Daily Business Report-May 18, 2017
Rendering of the new U.S. Customs Station, which is scheduled to be operational in summer 2018.
New Customs Facility to Handle Influx
of International Travelers at Airport
Construction has started on a new U.S. Customs Station at the west end of Terminal 2 at San Diego International Airport — a facility designed to accommodate the increase in international passengers from added overseas flights.
The new $229.4 million Federal Inspection Station will serve British Airways, Japan Airlines, Condor Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, and, starting June 9, Edelweiss Air. It is scheduled to be operational in summer 2018.
Officials said the new facility will improve the processing experience for passengers with reduced wait times and create a more welcoming environment. Features will include a second baggage claim and more queuing space in the lower level Customs hall, as well the newest processing technologies introduced by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Officials said the airport has experienced significant growth in international arrivals in the past quarter-century – from about 50,000 passengers a year in the early 1990s to more than 300,000 a year in 2016. That number – and the associated economic impact – will continue to grow as more international nonstop flights are added.
“The economic impact of international flights is significant – about $432 million annually for the region,” said April Boling, Airport Authority board chairman. “But beyond the dollars and cents argument is the more personal one. A new Federal Inspection Station will allow us to better accommodate people who travel great distances to visit friends, families and loved ones.”
As of June 2017, the airport will offer nonstop flights to and from six countries — Japan, Germany, Switzerland, the U.K., Mexico and Canada. Construction of a new, larger Customs facility for international flight arrivals will allow the airport to process these passengers with greater ease and efficiency.
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Former Point Loma/Midway Post Office
Building to Give Way to Mixed-Use Development
The former post office distribution facility in the Point Loma/Midway area of San Diego will be torn down to make way for a $325 million mixed-use project to be built by a Hammer Ventures affiliate which purchased the property for $40.5 million.
Rexford Industrial Realty was the seller of the 16-acre site at 2535 Midway Drive. HFF’s equity placement team worked on behalf of the buyer to arrange joint venture equity for the acquisition.
The mixed-use development is to be called “The Point.”
Rexford Industrial Realty purchased the property — formerly called the Midway Processing and Distribution Center by the postal service — for $19.3 million from the U.S. Postal Service in 2015 with the intention of developing it for industrial use. Those plans never made it to construction.
The former post office building was closed in 2012 and its mail processing moved to the Margaret L. Sellers Processing Center in Rancho Bernardo.
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Veteran School Administrator Named
President of San Diego City College
Ricky Shabazz, vice president of student services at San Bernardino Valley College, has been named the new president of San Diego City College. Shabazz’s first day at City College will be July 11. His appointment is subject to ratification by the San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees at its May 25 meeting.
Shabazz is considered an experienced higher education leader with a track record of promoting student equity and success. At San Bernardino Valley College, he has been responsible for leading the college’s strategic initiatives, student support programs, various instructional programs, and educational partnerships with K-12 schools and employers.
He served for more than five years as assistant director of admissions at UC Davis after earning his bachelor’s degree, with much of his outreach work concentrated in the San Diego area. He has also held positions as associate director of admissions at Harvey Mudd College, and as a director of counseling at a charter high school in Los Angeles.
In 2007, Shabazz was named director of outreach and relations with schools at the Compton Community College District south of Los Angeles. His success in overseeing concurrent enrollment efforts at seven feeder high schools led to a doubling in enrollment. He would serve nearly two years as dean of students with the district before moving to San Bernardino Valley College.
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Daniel Ryan to Receive 2017
James F. Sallis Visionary Award
Daniel J. Ryan, executive vice president and San Diego regional market director for Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc., will be awarded the 2017 James F. Sallis Visionary Award at ULI San Diego — Tijuana’s second annual Healthy Places Awards tonight.
The award is in recognition of Ryan’s innovation in design, leadership in sustainability and passion for community building throughout his development career.
Ryan has helped secure the company’s reputation as a leader in life-science campuses. It has more than 4 million square feet of office/laboratory space in its San Diego portfolio.
Since joining the Alexandria team in 2010, Ryan’s agenda has been to create conditions to strengthen San Diego’s innovation economy, help the region achieve climate action goals and promote resource efficient and healthy business practices. To achieve these goals, Alexandria augments its campuses with gyms, juice and coffee bars and organic dining options. The sustainable operations of the buildings include reduced energy consumption, lighting retrofits and green housekeeping practices.
The awards program will be at 5:30 p.m. at the Corky McMillin Event Center at Liberty Station in Point Loma.
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Best-Selling Author Patricia Benke
to Appear at Warwick’s Bookstore in LJ
Best-selling author and appellate court judge Patricia Benke will be at Warwick’s Bookstore in La Jolla on July 2 to discuss “Qudeen the Magnificent,” her new collection of short stories, and to sign copies of the book. “All of the stories are about Syrian girls, but the experiences are universal among people who maintain their deep connection to their past while embracing their new American culture,” says Benke, who will be at the bookstore from noon to 2 p.m.
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S.D. Community College District to Award
Record Number of Degrees, Certificates
San Diego Community College District is awarding a record 11,365 degrees and certificates to graduates who will be celebrated at commencements beginning May 19. The number of associate degrees conferred this year is up 18 percent districtwide compared to last year, including increases of 19 percent at both City and Mesa College and a 15 percent increase at Miramar College. The number of certificates awarded by the district’s colleges and San Diego Continuing Education is up 2 percent.
San Diego Miramar College will hold its 2017 commencement May 19 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hourglass Fieldhouse on campus.
San Diego Mesa College will hold its 2017 commencement on May 20 at 3 p.m. at the University of San Diego’s Jenny Craig Pavilion.
San Diego City College will hold its 2017 commencement on May 26 at 5 p.m. at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park.
San Diego Continuing Education and San Diego Unified School District will celebrate a joint 2017 Adult Education Commencement at 5 p.m. on June 2 at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park.
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Researchers Find Molecule that
Stops Deadly Zika from Spreading
Researchers at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute announced Tuesday the discovery of a molecule that prevents the Zika virus from spreading, which could be a first step toward development of a treatment for the disease. The finding was published in the journal Antiviral Research by Alexey Terskikh, an assistant professor at the institute, and SBP professor Alex Strongin. The research was performed in collaboration with scientists at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology.
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Personnel Announcements
Joanna Robinson of Burwood Group Named
to CRN’s 2017 Women of the Channel List
Burwood Group Inc. announced that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Joanna Robinson, regional vice president for West Coast operations, to its prestigious 2017 Women of the Channel list.
The executives who comprise this annual list span the IT channel, representing vendors, distributors, solution providers, and other organizations who figure prominently in the channel ecosystem.
Robinson is an award-winning leader with more than 15 years of experience in professional services, business development strategy, channel partner management, and operations. Under her leadership, Burwood Group has doubled the size of its Western Region within the last year, opened a new office in Irvine, as well as its newest Operations Center in San Diego.
Robinson joined Burwood in 2016 from Novitex Enterprise Solutions (previously Pitney Bowes Management Services), where she ran a $70 million business for the organization’s health care practice and led business development for its legal solutions.
In 2015, Robinson won the Stevie Award for excellence in Sales & Customer Service, in addition to the Sales Director of the Year award in February 2015. Robinson received her Master of Business Administration from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business.
