Daily Business Report/Nov. 30, 2016

 1st hole of the North Course at Torrey Pines Golf Course. (Photo by David Mulvaney, PacificPhotoDesign.com)

Tom Weiskopf Unveils $12.6 Million

Renovation of Torrey Pines Golf Course

Golfing great visits the site of his first career win

Course architect and golfing great Tom Weiskopf visited Torrey Pines this week to officially unveil the renovated North Course, a project that holds a special place in his golf career and design portfolio.

His first career win came at Torrey Pines at the 1968 Andy Williams-San Diego Open, predecessor to the current Farmers Insurance Open played every January at Torrey Pines.

Originally designed by William F. Bell and opened in 1957, the renovated North Course now stands to rival the popularity of the world famous South Course, host of the U.S. Open in 2008 and in 2021. The North and South courses, owned and maintained by the city, are both public courses, and the North averages approximately 82,000 rounds of play per year.

“We are excited to re-open the North Course to the global golf community,” said Herman Parker, Director of Park and Recreation for the city of San Diego. “Torrey Pines is a world-renowned golf facility, and we are pleased to be able to offer two outstanding courses, each with their own unique characteristics. Now no San Diego golf excursion is complete without playing both the North and South at Torrey.”

“It’s really special,” Wesikopf said. “And to work on a piece of property that amazing doesn’t happen very often. The sheer beauty of the place always captivates me. Now people can look forward to playing 36 incredible holes at Torrey Pines by playing the North and the South.”

Weiskopf’s renovations have successfully struck a balance between providing ample challenge for professional and scratch golfers and keeping the course playable for amateurs and casual golfers of all abilities. The North Course now features five sets of tees, allowing it to play as long as 7,258 yards or as short as 5,197. In total, the North has been lengthened nearly 200 yards from the tips.

“I tried to bring the North Course into the 21st century,” Weiskopf said. “It was built in the 1950s, and nothing of significance had ever been done to it. Everything we did in the redesign was to bring it up to current standards. It’s now a top-of-the-line golf course.”

Weiskopf Design Group has completed 60 golf course design projects since 1985. Among those are five that have been included in Golf Magazine’s list of the top 100 courses in the world – Troon Golf and Country Club (Scottsdale, Ariz.); Forest Highlands Golf Club, The Canyon Course (Flagstaff, Ariz.); Troon North Golf Club, The Monument (Scottsdale, Ariz.); Loch Lomond Golf Club (Scotland) and Double Eagle Club (Galena, Ohio). Weiskopf was named Golf Architect of the Year by Golf World magazine in 1996.

A winner of 16 tournaments during his nearly 30-year career on the PGA Tour, Weiskopf owns one major championship trophy (The Open Championship, 1973) and finished third or better in six other majors.

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San Diego Convention Center Generated

$1.1 Billion in Regional Impact in Fiscal 2016

The San Diego Convention Center Corporation posted a strong end to its fiscal year 2016, generating $1.1 billion in regional impact, according to center officials.

The center achieved some of its highest numbers in direct attendee spending and hotel and sales tax revenues not seen since 2008, officials said.

Notable highlights published in the Corporation’s Fiscal Year 2016 annual report are:

• Events in the building generated $1.1 billion in regional impact in FY16.
• The Convention Center welcomed 824,000 attendees (5th highest year in
• attendance).
• Guests spent $658 million in direct attendee spending (highest level
• since 2008).
• Citywide events generated $23.9 million in hotel & sales tax revenue to the city of San Diego’s general fund (highest level since 2008).

Out of the Convention Center’s 158 events, San Diego Comic-Con International was the top event by regional impact, generating $140 million, followed by LIGHTFAIR International bringing in $70.7 million and the Realtors Conference and Expo rounded out the top three at $58 million. The facility welcomed 14 medical meetings which accounted for nearly 30 percent of the overall economic impact generated this fiscal year.

President & CEO Clifford “Rip” Rippetoe said that the $23.9 million in tax revenues generated by the center for the city of San Diego’s general fund helps embolden the convention center’s purpose.

“Our facility is here to serve as the San Diego’s premiere gathering place, hosting conventions, meetings, trade shows and events that drive economic revenue to the city,” Rippetoe said. “It’s these revenues that ease the burden on local taxpayers and pay for important services such as police and fire protection, the upkeep of libraries and museums and the maintenance of parks and beaches.”

The convention center marked some significant environmental achievements, according to officials:

• The center set a new diversion record, recycling 66 percent of all materials that passed through the facility.
• The staff also recycled 1,250 tons of materials — nearly equal to the weight of the Star of India.

• The center donated 147 tons of edible food to the San Diego Rescue Mission, enough to plate 235,000 meals.

From the end of June through the last week of July, the San Diego Convention Center served as host to over a quarter-million guests for the Esri User Conference, Major League Baseball All-Star FanFest and Comic-Con International.

These three events alone combined to bring San Diego the following estimated benefits:

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Carrier Johnson Firm Commissioned

To Design Point Loma Nazarene Chapel

Global design firm Carrier Johnson + CULTURE has been commissioned to design an intimate prayer chapel for Point Loma Nazarene University in Point Loma.

Conceived by design principal Gordon R. Carrier, the compact, expressive Lyle and Grace Prescott Memorial Prayer Chapel will replace Point Loma Nazarene’s 50-year-old facility. The building is scheduled to open in late 2017.

The new prayer chapel offers an intimate setting for spiritual reflection and solitary prayer in a prominent campus location, while serving as symbol for the university’.s commitment to Christian values.

“The design evolves from two inspirations: a need to express the chapel’s role as spiritual anchor for this Christian campus, and a desire to evoke an emotional response from its user,” Carrier said.

Carrier and his firm recently completed the award-winning Sator Science Center for the university.

The project has garnered national design recognition including the coveted Pacific Coast Builders Conference Gold Nugget Grand Award for Western Region education facilities, and most recently, an Orchid Award presented by the San Diego Architectural Foundation.

“Both the science center and chapel are reflections of Point Loma Nazarene University’s founding principles — adherence to scripture and a broad curriculum — yet they are challenging and rewarding in completely different ways,” Carrier said. “Having completed the former, we are deeply honored to be given the opportunity to design the latter.”

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East Village Industrial Building

Sold to a Canadian Developer

The former home of Pacific Messenger Service, one of Downtown San Diego’s oldest family-owned businesses, has been sold for $14.5 million to Pinnacle International, a Canadian developer of condominiums, hotels and commercial projects. The seller was Rodney Starkey, based in San Diego.

“1141 E Street provides the new ownership with an excellent redevelopment opportunity that is zoned for multifamily residential development in the heart of the rapidly developing East Village Neighborhood Downtown,” said Ben Tashakorian of Marcus & Millichap, which represented the seller.

The 25,000-square-foot industrial building is situated on a 30,000-square-foot parcel of land, located on the corner of 11th Avenue and E Street within San Diego’s I.D.E.A. district, which stands for innovation, design, education and arts. ThIts aim is to support the creation of more than 13,000 design and tech jobs over the next 12 years.

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Northrop Grumman Passes 2

Milestones for Unmanned Aerial System

ExecutiveBiz

Northrop Grumman as passed two milestones for a joint program between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Navy‘s Office of Naval Research that requires the company to develop an unmanned aerial system for multiple medium altitude, long endurance missions.

Northrop said Monday the team oversees the Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node program has completed a critical design review in mid-October of the air vehicle’s General Electric engine.

A CDR was also conducted on Tern’s vehicle management system and that led to an approval of the hardware and software architecture to help launch and recover a Northrop-developed air vehicle from small-deck ships.

Bob August, Northrop program manager of the Tern project, said the combination of speed, endurance, range and altitude capacity the system offers can help provide the Navy and U.S. Marine Corps with a platform to conduct ISR, light strike and other missions.

DARPA said the program aims to commence ground-based and at-sea flight tests on the Northrop-developed prototype drone in 2018 in support of the Tern program.

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FAA: Californa Leads States in

Unauthorized Drone Incidents

ExecutiveGov

The Federal Aviation Administration has found that California had the most number of reported unauthorized unmanned aircraft systems incidents among U.S. states from October 2015 to September 2016.

California accounted for 21 percent out of approximately 1,744 disclosed UAS encounters nationwide, according to a California State Threat Assessment Center joint public safety bulletin posted on Nov. 4.

The bulletin stated the incidents occurred in 64 California cities and most encounters were reported in Los Angeles, Santa Ana and San Diego.

Illegal UAS flights in restricted areas affected emergency, firefighting and commercial air operations through the past year, STAC said.

FAA recorded multiple incidents wherein passenger jets at Los Angeles International Airport flew within 200 feet of drones before landing.

Florida, New York, New Jersey, Washington, Arizona, Illinois, North Carolina, Virginia and Texas also topped FAA’s list of most unauthorized UAS encounters by state.

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Personnel Announcements

Colliers International Hires Six New Associate Brokers

Colliers International San Diego Region has hired six new associate brokers to support continued growth of the company’s specialty brokerage teams in the Central San Diego and North San Diego offices.

Taylor DeBerry joins the Central San Diego Industrial Team focusing on sales and leasing of industrial properties in the Miramar, Kearny Mesa, Morena, Sports Arena/Airport, and surrounding markets.

Ryan Foley is in the North San Diego Office Team focusing on tenant representation services. He was formerly with Cushman Wakefield in Seattle, Washington.

Luke Holler joins the Urban Property Group focusing on retail, office, and mixed use leasing and investment opportunities in Central San Diego. He was most recently affiliated with Marcus Millichap in San Diego.

Alex Lacy is with the South County Industrial Team specializing in leasing and sales of industrial properties in the South Bay and Mexico markets. He was formerly with Iamsa Development Group.

Tyler Stemlley joins the North County Industrial Team with a focus on sales and leasing of multi-tenant industrial properties in Vista, San Marcos, Oceanside, and Carlsbad. He was formerly with Frank, Rimerman + Co. in San Francisco.

Sam Wolfsohn is with the Central San Diego Office Team specializing in sales and leasing of office properties in the Mission Valley and Kearny Mesa markets. Sam is a graduate of San Diego State University.