Daily Business Report-Sept. 25, 2018
The newly renamed La Jolla Reserve (Photo courtesy of Irvine Company)
Former Sunroad Corporate Center
campus sold to the Irvine Company
The Irvine Company has acquired three buildings in La Jolla UTC formerly known as Sunroad Corporate Center and renamed the 302,000-square-foot campus La Jolla Reserve. The seller was Sunroad Enterprises. The sales price was not disclosed.
Built in 2001, La Jolla Reserve is 78-percent leased to industry leading companies, including Banner Bank, Cooley LLP, Provident Insurance Group, Regus, Shell and Systran. Amenities include a new outdoor café, contemporary game room and a fitness studio with spa-like showers and a changing room.
Irvine Company plans significant reinvestment to enhance two lobbies and transform indoor and outdoor common areas into shared work spaces designed to encourage collaboration and innovation.
In January, Irvine Company purchased Gateway at Torrey Hills. In September 2017, the company acquired nearby Township 14. The company also owns six Class A towers in Downtown: One America Plaza, 101 West Broadway, 225 Broadway, 501 West Broadway, Symphony Tower and Wells Fargo Plaza. It also owns workplace communities in Sorrento Mesa and Mission Valley.
Newmark Knight Frank handled sale negotiations on behalf of the seller.
____________________
SDG&E to reduce customer utility
bills as part of San Onofre settlement
San Diego Gas & Electric says customers will soon see a reduction in their utility bill. The bill reductions will begin in October as the Settlement Agreement for the closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) takes effect following approval by the California Public Utilities Commission. Originally set to begin in November, SDG&E sought CPUC approval to accelerate the reductions one month sooner to provide bill relief for customers.
“We’re happy to reach the final chapter in the SONGS settlement and provide these savings for our customers,” said Dan Skopec, SDG&E’s vice president of regulatory affairs.
There are two aspects to the customer bill reductions: a one-month refund of approximately $13.80 per typical residential customer beginning Oct. 1; and an ongoing average bill reduction of about $1.32 per month for a typical residential customer. CARE residential customers will see a one-month refund of approximately $8.50 and an ongoing average bill reduction of $0.81 per month. Bill reductions for non-residential customers will vary depending on a number of factors.
The Settlement Agreement and resulting bill reductions come after a multi-year investigation by the CPUC into the closure of SONGS and related costs.
____________________
NASSCO starts to build first
John Lewis-class fleet oiler for Navy
NASSCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics, began construction on the future USNS John Lewis, the first ship for the U.S. Navy’s John Lewis fleet oiler program.
Representatives from NASSCO and the U.S. Navy gathered in San Diego for a ceremony to cut the first piece of steel, signifying the start of construction for the first of six vessels for the Navy. Construction of the first ship is scheduled to be complete in November 2020.
Designed to transfer fuel to U.S. Navy carrier strike group ships operating at sea, the oilers will feature the capacity to carry 157,000 barrels of oil, a significant dry cargo capacity, aviation capability and a speed of 20 knots. “These oilers are critical to the Navy’s ability to operate around the world,” said Kevin Graney, president of General Dynamics NASSCO. We are honored to build the lead ship of this class and have worked with our Navy and industry partners to ensure the design, planning, material and facility are ready to begin construction. ”
NASSCO is the largest shipyard on the West Coast of the United States conducting design, new construction and repair of ships. In the past decade, NASSCO delivered more than 30 ocean-going ships to government and commercial customers—including the world’s first LNG-powered containerships and several other lead ships.
____________________
Airport’s Innovation Lab
welcomes first group of applicants
The first successful applicants have begun testing their ideas in the Airport Innovation Lab at San Diego International Airport. The first two focus areas are airport parking and easing the airport experience.
Five companies were welcomed into the space last month: Baggage Nanny, Freedom Park, Park Connect, TravelCar and Vark. The companies will participate in a 16-week accelerator program culminating with a presentation to the Airport Authority, where participants will demonstrate their solutions and what they learned. In addition to gaining airport experience, the companies will have an opportunity to vie for a contract with the airport, and potential access into other airports through future opportunities.
The Airport Authority chose Detecon Innovation Institute to help manage the Airport Innovation Lab, which helped attract interested applicants.
For parking solutions, the concepts are an off-airport valet service and rental car valet by FreedomPark, a parking booking system (including payment and rewards) by ParkConnect, a peer-to-peer car-sharing platform enabling passengers to park and potentially rent their personal vehicles while traveling by TravelCar, and a new valet management solution by Vark. To enhance the passenger experience, one concept is a secure luggage storage and delivery service (for arriving and departing passengers) by Baggage Nanny.
____________________
MiraCosta College students elect first
transgender student to district board
MiraCosta College students have elected Lee Amethyst as the 2018–2019 student trustee. The LGBTQIA leader is the first transgender student on the district’s board to represent students.
“Lee has a proven record of leadership among students and in the LGBTQIA community. We are excited for her and for the district as it takes a leading role in welcoming a richly diverse community of students to our campus,” said David Broad, president of the MiraCosta College District Board of Trustees.
For more than three years, Amethyst has been a leader at MiraCosta College. She has served as founder and president of the Saranghae K-Pop Club, ASG vice president of programming at the Oceanside Campus, an LGBTQ+ youth advocate, president of the LGBTx+ Spectrum Caucus of the Student Senate of California Community Colleges, and member of the National Society of Leadership and Success.
In 2016 she received the President’s Bronze Service Award for her more than 100 hours of service to the community.
To be a good leader, Amethyst believes one should be transparent, accountable and “must mean what you say and say what you mean.”
“What you see is what you get. Having these qualities fosters a faithful following, because those you lead will have no reason to distrust you,” says Amethyst.
____________________
Researchers train
robotic gliders to soar
Novel study applies reinforcement learning to set a course toward artificial intelligence
The words “fly like an eagle” are famously part of a song, but they may also be words that make some scientists scratch their heads. Especially when it comes to soaring birds like eagles, falcons and hawks, who seem to ascend to great heights over hills, canyons and mountain tops with ease. Scientists realize that upward currents of warm air assist the birds in their flight, but they don’t know how the birds find and navigate these thermal plumes.
To figure it out, researchers from the Salk Institute and the University of California San Diego used reinforcement learning to train gliders to autonomously navigate atmospheric thermals, soaring to heights of 700 meters—nearly 2,300 feet. The novel research results, published in the Sept. 19 issue of Nature, highlight the role of vertical wind accelerations and roll-wise torques as viable biological cues for soaring birds. The findings also provide a navigational strategy that directly applies to the development of autonomous soaring vehicles, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
____________________
City attorney brings charges
against 2 elder care facilities
San Diego City Attorney Mara W. Elliott announced today misdemeanor criminal charges against the owners and operators of two illegal care facilities where elderly and dependent residents were living in deplorable conditions. The victims range from 57 to 84 years old.
The charges against Petra Garcia Navarro and Silvina Sandoval Torres concern a six-bedroom unlicensed residential care facility at 3505 Sparling St. in Redwood Village. Petra Navarro is the operator and Torres is the owner of the facility, which operated under the name “Angel House” and “Hogar Dulce Hogar LLC,” or “Home Sweet Home.” The charges against Jaquelinne Aguirre Navarro and Martha Alicia Bragg concern a substandard facility at 935 Kostner Drive in Otay Mesa West. Jaquelinne Navarro is the operator and Bragg is the owner.
Petra Navarro and Torres are charged with operating an unlicensed residential care treatment facility. Petra Navarro has been charged with willful cruelty to nine elderly residents and two dependent adults residing at Sparling. She and Silvina Torres are charged with more than a dozen other Health and Safety and City Municipal Code violations.
Jaquelinne Navarro and Bragg are charged with a host of Health and Safety and City Municipal Code violations. Petra and Jaquelinne Navarro are also charged with willful cruelty to the seven victims at Kostner Drive. One elderly victim was being housed in a garage that lacked ventilation. Another was found in a tent on the side of the house. All suffered from heat exposure. Most of them were transported to local hospitals for medical treatment and evaluation. All seven have been removed from the Kostner Drive facility.
____________________
New military recruiting center
to open in Terra Nova Plaza
In October, the U.S. Armed Forces will open doors to a new military recruiting center at 320 East H Street in Chula Vista. The 6,000-square-foot property is located within Terra Nova Plaza, a large-scale community shopping center on the west side of H Street.
McMillin built the property in 1986 for McMillin Realty, which occupied the site until the residential brokerage firm was sold in early 2016.
The Chula Vista military recruitment center will house offices for three of five service branches including the Air Force, Army and Navy. With the South Bay of San Diego seeing increased development activity, the new offices will provide accessible opportunities for a growing demographic of individuals who are looking to explore a new career path, including service to their country.
____________________
Personnel Announcements
Brandon Bettes joins Gilliland Construction Management
Gilliland Construction Management, a San Diego-based construction and project management firm, has hired Brandon Bettes as project manager. With more than 16 years of experience in the construction industry, Bettes’ diverse management portfolio ranges from master planned residential communities, single family and multi-family construction, mid- to high-level commercial construction projects, high rise tenant improvement projects and luxury hotel/resort construction.
Bettes has extensive experience in all facets of construction management, including program/project management, preconstruction activities, procurement, permitting, construction estimating, contract negotiation, budgeting and contract reconciliation. Bettes focuses on high-level organization, efficient communication and day-to-day project management operations.
Prior to joining Gilliland, Bettes served as a project manager for hospitality projects in the Caribbean and Miami Beach, as well as providing entitlement and design management for a charter school and management for various public capital improvement projects.
Bettes received his Bachelor of Science & Technology Degree in construction management with an emphasis in business management and marketing from Northern Arizona University.
