Daily Business Report-June 27, 2018
Chelsea Investment Corp.’s new Mesa Verde apartment complex on Mission Gorge Road is one of just a few affordable housing projects being built in San Diego.
Report: San Diego region losing
talented employees to housing crisis
As San Diego grapples with a growing housing crisis, a disconnect exists between where jobs are expected to be and where housing can be built. And, employer satisfaction regarding the housing supply has sunk to a new low. These are the key findings of a study released Tuesday by the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, which updates a 2016 study authored by London Moeder Advisors.
The study projects specific housing-type shortages in North County, where there is a substantial imbalance of housing and jobs, and includes a survey of employers’ views on how the lack of reasonably priced housing is affecting talent attraction efforts.
“Employers, in greater and greater numbers, are losing talented employees to places like Seattle, Austin, and Denver, where housing is more affordable and there are more options for employees and their families,” said Sean Karafin, vice president of policy and economic research at the San Diego Regional Chamber. “This means that employers will look to grow in our competitor regions instead of right here in San Diego.”
The study update finds that the “anticipated additional demand for single-family homes, including small lot, clustered, rowhomes and townhomes, will be considerably higher than the potential for new single-family homes (of all types) identified in local plans.”
“Younger millennials, and millennials who have yet to start families, may be continuing to prefer urban apartments and condominium living. But we shouldn’t assume the same is true for those starting families,” said the study’s author, Gary London, senior principal at London Moeder Advisors. “We need to focus on providing housing options for this growing population looking for that single-family feel by producing cluster-detached, rowhomes, and townhomes among other options.”
The study argues that the consequences of not providing options to better accommodate families will become irreversible as time passes. This “inability to reconcile housing supply and demand is likely to fuel an unprecedented economic challenge for the region, as employers are weighed down by the plight of their employees unable to find or afford their preferred housing type.”
Without substantial action to correct the region’s housing crisis, the shortage will worsen well into the foreseeable future. The result will be ever increasing housing costs, whether it is for homes that are for-sale, or for rent, whether single-family homes or multifamily homes. A lack of action will lead to demand perpetually outpacing supply and a less resilient overall economy.
The full study can be downloaded from the Chamber website here.
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Proposals submitted to develop affordable
housing projects at 2 county-owed properties
The County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to accept nine proposals to develop affordable housing at two county-owned properties. The board’s action allows the county director of General Services to review the proposals and return to the board with recommendations for approval of agreements needed to allow development of both properties — the Family Court in Downtown and the Sheriff’s Regional Crime Lab in Clairemont.
Five teams qualified to develop the site of the old crime lab at 5255 Mount Etna Drive. Three teams qualified to develop the former Family Court, at 1501/1555 Sixth Ave.
Both properties will be developed into more than 670 housing units. At least 50 percent of them will be affordable, multi-family residential apartments.
The Crime Lab is moving to a new, 156,000-square-foot facility at the County Operations Center in Kearny Mesa, and the San Diego Family Court moved to the new Central Courthouse on Union Street late last year, making both properties available for other uses.
After conducting site assessments, the two properties were determined to be suitable for immediate development, including an affordable housing component.
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Wakeland to develop affordable
housing project in Clairemont
Wakeland Housing & Development Corp. has acquired a 1.11-acre property in Clairemont for $4.05 million which it intends to redevelop into an affordable housing community. The seller was Mt Alifan Building Partners. The property is located at 5858 Mt. Alifan Drive. Colliers International represented Wakeland Housing and Development Corporation in the transaction.
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Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Relocating to 24-story High-Rise Downtown
The Thomas Jefferson School of Law has signed a lease two occupy two floors of a 24-story Class A high-rise at 701 B St. in Downtown San Diego.
Officials said the relocation is part of Thomas Jefferson’s “Move Forward” plan, which demonstrates the law school’s commitment to providing high-quality education to its students based on three core concepts: Rightsizing, Reallocating, and Repositioning.
The law school’s new campus will be about one-third of the square footage of its existing campus in an eight-story building in Downtown’s East Village. It will be provided its very own entrance and private elevator to service its new premises.
Cushman & Wakefield’s San Diego office represented Thomas Jefferson in the new long-term lease, as well as the owner of 701 B Street, is EMMES.
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Pima Medical Institute officially unveils
New San Marcos campus on June 28
Pima Medical Institute will celebrate the grand opening of its new San Marcos campus, located in the heart of North City at 111 Campus Way. The public is invited to attend the grand opening and open house on June 28 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Visitors will have the opportunity to see hands-on demonstrations and explore the labs designed to emulate real-world medical facilities. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at noon, featuring guest speakers, including Vice Mayor Rebecca Jones, DeWayne Johnson, Pima Medical’s San Marcos Campus Director, and Fred Freedman, President and CEO, who will introduce the new campus to the community.
“After operating successfully in Chula Vista for 20 years, we are pleased to offer many of the same and expanded medical training programs in North San Diego County,” said Pima Medical Institute President and CEO Fred Freedman. “Our programs are designed to provide health care education to those interested in the medical field so that they enter the workforce with the skills needed to be successful.”
The new San Marcos campus currently offers a respiratory therapy associate degree program. It also offers dental assistant, medical administrative assistant, medical assistant, pharmacy technician, phlebotomy technician and veterinary assistant certificate programs.
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USO San Diego benefits from 3 large gifts
for its mobile programming initiative
USO San Diego’s new mobile programming initiative is the beneficiary of $600,000 in donations received from The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation, the Zable Foundation and an anonymous donor.
The initiative will empower USO San Diego to actively deliver its programs directly to military members and families where they live in the San Diego community. The innovative mobile program offers a variety of services that will provide a wide range of support programs to enhance family strengthening and resiliency.
The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation donated $200,000 for the initiative. The Zable Foundation donated $250,000, and the anonymous donor gave $150,000.
“Our organization is now able to embark on an aggressive new strategy to reach even more of San Diego’s military community by introducing a fully-integrated mobile program throughout the region,” said Lorin Stewart, CEO of USO San Diego.
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County adopts budget focusing
on critical needs
The county Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday to adopt a revised recommended budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The action means the budget for the upcoming year will increase $484.5 million, or 8.4 percent, over the current year for a total of $6.27 billion.
Helping the homeless and those with substance abuse and mental health issues are among the areas seeing most significant increases under the balanced budget plan. The new budget also emphasizes breaking barriers for people leaving the criminal justice system, addresses the affordable housing crisis, the quality of life in neighborhoods and protects natural resources. The budget retains or improves current levels of service to the county’s residents.
More than $175 million and 120 new jobs will be dedicated to meeting the needs of the most vulnerable residents, including those at risk or experiencing homelessness. A record high of more than $650 million will go toward behavioral health services. That means funding for individualized drug and alcohol treatment programs will triple. The county will put $1 million into domestic violence response teams and mobile family trauma services. Funding continues for Project One for All, a program that has housed and treated more than 600 homeless people with severe mental illness.
The budget will fund 50 Psychiatric Emergency Response Teams and the county’s Whole Person Wellness program which aims to help 1,000 homeless Medi-Cal patients who cycle in and out of emergency rooms.
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Kratos receives OK for deployment
of unmanned safety vehicles on public roads
San Diego-based Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’ Unmanned Systems Division has received confirmation that its Autonomous Impact Protection Vehicle (AIPV) has officially been approved for “autonomous operation on public roadways in the first of many planned states in the USA for roadway line painting operations.” The approval transitions the AIPV from the validation phase of deployment to “standard safety critical equipment ready for operational use with trained roadside construction crews.”
“This is yet another significant milestone accomplishment in the emerging unmanned highway safety market, and Kratos is leading the way,” says Kevin Ferguson, general manager of Kratos MSI.
Designed in partnership with Royal Truck & Equipment Company, Kratos’ AIPV is a “first-of-its kind work zone vehicle” designed to advance safety for roadway maintenance crews. The vehicle provides a layer of protection to workers from the traveling public, as it is positioned behind road construction crews. The AIPV removes the driver from a dangerous assignment of driving the vehicle designed for the specific purpose of being a mobile crash barrier, which ultimately increases work zone safety.
