Daily Business Report-April 20, 2017
The building, shaped like a seashell, is an example of California organic modernism architecture. (Rendering courtesy of Playground)
Vacant Mission Bay Visitor Information
Center to Morph Into a Bayside Restaurant
The long vacant Mission Bay Visitor Information Center will get a new lease on life when it is renovated into a restaurant by Playground Concepts, a boutique design and development company.
Playground Concepts is led by Bradley Schnell, Greg Van de Velde and Kristine Schnell. Van de Velde, a current partner in Bottega Americano and former general manager of Bottega Americano and Mister A’s, will manage all aspects of restaurant operations. Designing the renovation will be Playground, a local design firm owned by husband and wife team Bradley and Kristine Schnell.
Built in 1969 by local architect Richard Lareau, the building originally served as the go-to spot for visitors to purchase tickets, pick up maps with area attractions, make hotel reservations or rent a bike by the bay. In 2010, the Information Center closed due to an increase in visitors using the Internet to find relevant travel information. It sat empty for over seven years.
“Our team is excited for the opportunity to reinvigorate this iconic San Diego building with new life,” said Kristine Schnell, creative director of Playground Concepts. “It’s a space that holds fond memories for many San Diegans and we are looking forward to creating memories here for the next generation.”
The project is slated break ground later this year and will include a counter-service restaurant with local wine and beer on tap, grab-and-go picnic arrangements, as well as a walk-up coffee and juice bar for early morning joggers and cyclists. Also in the works is a space for private events and bay front weddings, beach and bike rentals, as well as a small retail component and children’s play area.
The building, shaped like a seashell, is an example of California organic modernism architecture, originally designed by architect Richard Lareau. Lareau, now retired, is consulting on the project to ensure renovations conform to the original design intent of the building.
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The Trees that Make Southern California
Shady and Green are Dying. Fast
The trees that shade, cool and feed people from Ventura County to the Mexican border are dying so fast that within a few years it’s possible the region will look, feel, sound and smell much less pleasant than it does now. “We’re witnessing a transition to a post-oasis landscape in Southern California,” says Greg McPherson, a supervisory research forester with the U.S. Forest Service who has been studying what he and others call an unprecedented die-off of the trees greening Southern California’s parks, campuses and yards.
— Los Angeles Times
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Illumina, Cornell Dismiss Patent Suit
Illumina and Cornell University have jointly agreed to dismiss a patent dispute that originated in 2010, according to documents filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.
Cornell and Life Technologies (now part of Thermo Fisher Scientific) sued Illumina in May 2010, claiming that Illumina’s microarray products infringed on eight patents held by Cornell and exclusively licensed to Life Tech. The patents related to claims on detecting nucleic acid sequences using coupled ligase detection and PCR. In May 2016, the court issued recommendations for claims reconstruction, and then partly adopted and partly rejected those recommendations in January, following comments by both parties.
This week, both parties sought to have those prior rulings withdrawn. Cornell and Life Technologies agreed to dismiss their claims against Illumina “with prejudice,” and Illumina agreed to dismiss its counterclaims “without prejudice.” Each party also agreed to cover its own legal costs. The court subsequently vacated its prior claims reconstruction recommendation and order.
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Latitude 33 Aviation Private Air Charter
Awarded Platinum Rating for Safety
Latitude 33 Aviation LLC, a Carlsbad-based private air charter operator, has been awarded the ARGUS Platinum Rating by ARGUS Interational, which places it in the upper 5 percent of over 1,000 U.S.-based charter operators.
The Platinum Rating is the highest level of the ARGUS Ratings and is awarded only to those air charter operators who have demonstrated successful implementation of industry best safety practices relative to their operations and maintenance.
“We are pleased to receive the highest independent safety rating in the air charter industry,” said Casey Miller, president of Latitude 33 Aviation. “We are in the business of trust, and this accomplishment reflects our long-held commitment to the safety to our clients, employees and partners.”
“Our audit is a thorough and in-depth examination of an operator’s policies and procedures compared against a constantly evolving set of industry best practices,” said Joseph Moeggenberg, president and CEO of ARGUS International. “The experienced team from Latitude 33 should take great pride in the outcome of their ARGUS Platinum audit. It was apparent to our auditing team that they focused intensely on building and refining their whole operation.”
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Port District Selects Developer for New
Destination RV Park on Chula Vista Bayfront
The Port of San Diego has selected a national, award-winning leader in RV parks to develop and operate a new Destination RV Park on the Chula Vista Bayfront.
The Board of Port Commissioners selected the team of Sun Communities Inc. & Northgate Resorts LLC at its meeting on April 11. The Sun/Northgate team proposes to call the park “Costa Vista” with the following features:
- 267 sites with a mix of traditional RV stalls and vacation rental park models.
- Amenities that include a camp store, pedestrian walkways, a clubhouse with a café, a pool and a fitness center.
- More than 100,000 square feet of open space.
- Offsite amenities including a public observation plateau in the area adjacent to the Sweetwater signature park.
“This is a big, important step in moving forward with the transformation of the Chula Vista Bayfront,” said Port Commissioner Ann Moore, the board’s Chula Vista representative.
The new Destination RV Park will be located at E Street and Bay Boulevard. It will pave the way for the future resort hotel and convention center, the anchor of the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan, as well as the Harbor District Park and roadways.
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Personnel Announcements
Sabrina Lopez Named VP of Sales for Telemundo 20
Sabrina Lopez has been named vice president of sales for Telemundo 20 San Diego, according to a announcement by Telemundo Station Group.
Lopez will be responsible for developing and implementing all local, national and sales strategies across all Telemundo 20 station platforms. She will report to Richard Kelley, president and general manager of Telemundo 20 and NBC 7 San Diego / KNSD. Her first day in San Diego will be June 1.
Lopez brings more than 16 years of experience to her new role after holding sales positions with increasing responsibility for NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations, a division of NBCUniversal that includes 29 NBC and Telemundo-owned stations, NBC Regional Sports Networks, and Telemundo stations in Denver, Chicago and New York. She joins Telemundo 20’s team after working for Telemundo 47 as WNJU’s sales manager and business development director for the past three years.
Prior to WNJU, Lopez also helped to maximize and increase sales revenue for NBC and Telemundo-owned stations all across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and for NBC Regional Sports Networks. She launched her career in broadcast sales as an account manager for Telemundo Denver in 2001.
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Investment Team Joins Kidder Mathews Brokerage
The commercial real estate investment team of Jim Neil, Eric Comer and Merrick Matricardi have joined Kidder Mathews as senior vice presidents in the firm’s San Diego office. They are joined by additional members of their team, Shira Bicknell, client services coordinator, and Salma Rawi, marketing assistant. Prior to Kidder Mathews, the group was with CBRE.
Neil, Comer, and Matricardi specialize in the sale of multifamily investment properties in the greater San Diego area. Collectively, they have sold 8,000 apartment units for a total consideration of $1.5 billion in San Diego County.
Comer and Neil have been consistent market leaders and were ranked National Top Producers and San Diego Region Top Producer at CBRE. They were also awarded Deal Maker of the Year by the San Diego Commercial Realtors Association.
Merrick Matricardi joined the team in 2005 and was named a Top Producer Under 40 in commercial real estate by the San Diego Business Journal. All three professionals have received their MBA.
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Chris Collins Promoted at Holliday Fenoglio Fowler
Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. has appointed Chris Collins as an associate director in its San Diego office. Collins will focus on middle market debt and equity placement transactions throughout the western United States.
Collins has been with HFF since 2014 as a senior real estate analyst and has more than five years of experience in commercial real estate finance. Prior thereto, he was a real estate analyst at La Jolla Capital, a boutique commercial real estate finance firm focused on middle market apartment transactions.
He is a member of NAIOP Developing Leaders and the International Council of Shopping Centers.
Collins graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Colorado State University.
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SynteractHCR Appoints 3 New Senior-Level Managers
SynteractHCR, an international contract research organization, has appointed three new senior-level managers to its leadership team. The senior executives are Heather Davis, executive director of U.S. Project Management; Zia Haque, executive director, Clinical Data Management; and John Whitaker, executive director of Biostatistics.
With 20-plus years in project management and clinical operations, Heather Davis will provide leadership, strategic direction and oversight to the U.S. Project Management group. She will work with counterparts in Europe to ensure SynteractHCR continues to drive a global strategy supporting sponsors’ needs. Most recently she was vice president of Project Management for the Oncology division at Novella Clinical.
Zia Haque draws on 20-plus years of experience in the areas of global clinical data management, client relationship management, proposal and business development support, building and leading global teams and implementing process improvements in the CRO industry. Most recently he was global head of data management, real world and late phase research at QuintilesIMS.
As executive director of Biostatistics, John Whitaker will be responsible for planning resources and activities to achieve departmental goals and maintaining a close working relationship with other functional groups and clients to ensure coordinated operational delivery. Most recently, Whitaker was a statistical consultant providing regulatory support, data analysis and statistical programming, protocol design and data quality review.
