Daily Business Report/Dec. 13, 2016
The Innovative Cultural and Education Hub will be located in the Park and Market Project, shown in this rendering. (Photo credit: Holland Partners/Carrier Johnson + CULTURE.)
UC San Diego Extension to Open
Innovative Cultural and Education
Hub in Downtown San Diego
The University of California San Diego plans to open an Innovative Cultural and Education Hub in Downtown San Diego to connect its wide range of programs to the area’s innovation community and to diverse neighborhoods throughout San Diego’s urban core.
UC San Diego Extension will manage the 66,000-square-foot center, to be located at at the Park and Market project being developed by the Holland Partner Group.
The center is slated to be completed in 2020 and will offer educational and cultural programs, and will house a 3,000-square-foot restaurant on the ground floor and an outdoor amphitheater space. The center will be home to:
- Academic and outreach programs for middle and high school students from surrounding communities.
- Business incubation and entrepreneurship resources for entrepreneurs throughout the urban core.
- A venue for arts events and exhibits to showcase the university’s and the larger community’s cultural offerings.
- A hub for civic engagement, including applied research and volunteer opportunities.
- Courses, workshops and seminars relevant to Downtown’s growing workforce.
No state funds will be used to finance the construction of the project and ongoing financing for the facility will come from a combination of program underwriting, contracts and grants, fees for services and lease revenues, all of which UC San Diego Extension will manage. The university selected the site because of its proximity to the UC San Diego Blue Line, which will run from San Ysidro to University City and connect its main campus in La Jolla with the greater San Diego region.
UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla said the new facility is designed to deliver on the core tenets of the university’s Strategic Plan to ensure both equity and excellence.
“Our establishment of an urban innovation and educational hub demonstrates our commitment to be bold and build a better university, a better community and a better world,” Khosla said. “This new hub will support economic development downtown while delivering new educational opportunities for our students, faculty and staff and provide a greater connection to the communities throughout San Diego.”
Mary Walshok, UC San Diego’s associate vice chancellor for public programs and dean of Extension, said the new Innovative Cultural and Education Hub will redefine the role of a research university in the 21st century by offering unique educational experiences and research opportunities as well as arts and cultural activities.
“With the diverse neighborhoods surrounding the urban core, including Barrio Logan, the Diamond District and Golden Hill, this project reinforces UC San Diego’s role as a key partner in spurring economic prosperity and inclusion through engaging events and educational offerings,” said Walshok.
The Holland Partner Group is scheduled to seek final approval of the entitlements for both the Innovative Cultural and Education Hub and its larger residential project from the San Diego City Council today. The residential project includes 341 market-rate apartments, 85 rent-restricted affordable apartments for very low income residents and preservation of the historic Remmen House. Construction is slated to begin during the summer of 2017.
_____________________
Myrtle Cole Voted City Council
President in 6-3 Vote
Councilwoman Myrtle Cole on Monday became the first African American woman to be elected president of the San Diego City Council.
Cole, who represents neighborhoods in Southeast San Diego, was elected on a 6-3 vote. She succeeds Sherri Lightner, whose term ended with Monday’s inauguration of a new council.
“What I plan to do is work with every single individual on this dais…to move their district forward and to move this city forward — that’s all I want to do,” said Cole.
Many of the 30 or so public speakers, including members of organized labor and environmental groups, backed Councilman David Alvarez. He and new council members Georgette Gomez and Chris Ward cast the dissenting votes.
“While I am disappointed by the outcome, I remain strongly committed to advancing initiatives that improve the lives of San Diegans,” Alvarez said in a statement. “The council must lead in several critical areas, such as increasing housing affordability, impactful solutions to homelessness, and achieving the goals set out in the Climate Action Plan.”
Cole will have considerable power as council president. She will shape the debate over civic issues, set the panel’s agenda, run the council meetings, determine committee assignments and appear often with the mayor in a ceremonial role.
_____________________
Mayor Calls for Bi-Partisan
Collaboration at Inauguration
Times of San Diego
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer called for bi-partisan collaboration as he, City Attorney Mara Elliott and five members of the city council began new four-year terms on Monday.
“San Diegans throughout the city are experiencing the tremendous progress that we have made collaboratively,” Faulconer said after taking the oath of office.
He said the city’s budget is balanced, roads are being repaired, new fire stations are under construction and a major renovation of Balboa Park will begin next year.
“Our nation needs a little San Diego-style bi-partisanship more than ever,” he added, to applause from the audience in the historic Balboa Theatre Downtown.
City Attoney Jan Goldsmith, who is leaving office after eight years, praised his successor Elliott, calling her “tough, tested and ready to lead.”
The swearing in ceremony included re-elected Councilmen Mark Kersey and Scott Sherman from Districts 5 and 7 and three newly elected council memers. Both Kersey and Sherman said in brief remarks that a key problem facing the city is the high cost of housing, and vowed to streamline government regulations that they said are a significant component of the cost.
The three new members taking the oath of office include District 1 Councilwoman Barbara Bry, District 3 Councilman Chris Ward and District 9 Councilwoman Georgette Gomez.
Several elected officials specifically mentioned President-elect Donald Trump in calling for renewed efforts to work together locally. “It’s up to all of us at the local level to defend the values San Diego holds dear,” said Ward.
Gomez, a community and environmental activist, was cheered in Spanish and English during her inauguration. “If the queer daughter of Mexican immigrants can be elected to City Council…then the American dream is still alive,” she told the crowd.
_____________________
Carlsbad Industrial Building Sold for $2.9 Million
An industrial building at 1959 Kellogg Ave. in Carlsbad has been sold for $2.9 million to TLR Properties. The seller was Kellogg LLC.
The 21,415 square-foot industrial/ flex facility features a ground-level loading door, ocean view offices on the second floor, and is 100 percent climate controlled.
TLR Properties, an investor, purchased the property with plans to renovate the building and put it on the market for lease.
Lee & Associates represented both parties in the transaction.
_____________________
Restaurant Owner Convicted, Sentenced
To Jail for Grand Theft, Labor Violations
California Labor Commissioner Julie A. Su announced that a San Diego restaurant wage theft investigation resulted in the owner’s conviction and sentencing to two years’ jail time for grand theft and labor violations. San Diego County Superior Court further requires the owner to repay $20,000 in stolen wages and tips to six of the restaurant workers.
Evidence presented revealed that Zihan Zhang, owner of Antique Thai Cuisine in San Diego, targeted immigrant workers who were promised wages but then often paid only in tips. Some of the kitchen staff was paid as little as $4 an hour and forced to work during breaks and meal periods. The owner further collected a portion of the tips from the unpaid workers, and charged them $5 a shift for “glass breakage” to offset her operating costs.
“Our investigation uncovered egregious wage theft and worker abuse – our collaboration with the San Diego District Attorney has resulted in the first criminal conviction of its kind in our state,” said Su.
The Labor Commissioner’s Office referred the case in August 2014, and worked with the San Diego District Attorneys Office to bring the case to trial. It is the first criminal jury trial conviction in California for felony grand wage theft by false pretenses.
Zhang was convicted of two felony counts of grand theft of labor for failing to pay workers as promised, one felony count of grand theft of tips and six misdemeanor charges, including two for refusing to pay wages when she had the ability to do so and four counts for failing to provide itemized wage statements.
_____________________
Personnel Announcements
Jennifer Kearns Hired as Information
Officer for San Diego Mesa College
Jennifer Kearns — an award-winning communications professional with nearly two decades of experience in marketing and public relations — is the new information officer at San Diego Mesa College.
As Mesa College’s chief media and community liaison, Kearns will direct, manage, and plan marketing and public relations efforts for the largest college in the San Diego Community College District.
Kearns most recently served as director of communications for former San Diego City Council President Sherri Lightner, whose term in office concluded Dec. 10. There, Kearns was responsible for media relations, events, the District 1 website, and social media.
She begins her new job on Thursday.
Kearns has served for the past 15 years as an adjunct professor at San Diego City College, where she manages the Independent Learning Center.
Elizabeth Valle Joins Cavignac & Associates
Elizabeth Valle, a 16-year veteran of the insurance industry, has been named certificate department coordinator for Cavignac & Associates, a downtown San Diego-based risk management and insurance brokerage firm.
In this position, Valle is charged with ensuring accurate performance and timely processing relative to the issuance of certificates of insurance, making sure that all certificates are completed within 24 hours.
Before joining Cavignac & Associates, Valle served as office manger of National Life Group in San Marcos, where she was employed for nine years. There she managed contracting and licensing of new agents and advisors; handled employee relations, benefits and training; and planned, directed and coordinated the administrative functions of the agency. She also processed and managed new business.
Prior insurance career experience includes four years with Matrix Direct in San Diego, where she served as a senior account specialist, and another two years with Collins & Associates in El Cajon, where she was a sales associate.
