were again urged to vote for women’s right to vote in 1911, which resulted in a victory for women in California.
Schedule:
WHAT: Women’s Equality Day: Suffrage Rally and Parade
WHEN: Wednesday, Aug. 24, 5- 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Rally at the Lawn Area across from Organ Pavilion, Balboa Park
CONTACT: Anne Hoiberg, Phone: (858) 245-1677, Email: annehoiberg1@gmail.com
