Daily Business Report-May 29, 2018
Artist’s rendering of The Post, view from Midway Drive. (Credit: Hammer Ventures)
New Design Concept Planned
at Former Midway Post Office
By Dave Schwab | sdnews.com
Developers of the former Midway Post Office have a new name – The Post – and a new design concept – envelope – for the long-dormant 16-acre site at 2535 Midway Drive.
San Diego-based Hammer Ventures, LLC, which develops urban properties in San Diego and Los Angeles, acquired the former U.S. Postal Service distribution center for approximately $40 million from Rexford Industrial Realty Inc. of L.A. in October 2015.
Rexford had planned to redevelop the former U.S. Postal campus, which included two buildings with a total of 373,000 rentable square feet, into new industrial space.
But Hammer Ventures is altering the redevelopment game plan of the cornerstone property located in the neighborhood of the Sports Arena in the Midway District.
The Midway District is in the final phase of a years-long community plan update, which will go before the City Council for final approval on June 26.
The Midway Community Plan update provides for a growing amount of future residential development in the largely commercial-industrial district. Some consider redevelopment of the former post office site as a key puzzle piece in planning for the entire area moving forward, which could include the future redevelopment of the Sports Arena nearby at some point.
Hammer Ventures has expressed its intent to turn the former postal site into an upscale office complex to include significant housing, apartments or condos, next door.
“We are still in the early planning stages,” said Hammer Ventures spokesperson Sam Moore, disclosing only that, “We’re keeping a portion of the existing structure.”
Noting a full plan for the redesign of The Post “is still a month or two out,” Moore added Hammer will be more forthcoming about details of its project “in the coming months when the future of the project is better understood.”
At postcoastal.com, it’s stated that The Post will be “a unique urban coastal campus” created around the landmark former Midway Post Office while noting, “the concept is inspired by the original design strength and simplicity of an envelope.”
Hammer likens the future unveiling of The Post to “the moment of excitement when opening a card or package in anticipation of what’s inside.”
In excerpts from The Post website, Hammer Venture’s vision for redevelopment proposes adapting the existing brutalist architecture of the former U.S. Post Office building to add “clean glass lines, art installations, water and color elements, landscaping and warm wood accents.”
Brutalist architecture flourished from the 1950s to the mid-1970s. Derived from the French word for “raw,” large amounts of concrete is one of the distinguishing features of the architectural style.
According to the website, a centerpiece of the former post office redesign will be an entry promenade, on the southern edge of the existing postal-site structure, which is to include “a tree-lined pedestrian plaza creating a buffer between parking, residential and office space.”
The plaza is to have shade and space for the public to gather and mingle.
“I can’t speak for the group at this point as we haven’t discussed it,” said Cathy Kenton, chair of the Midway Community Planning Group about The Post proposal. “I expect that we will have a presentation by the developers at next month’s meeting.”
MCPG will next meet Wednesday, June 21 at 3 p.m. at San Diego Community College West City Campus, 3249 Fordham St.
This article and photo are from the San Diego Community Newspaper Group.
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Realtors Group Presents Class
on ‘Can You Spot a Fake ID’
The North San Diego County Association of Realtors will present “Can You Spot a Fake ID,” a class on identifying fraudulent forms of identification, from noon to 2 p.m., Friday, June 1, at the NSDCAR Vista Service Center, 906 Sycamore Ave., Vista. All real estate professionals throughout San Diego County are invited to attend. Admission is $15 for members and $25 for nonmembers. NSDCAR officials said Realtors and others in real estate, including escrow and title professionals, may encounter forged IDs when processing paperwork or photocopying a prospective client’s ID prior to a house showing.
Topics in the class will include common security features used with all state IDs, different types of technology and fraudulent counterfeit bills, social security cards and passports. Instructor will be Glen Garrity, retired police detective, identity theft expert and founder of G2 Safeguards, a Fountain Valley, Calif.-based firm that teaches business defense and protection seminars. For more info on the NSDCAR class, call (760) 734-3971, or visit www.nsdcar.com/education.
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County’s Web App Let’s You
Get Beach Water Conditions
This past weekend marked the unofficial start of summer around San Diego County — and that means it’s time to start hitting the beaches. It also means it’s a good time to check out the county’s “Check In Before You Get In,” web app. It lets you find out immediately from your smartphone or laptop if water conditions at more than 80 local beaches are clean and safe, 365 days a year, for surfing, swimming or whatever you like to do in the water.
But the “Check In Before You Get In” web app means you never have to drive to the beach to find out if the water’s clean. Just click on the web app’s link, save it to your bookmarks and you’re set.
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MBK Senior Living to Acquire
WESTliving Communities
Carlsbad-based WESTliving has agreed to sell its nine independent, assisted living and memory care communities (totaling 1,174 units), in California, Arizona and Washington to Irvine-based MBK Senior Living.
The sale is expected to close in late June 2018 and occurs 10 years after the founding of WESTliving.
Following the sale of its communities to MBK, WESTliving will be closing down its business activities and operation. MBK Senior Living was formed in 1990; owns and/or manages 25 senior housing communities in California, Arizona and Washington, Oregon, Utah and Colorado.
“MBK has an excellent reputation for caring and service. We expect our residents, families and staff at each of our communities to find the transition smooth and the culture and standards offered by MBK consistent with those WESTliving has set over the years,” said WESTliving CEO John Rimbach. “In the meantime, we are approaching the sales process and ownership transition with the same WESTclass hospitality approach and attention to detail that has guided our operations from day one.”
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Sharp HealthCare Signs Medical-Surgical
Distribution Agreement with Medline
Medline, has signed a new medical-surgical distribution agreement with Sharp HealthCare spanning four acute care hospitals, three specialty hospitals, 22 ambulatory medical centers, and five urgent care centers throughout San Diego County. The new eight-year agreement, worth more than $75 million annually, will help Sharp drive savings and efficiencies throughout its entire continuum of care.
Medline Market Sales Director Mark Lorman credits not only the implementation of Insight, a component of the company’s MetrIQ™ Spend Management Program, but also Medline’s proven distribution expertise and long-term strategic focus.
“Our skilled teams are eager and ready to begin delivering solutions that will help Sharp achieve their long-term supply chain logistics goals. Sharp’s supply chain will gain efficiencies as a result of the synergy created by Medline’s advanced technology and distribution acumen.”
“This is a very exciting partnership,” agrees Sharp HealthCare Chief Supply Chain Officer Kevin Thompson. “As a private company, Medline’s leadership and staff have more time to spend directly engaging with their customers. We view Medline as a strategic partner, and Medline’s on-site team will identify the path to make our supply chain as efficient as possible.”
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Personnel Announcements
Steven Johnson Joins The Salk Institute
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies announced the hiring of Steven Johnson as its senior director of communications to manage the communications and multimedia relations teams and to serve as the communications liaison to the Salk president.
Johnson recently completed 10 years of service as the vice president, public affairs, for the San Diego Convention Center Corporation. In that role, reporting to the CEO, he served as the corporation’s primary spokesperson and provided strategic counsel and communications support to senior leadership.
Prior to moving to San Diego from the Northwest, Johnson served as the director of public policy and communications for the Northwest AIDS Foundation. In that role he advanced public policy initiatives as a co-chair of the Governor’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS and was instrumental in securing increased funding for HIV/AIDS care, research, prevention, and drug assistance programs.
He also served as a public affairs and communications consultant for a range of public and private sector clients, including Hewlett-Packard Inc.; the Levi Strauss Foundation; Kaiser Family Foundation; Alliance Healthcare Foundation; and the Black AIDS Institute (formerly called the African-American AIDS Policy and Training Institute).
Johnson earned his bachelor of science in marketing from the University of Oregon and his master’s in public administration from San Diego State University.
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Hanny Wong-Regrut Joins Arenson Office Furniture
Hanny Wong-Regrut has joined the sales team at Arenson Office Furniture, expanding their sales force and coming on the heels of Arenson’s recent showroom enhancements.
With a background in business administration and over 30 years in the San Diego furniture community to her credit, Wong-Regrut brings to Arenson’s clientele her significant experience and expertise, including: office design, layout and floorplan maximization; aunique ability to extend client budgets;
Delivery expedition, improving the company’s ability to work within tight timeframes; project management and anticipation of potential issues long before they become problems.
Wong-Regrut will be taking a lead role in managing client relationships, training and supervising Arenson’s sales team, and managing inventory. She will also be active in showroom presentation strategy development.
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