Daily Business Report-March 21, 2017
Kyoto University, one of UC San Diego’s international partners, will open an office in this office complex near the university. (Courtesy UCSD)
UC San Diego Partner Kyoto University
To Open Office in San Diego in April
Kyoto University of Japan, one of the University of California San Diego’s international partners, will open an office in San Diego in early April, both campuses have announced.
The Kyoto University Office will be located in the Sunroad Corporate Center, Suite 200, at the Eastgate Mall near UC San Diego.
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer welcomed the announcement. “We are proud to welcome Kyoto University to San Diego as its premier location to promote international partnerships in North America,” he said. “This decision bolsters San Diego’s standing as one of the smartest and most innovative cities in the world. It’s yet another example of how San Diego’s research ecosystem and collaborative culture continues to drive our economy and attract the world’s most talented individuals.”
Sandra A. Brown, vice chancellor of research at UC San Diego, said the new office “is a milestone we have achieved as a result of several years of hard work by faculty and staff at both institutions. UC San Diego and Kyoto University are premier research partners, and we expect our collaborations to expand by having the Kyoto University office next door.”
“We are proud of the fact that we have maintained a healthy relationship between our two universities since UC San Diego’s early years, our cooperation beginning soon after its establishment,” said Kyoto University President Dr. Juichi Yamagiwa. “The new Kyoto University San Diego Office will further enhance and develop research collaborations with not only UC San Diego but also with the many prestigious institutions and hospitals in the greater San Diego region and in California, as well as with its active industry communities and governmental network.”
Dr. Nagahiro Minato, executive vice president for research, planning, and hospital administration at Kyoto University, agreed. “Several research collaboration projects have been successfully initiated in the bio-medical field during the past four years, and researchers are intensively discussing possibilities of new collaborations to be started soon in multiple disciplines.”
Dr. Makoto Azuma, who will be the founding director of the Kyoto University office, said the new facility in San Diego would enable both universities to collaborate more effectively in a wide range of research areas. “Our university strives for diverse development in pure and applied research in the humanities, sciences, and technology,” he said, “while seeking to integrate these various perspectives in promising and productive ways.”
UC San Diego’s Miwako Waga, Director of International Outreach in the Office of Research Affairs, said those involved in previous symposiums and research collaborations with Kyoto University look forward to the possibilities of exploring the scientific and technological frontiers together.
“The dialogue we started during the past joint symposiums has already resulted in joint publications and plans for new joint-research initiatives,” she said. “While their main purpose of their new San Diego office is to enhance the international partnership with UC San Diego, Kyoto’s leadership is also keen to build collaborative relationships with various research institutions on the Torrey Pines Mesa and the business community in the Southern California region.”
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UCSD Rady School Lends Innovative
Approach to Museum Ticket Sales
Faced with a downturn in visitors, the San Diego History Center decided to take an innovative approach to boosting museum attendance — let visitors determine how much they wanted to pay for their visit.
The museum’s “Give Forward” admissions program launched in October 2016 and, to date, has given it a significant boost in attendance. This fundamental shift in admissions was inspired by the research of Ayelet Gneezy and Uri Gneezy, faculty at the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego, and experts in charitable giving.
Working with the Rady School professors, the museum determined the best way to increase admissions was to allow visitors to contribute based on their experience in the museum, instead of paying a set admissions fee. In addition, the museum highlights to visitors that admissions donations help pay for other people to visit in the future.
Since the change in admissions policy, the number of daily visitors to the San Diego History Center has been steady, and in many cases stronger than attendance during the most popular exhibit “Ingenious! The World of Dr. Seuss” (which ran from November 2014 to January 2016). For example, the daily average of visitors between November 2016, (after Give Forward began) and November 2015 (during Seuss) is up 76 percent on average. Prior to launching Give Forward, the center hosted an average of 67 visitors per day. Attendance since the launch has averaged 216 daily visitors (up 225 percent). January 2017 historically was one of the strongest daily attendance periods in the institution’s history — now averaging 280 visitors per day.
“The Give Forward program has been transformative, for our museums, our staff and our members,” said SDHC Executive Director Bill Lawrence. “When the number of visitors is down, the energy that drives our purpose and passion is down. With the increased attendance from the Give Forward program, the energy has transformed and the community is taking notice. This program has dramatically increased our outreach to underserved communities, as visitors from underserved communities is up 44 percent!”
“As researchers, it is extremely gratifying to see what we have discovered in research applied successfully in practice,” said Ayelet Gneezy. “Working with the San Diego History Center and helping them implement their new Give Forward pricing structure has been rewarding and is an excellent example for other museums to consider when thinking about admissions structure.”
The Give Forward program is not a short-term trial, rather a permanent change to build long-term relationships that will ensure the future success of the institution.
“Continued viability for the San Diego History Center starts with enhanced exposure in the community and developing new relationships,” Lawrence said. “Increasing visitors who are learning to appreciate our region’s rich history and experiencing the stories of San Diego’s shared past, is an investment in our future.”
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Marston House Museum to Close Temporarily March 27
The historic Marston House Museum will close March 27 for three months while a new roof and gutters are installed. Reopening is expected July 1, announced Save Our Heritage Organisation.
SOHO is the nonprofit preservation group that operates the 1905 Arts & Crafts mansion at 3525 Seventh Ave. for the city of San Diego.
Much of the Marston House gardens and sweeping lawn with shade trees, part of Balboa Park, will remain open to pedestrians during construction.
The Marston House Museum Shop, in the estate’s historic carriage house, will stay open Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5p.m. The museum’s offering of neighborhood walking tours of Seventh Avenue and Bankers Hill will continue to run and have been expanded to every weekend during this time. For schedule and ticket information, click here.
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Four-Building Office Complex
In Kearny Mesa Sold for $34.3 Million
Klein Investment Family Limited Partnership has secured $34.3 million in financing to acquire a 132,695-square-foot, four-building office complex in Kearny Mesa. The property is located at 9404 Chesapeake Drive, and 5775, 5785 and 5788 Roscoe Court.
MetroGroup Realty Finance, a private commercial mortgage banking firm based in Newport Beach, secured the loan for the buyer.
The office property is 100-percent leased to Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions, a subsidiary of global UK-based Cobham PLC, a technology company for the aerospace and defense industries.
MetroGroup Realty Finance provided a bridge loan in the amount of $7 million and a permanent loan in the amount of $27.3 million.
Klein Investment Family Limited Partnership plans to integrate a series of tenant and property capital improvements including replacing roofing and HVAC units, upgrading electrical power, fire systems, and resealing and restriping the parking lots.
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Personnel Announcements
Jeff Saywitz Joins Voit Real Estate Services
Voit Real Estate Services, a privately held, broker-owned Southern California commercial real estate firm, announced the addition of industry veteran Jeff Saywitz as senior vice president and partner in its San Diego office.
Saywitz is a well-established brokerage professional with a singular focus in tenant representation in the San Diego market. He is an industry veteran specializing exclusively in tenant representation for office, industrial, flex and R&D users. He brings over 25 years of brokerage experience and a deep understanding of the industry to his new role.
Prior to joining Voit, Saywitz oversaw all brokerage activities for The Saywitz Company’s San Diego office, with a focus on transactional work for clients throughout Southern California and nationwide. He has dissolved his longstanding partnership in The Saywitz Company and closed up its San Diego office in an effort to expand his client base and utilize Voit’s resources. Before The Saywitz Company, he was a real estate consultant and leasing specialist at Howard Ecker & Company and before that, he was a financial analyst with Merrill Lynch.
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Kevin Reed Joins WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff
Kevin Reed has been named operations manager for the West region of WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, a global engineering and professional services organization.
In his new position, Reed’s responsibilities include management of the firm’s civil, structural, traffic, planning, environment, and inspection services, as well as oversight of project management activities on key projects in the West region, which includes California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii. He will be based in the firm’s San Diego office.
Reed has extensive senior-level transportation industry experience. Prior to joining WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, he was vice president at an international engineering organization, responsible for the operations of five offices in the firm’s Southern California district. He previously served as a project manager/project engineer, managing and designing multiple airside and landside aviation projects at major commercial, military and general aviation airports in Western states.
Reed received a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Washington State University. He is a board member of the San Diego chapter of the American Council of Engineering Companies, and a member of the transportation committee of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce.
