Daily Business Report-Oct. 4, 2016

Rendering shows proposed stadium to right of Petco Park in Downtown San Diego.

Stadium Opponents Rachet Up

Campaign Against Measure C

Times of San Diego

Hours after Mayor Kevin Faulconer endorsed a downtown football stadium, opponents of the $1.8 billion project ratcheted up their campaign against the San Diego Chargers’ ballot measure.

Measure C opponents, including City Councilmen David Alvarez, Chris Cate and Scott Sherman, along with Councilman-elect Chris Ward and other civic leaders, criticized the initiative at an afternoon news conference on Monday.

“A lot of promises are being made by the Chargers and by others,” Alvarez said. “Talk is cheap — the only thing that matters is what’s on the ballot. That is the only thing that’s legally binding.”

He said Measure C contains “giveaway after giveaway after giveaway” to Chargers Chairman Dean Spanos, including limited public input on the project, the right to put up two electronic signs and large billboards, plus ancillary revenues like naming rights.

Cate said Spanos can come back to city leaders if Measure C passes and say that a deal is a deal.

Ward, who will represent the downtown and East Village area beginning in December, said his future constituents want the Chargers to stay in San Diego, “but not at all costs, not at the cost of investment in our communities.”

Measure C on the Nov. 8 ballot would raise San Diego’s hotel room tax to help pay for the project, which has an estimated price tag of $1.8 billion. The levy is currently 10.5 percent, with a separate 2 percent fee that funds tourism marketing. Measure C would raise the tax to a total of 16.5 percent.

The Chargers and NFL would kick in a combined $650 million toward the project. Team executives said the combined facility would not only result in a state-of-the-art football stadium, but space that could be used for around 300 days a year.

Tony Manolatos, a spokesman for Measure C opponents, said the plan is a “bad deal for San Diego.”

“It would divert more than $1 billion in new taxes to a stadium project and subsidize a NFL franchise worth more than $2 billion,” Manolatos said. “Anyone who says it’s a good deal for San Diego is more interested in politics than good public policy.”

The Chargers’ stadium plans have been endorsed by the Downtown San Diego Partnership, a coalition of property owners and business, and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Early Monday, in an interview published in the San Diego Union-Tribune, Faulconer said he has decided to support the downtown stadium, saying Chargers executives agreed in writing to cover any cost overrides related to the construction or land purchases, guaranteed that the city’s general fund would not be used and, among other concessions, turn over to the city revenue generated from non-NFL events.

“Mayor Faulconer and his team carefully examined the initiative from every angle, weighing the opportunities and challenges for San Diego residents, businesses, and government,” chamber President and CEO Jerry Sanders said in a statement.

“The safeguards he negotiated will provide the protections our city needs so we can continue to create jobs and grow our economy,” Sanders said. “In this plan for a multi-use sports and convention complex, our community can accomplish two things — keep our NFL team in town, and drive progress in the East Village, downtown, and the entire San Diego region.

City News Service contributed to this article.

_____________________________

Westcore Properties Acquires

4 North County Properties

In $75 Million Transaction

Westcore Properties has acquired four industrial properties in North County for $75 million, citing an increased demand for multi-tenant developments.

The seller was Boston-based TA Realty. The properties total 514,169 square feet.

“Development of incubator multi-tenant and multi-tenant industrial properties has been almost non-existent in San Diego over the past decade, increasing demand for these buildings,” said Hack Adams, senior vice president at Westcore Properties and its head of acquisitions for the southwest U.S. “Industrial real estate market fundamentals are extremely strong throughout San Diego, and we are bullish on the respective submarkets of Escondido, San Marcos and Rancho Bernardo represented in this portfolio.”

According to Cushman & Wakefield’s San Diego second quarter industrial report, the vacancy rate stands at 5 percent, the lowest on record.

Properties acquired:

• 16990 Goldentop Road, Rancho Bernardo, 66,448 square feet. One building 100 percent leased.

• 500–938 South Andreasen Drive, Escondido. 252,017 square feet. 13 buildings, 98 percent leased.

• 133-155 Mata Way, San Marcos. 123,536 square feet. Two buildings, 100 percent leased.

• 540–550 Pacific Street, San Marcos. 72,168 square feet. Six buildings, 100 percent leased.

Westcore said it will perform cosmetic improvements at each property, to include landscaping and painting, as well as maintenance and upgrades for HVAC systems, asphalt and roofs.

_____________________________

Mixed-Use Development Slated

For Encanto Neighborhood

The San Diego City Council has approved Civic San Diego’s recommendation to enter into an exclusive negotiating agreement with Affirmed Housing for a proposed residential development at the corner of Hilltop and Euclid in the Encanto neighborhood of San Diego.

The approval allows Affirmed and Civic San Diego to move forward in reaching an agreement for the development of the site. Affirmed was selected through a competitive Request for Proposals process to develop a high quality, mixed-use project that provides retail and affordable and market-rate homes.

Affirmed Housing’s development at Hilltop and Euclid will be a mixed-use project including market rate single family for-sale homes, 84 affordable apartments for families who earn 50-60 percent of the Area Median Income, 8,300 square feet of retail space, and a park that can be used for local events such as a farmers market.

According to Affirmed Housing, the existing arroyo that bisects the site will become the focal point, uniting the east and west sides into a cohesive place via a pedestrian bridge. The development will also feature drought-tolerant landscaping and façades designed to seamlessly blend with the surrounding community. The development will focus on revitalizing and driving new retail to the local area, and creating a sense of economic prosperity for the neighborhood.

“Our team put a lot of thought into the design and program of this new development, and we believe that it will enrich and regenerate the local community while advancing the goals of the Encanto Neighborhood’s Community Plan,” said James Silverwood, president & CEO of Affirmed Housing.

_____________________________

Cuyamaca College Receives $900,000 Grant

To Improve Training for Water Industry Pros

Cuyamaca College has secured a National Science Foundation grant of nearly $900,000 for an innovative new program to improve and expand training of the next generation of water industry professionals needed to operate and maintain California’s complex water supply and delivery systems.

Funding for California WaterWorks: Building the People Pipeline comes at a critical time. The Water Research Foundation and the American Water Works Association anticipate that water utilities will lose up to half their workforce over the next decade as older workers opt to retire. A 2014 Water Research Foundation report estimates that nearly one-third of the water industry workforce is eligible to retire.

“Cuyamaca College’s Water and Wastewater Technology Program has a well-deserved reputation for its commitment to quality, innovation, and a high standard of excellence in providing instruction and training to prepare our students for a career in the water and wastewater industry,” said Joe Young, who coordinates the program that has delivered water and wastewater management education for more than half a century. “This latest National Science Foundation grant will help us to improve and expand our program and continue to set the pace in water and wastewater workforce development.”

_____________________________

Community Housing Works to Celebrate

Southcrest Townhomes Renovations

Community HousingWorks will join with partners and residents today at 5 p.m. to celebrate the completion of renovations at Mayberry Townhomes, an affordable, transit-oriented community in San Diego’s Southcrest neighborhood.

Speakers at the celebration will include City Councilmember Marti Emerald, San Diego Housing Commission CEO Rick Gentry, Civic San Diego President Reese Jarrett and CHW President and CEO Sue Reynolds.

The 70-unit apartment community at 4422 Mayberry St. has served as affordable housing since it was built in 1984. CHW purchased the property in 2015 and permanently lowered rents in 60 percent of the apartments through a combination of low-income tax credits, bond financing and earlier long-term investments of the San Diego Housing Commission and Civic San Diego. The apartments will remain affordable for the next 55 years.

CHW invested over $3 million in renovations to the 2.8-acre community, including upgrades to kitchens, bathrooms and flooring in half the apartments. Other work included the replacement of four roofs, repairs to exterior walls and resurfacing of asphalt parking areas.

“Community HousingWorks is proud to contribute to the revitalization of Southcrest while also preserving the availability of affordable rental homes for local residents,” Reynolds said. “Located near shopping, transit, public parks and other amenities, the Mayberry Townhomes offer both opportunity and convenience for lower-income residents.”