Daily Business Report-Aug. 30, 2017
The Cypress housing complex in East Village (Courtesy of Carrier Johnson + CULTURE)
Downtown’s Cypress Complex Hailed
as Vital Affordable Housing Project
As part of an initiative to boost affordable housing options in Downtown San Diego, the Cypress complex designed by Carrier Johnson + CULTURE has been unveiled.
The 63-unit housing facility, developed by Affirmed Housing and financed by the San Diego Housing Commission and its partners, opens just as the San Diego City Council is holding special hearings to address possible solutions to the high cost of housing.
Located in the East Village section of Downtown San Diego, the new permanent supportive housing facility is one of several new initiatives eyed to spur affordable housing that Mayor Kevin Faulconer hoped will increase housing development aimed at low- and middle-income residents.
Carrier Johnson + CULTURE’s six-story facility, a complex located on a lot less than a quarter-acre in size, offers not only permanent housing but also convenient access to services such as outpatient treatment and job training for onsite residents.
“As a firm, we’re dedicated to creating the highest-quality architectural solutions but also to addressing the many needs of our community members,” says Claudia Escala, an architect and principal with Carrier Johnson + CULTURE. “With Cypress we’re providing a cost-effective, permanent community that brings affordable housing options as well as a village-like setting for supportive services.
Cypress contains housing units ranging in size from 275 square feet to 350 square feet, each designed to meet LEED Gold levels of sustainability. Residents also share common areas, community kitchen, computer room and outdoor garden terrace. Rents for the units range from about 30 percent to 40 percent of the area median income, or AMI.
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SDSU Welcomes Nearly 11,000 New
Students at Start of the Fall Semester
SDSU NewsCenter
San Diego State University welcomed nearly 11,000 new students to campus Monday as the fall 2017 semester officially got underway. More than 83,000 freshmen and undergraduate transfer students applied for fall 2017 admission to SDSU — tying the previous applicant record.
Total student enrollment, including continuing students, is projected to be 34,200. In addition to 5,300 freshmen, approximately 3,250 transfer students and 2,000 new graduate and doctoral students will become part of the Aztec Family this week.
The incoming class has an average high school GPA of 3.70. It also is among the most diverse in university history. An estimated 31.2 percent of incoming students are underrepresented students of color, including nearly 27 percent who identify as Hispanic or Latino.
SDSU also welcomed 38 new tenured and tenure-track faculty members, making strides on a five-year goal to add 300 new faculty members.
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Navy Secretary Eyes ‘Graybeards’
to Solve Collision Crisis
Times of San Diego
The Navy is throwing a wide net to solve its crisis of ship collisions, which have cost at least 17 lives. It’s even tapping retired officers and private companies for cures. So said Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer in a whirlwind tour Tuesday of San Diego bases and contractors.
“We’re getting some graybeards involved. We’re getting the private sector involved,” the former Wall Street exec said after a tour of the new USS Gabrielle Giffords. “And [we’re] doing a comprehensive review on how we operate — top to bottom.”
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Survey: 70 Percent of Contractors Have
Hard Time Finding Qualified Craft Workers
Seventy percent of construction firms report they are having a hard time filling hourly craft positions that represent the bulk of the construction workforce, according to the results of an industry-wide survey released by Autodesk and the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said that many firms are changing the way they operate, recruit and compensate, but cautioned that chronic labor shortages could have significant economic impacts absent greater investments in career and technical education.
“In the short-term, fewer firms will be able to bid on construction projects if they are concerned they will not have enough workers to meet demand,” said Stephen Sandherr, chief executive officer for the Associated General Contractors. “Over the long-term, either construction firms will find a way to do more with fewer workers or public officials will take steps to encourage more people to pursue careers in construction.”
Of the more than 1,600 survey respondents, 70 percent said they are having difficulty filling hourly craft positions, Sandherr noted. Craft worker shortages are the most severe in the West, where 75 percent of contractors are having a hard time filling those positions, followed by the Midwest where 72 percent are having a hard time finding craft workers, 70 percent in the South and 63 percent in the Northeast.
Click here to see the national survey results.
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Ballot Initiative Seeks to Prevent Animal Cruelty
The Humane Society of the United States and a coalition of animal protection, veterinary and food safety groups filed ballot language Tuesday that seeks to upgrade California’s laws aimed at preventing cruelty to farm animals and protecting California consumers from inhumanely produced and unsafe animal products. The Humane Society and the other organizations filed the measure with the California Attorney General as a step toward a statewide signature gathering campaign to launch this fall.
Once the Secretary of State issues a ballot title and summary, the coalition will set its sights on gathering the 365,880 signatures required — within 180 days — for placement on the statewide ballot in November 2018.
“Californians know that locking farm animals in tight cages for the duration of their lives is cruel and compromises food safety,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States. “All animals deserve humane treatment, especially those raised for food.”
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Former Chargers Stadium Point Man
Gets Gubernatorial Appointment
to California Horse Racing Board
Fred Maas, 59, of San Diego, executive chairman of MRV Systems and former point man for the Chargers failed stadium campaign when the team was in San Diego, has been appointed to the California Horse Racing Board of Directors by Gov. Jerry Brown.
Maas has been executive chairman at MRV Systems since 2014. He was founder and chief executive officer at Pacific EcoCompanies LLC from 2009 to 2014, president and chief executive officer at Black Mountain Ranch LLC from 2003 to 2009 and chairman and chief executive officer at Centre City Development Corp. from 2005 to 2010.
The position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Maas is a Republican.
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Grossmont Healthcare District Awards Grant
to East County Transitional Living Center
The Grossmont Healthcare District has awarded a $20,000 grant to the East County Transitional Living Center to provide transportation to medical and dental appointments, along with prescription pick-up, for some of the 400 men, women and children who are served daily by the center, an El Cajon-based community services nonprofit.
Harold Brown, CEO and president of the center, said the organization serves low-income and homeless individuals and families seeking shelter, security and healing. The nonprofit also serves those needing recovery from drug and alcohol addiction and unhealthy and broken relationships. He said the funds will be applied towards the purchase of a seven-passenger van to replace an aging 1997 Nissan automobile that has been in use over the past five years.
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Domino’s and Ford Start Self-Driving Delivery Tests
Pizza delivery company Domino’s on Tuesday began testing an automated vehicle delivery partnership with Ford. A self-driving Ford Fusion Hybrid, with Ford engineers testing behind the wheel, will text customers upon arrival and allow the customers to type in their phone number and receive the pizza from a side window before driving to its next destination. — The Detroit News
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Patrick Stewart to Receive Award at
San Diego International Film Festival
The San Diego International Film Festival, produced by the San Diego Film Foundation, announced that iconic stage and screen actor Sir Patrick Stewart will be the recipient of the Gregory Peck Award for Excellence in Cinema. The award will be presented Oct. 5 at The VARIETY Night of the Stars Tribute at the Pendry Hotel San Diego in Downtown San Diego.
Additionally, the festival announced its full lineup of films, including Spotlight, Competition and Short Film sections. Now in its 16th year, the San Diego International Film Festival will run from Oct. 4-8. The most up to date festival information is available at www.sdfilmfest.com.
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Solar System Installed at Temple Adat Shalom
Baker Electric Commercial Solar has completed a solar system for nonprofit Temple Adat Shalom in Poway. The rooftop system will save more than 70 percent of the synagogue’s demand charges and energy costs, according to Baker Electric officials.
Temple Adat Shalom funded the solar system with a power purchase agreement (PPA). This financing strategy allowed the synagogue’s system to be built with no out-of-pocket expenses enabling it to be cash flow positive from the first day the system was commissioned. To increase its net savings over the life of the system, the temple will buy out the PPA after year five. First year electricity cost savings for the synagogue are projected at $10,000.
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Personnel Announcements
Michael Warburton Gets Balboa Park Cultural Partnership Post
Michael Warburton, former associate director of communications for San Diego Zoo Global, has been named director of parkwide communications by the Balbo Park Cultural Partnership. He’s the first to hold such a position that reflects the increasing collaboration among the 30 Cultural Partnership-member arts, science and cultural organizations within the park.
Warburton spent more than 20 years with San Diego Zoo Global and held leadership roles within the organization’s marketing team for more than 16 years. His background includes establishing and communicating corporate brand hierarchy, managing creative agencies of record, developing and executing the media strategy, driving content strategy and spearheading integrated communications campaigns. All of these programs directly contributed to more than 5.5 million people visiting the Zoo and Safari Park in 2016, according to Peter Comiskey, executive director of the Cultural Partnership.