Daily Business Report-Nov. 10, 2016
Rendering of the county’s Housing and Community Development Services administrative offices.
Developer Begins Renovations
At County Housing Headquarters
BNBuilders has started construction on renovations at the county of San Diego Housing and Community Development Services administrative offices at 3989 Ruffin Road in San Diego.
The project is one of three recent San Diego County at-risk contracts awarded to BNBuilders’ San Diego office. The project will be completed in May 2017.
Designed by BNIM Architects, the new 30,000-square-foot space will include MEP systems and controls, Solatubes for enhanced natural light, LED light fixtures, new exterior glazing and sunshades, new flooring, and new furniture for county employees. In the future, when the photovoltaics are added to the facility, the total amount of energy used by the building will be roughly equal to the amount of renewable energy created on site.
“This project is designed to be a catalyst showcasing the county of San Diego’s commitment to providing human-purposed workplace environments which focus on health and well-being of occupants,” said Elif Tinney, associate principal at BNIM. “The open and collaborative work environment with views, abundant light and natural ventilation promotes wellness for those who serve the San Diego County community.”
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San Diego State Dedicates
New Gateway to Campus
San Diego State University has unveiled a formal campus entrance that is intended to further enhance SDSU’s unique architectural beauty.
The Clay Gateway at Montezuma Road and Campanile Drive is named for Nikki (’67, ’72) and Ben Clay (’69), whose contributions of time and treasure have strengthened the university over many decades.
“The idea of having a place of arrival has been a long time coming,” Ben Clay said.
The Clays met at SDSU. They were public administration majors and lived in sorority/fraternity houses on Montezuma Road, within walking distance of where the Clay Gateway now stands.
Both were members of Associated Students, and Ben was involved in financing the construction of the first Aztec Student Center, which became the first student union in the California State University system.
Nikki worked to organize and grow the SDSU Alumni Association and was an early member of the Campanile Foundation, the philanthropic foundation created in 1999 to manage SDSU’s then-nascent fundraising efforts.
Building an alumni center was one of SDSU’s earliest fundraising initiatives. President Emeritus Stephen Weber asked the Clays to tour Ohio State University, which at the time had recently built an alumni “home” on campus. They returned to San Diego with a vision and became not only donors, but also fundraisers for the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center.
“There is real meaning in giving to San Diego State,” Nikki Clay said. “It’s the engine that runs San Diego.”
The Clays continue to support SDSU by providing scholarships for students in the School of Public Administration and fundraising for the Thomas B. Day Quad, part of the Engineering and Interdisciplinary Sciences Complex currently under construction on campus.
The Clays also established the Ben and Nikki Clay Presidential Scholarship, a $300,000 endowment to support high-achieving students, an increasing percentage of SDSU’s student population.
“The naming of the Clay Gateway recognizes Nikki’s and Ben’s many contributions to SDSU,” said Tom McCarron, vice president for business and financial affairs. “Fittingly, the words on its pillars define the campus as a destination for students who aspire to follow in the Clays’ footsteps: ‘Through these gates will pass our future leaders.’”
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City Report Projects Significant
Increase in Annual Pension Payments
The city of San Diego released its annual Five-Year Financial Outlook, which forecasts modestly improving revenue over the next five years and a significant ongoing increase in the city’s annual pension payment following recent changes by the San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System’s independent pension board.
The new report projects future revenue and expenditures for the city’s operating budget, also known as the General Fund.
For Fiscal Year 2018, the outlook for projected revenue shows a 5 percent increase in property taxes to $532 million, a 1.5 percent increase in sales tax to $271 million and a 5.7 percent increase in the transient-occupancy tax to $120 million. Those revenue streams – the three largest sources of revenue in the operating budget – are projected to grow to $612 million (property tax), $293 million (sales tax) and $146 million (transient-occupancy tax) by 2022.
The rise in projected expenditures is largely driven by changes to how SDCERS calculates the city’s annual pension payment. The portion of the pension payment from the city’s operating budget is projected to increase by $36.7 million, from $191.2 million in FY2017 to $227.9 million in FY2018.
The increase stems from changes in actuarial assumptions calculated by SDCERS, such as projected longer lifespans for retired employees, and lower-than-expected investment returns in the past fiscal year. The increase is not from any new benefits granted by the City.
The result is a projected $37 million shortfall projected for FY2018 in the General Fund.
Earlier this year Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer won City Council approval to create a Pension Stabilization Reserve Fund to act as a safety net for the operating budget (which funds neighborhood services) when pension costs go up. The reserve fund currently has $16 million set aside for the operating budget that will help lessen the budgetary impact of the pension spike.
Mayor Faulconer will present his balanced FY2018 budget proposal for the City Council’s consideration in April 2017.
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Marine Corps Small Business
Contracting Opportunities
Contracting opportunities with the Marine Corps and Navy will be available at the Nov. 15-16 Marine Corps Small Business Contracting Summit. It will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 15 and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 16 at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina, 1380 Harbor Island Drive, San Diego.
Receive $200 OFF current registration rates when registered by Monday, Nov. 14. Use Promo Code MCSBCS200 with online registration. On-Site Registration at full-price will also be available on November 15-16. Receive info on last minute sponsorship or exhibit opportunities by emailing, parks@defenseleadership.org.
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Community College District Holds Job Fair
To Recruite 300 Part-Time Instructors
With an eye toward hiring 300 part-time instructors at both of its colleges for the upcoming spring semester, the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District is holding its first Adjunct Recruiting Event from 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, Nov. 19, at the Grossmont College Main Quad.
Fortified by additional state funding to promote student success, the college district will be offering 12 percent more classes in spring 2017 than the previous spring semester. Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges are holding the event to reach a diverse pool of applicants as instructors for the general education and career technical classes.
The recruiting event is targeting those with graduate degrees or equivalent teaching experience to fill teaching positions for the spring semester starting January 30. The need is especially urgent for instructors in the following areas: American Sign Language; Art; Biological Sciences; Ceramic Technology; Chemistry; Child Development; Computer Science; Counseling; Culinary Arts/Food Technology; Economics; English as a Second Language; History; Mathematics; Nutrition; Political Science; Psychology; Sociology.
Job seekers should bring four copies of their resumes or curriculum vitae.
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Paul Gierow, Roark McDonald Take New
Leadership Roles at Cubic Division
Cubic Corp. has promoted Paul Gierow to vice president for technology at the Cubic Mission Solutions division and Roark McDonald to VP and general manager of GATR Technologies, a business within the CMS division.
Gierow will be responsible for driving and aligning CMS’ innovation and technology development efforts with the organization’s overall growth strategy, Cubic said Wednesday.
The 20-year aerospace and satellite markets veteran established GATR in 2004 as well as led the inflatable satellite communication terminals manufacturing business as president.
McDonald, most recently VP of programs at GATR, will be in charge of the unit’s daily operations and business management functions.
He holds more than 15 years of aerospace and defense industry experience and previously managed acquisition category programs for both the U.S. Army and the Missile Defense Agency.
Cubic purchased GATR for $232.5 million in December 2015.
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Grading Completed on $128 Million,
233-Home Subdivision in Otay Ranch
Cornerstone Communities and Presidio Residential Capital have completed grading at four communities offering 233 new homes within Otay Ranch, a 5,300-acre planned community in eastern Chula Vista. The four new communities, Monterra, Aventine, Cambria and Estancia, are scheduled to open in May 2017. The retail value of the development is to exceed $128 million.
Monterra will offer 36 units, a combination of multiplex three-story townhomes with attached two-car garages ranging from 1,569 to 1,824 square feet. Aventine at Otay Ranch will offer 100 single-family detached units with two-car garages ranging from 2,014 to 2,438 square feet. Concept designs are being finalized for Cambria at Otay Ranch, which will offer 60 units ranging from 2,851 to 3,081 square feet and Estancia at Otay Ranch, which will offer 37 units ranging from 3,000 to 3,600 square feet.
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SEAL Training
Senior officers and enlisted personnel assigned to Naval Special Warfare Command paddle into the surf at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado during Surf Passage, a series of evolutions that are a part of the first phase of SEAL training. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Timothy M. Black)
