Daily Business Report-Oct. 30, 2018
Rendering of the Kettner & Ash building after renovation. (Credit: Gensler)
Spaces preleases Little Italy
office building undergoing restoration
Spaces, a large coworking company, has preleased the first three floors of a seven-story Little Italy building that is undergoing a major transformation to a boutique Class A office project to be known as “Kettner & Ash.” The building at 1420 Kettner Blvd. is owned by DivcoWest Real Estate Services LLC and Ocean West Capital Partners LLC.
Spaces preleased 43,540 square feet in the 123,062-square-foot building, which is expected to be completed in late 2019. The property renovations were designed by Gensler. The general contractor is Reno Construction.
Spaces represents the first official lease executed since the owners began reconstructive work at the building.
Among the most significant improvements being done to modernize and enhance the desirability and stature of the building will be a newly renovated contemporary façade featuring an energy efficient clear glass wall-curtain. A five-story LED panel array will be installed in the building’s atrium that will display and exhibit digital artwork. Another major upgrade will also include a large outdoor event patio on the third floor which will be completely renovated and become a common area tenant amenity.
Designed as a comfortable place where people can sit and relax, the new third floor patio will transition into an indoor/outdoor tenant lounge with seating, an entertainment area, and a kitchen. Other key enhancements being made throughout the property will include a new café/restaurant, resort-style showers and lockers, and a private ground floor tenant patio.
Cushman & Wakefield represented the owners in the lease transaction.
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Civic San Diego announces $9.325 million
tax credit loan for new mixed-use project
Civic San Diego announced a $9.325 million tax credit loan to Living Rooms at Casa, an affiliate of Casa Familiar Inc., to construct a new, 13,469-square-foot mixed-use development.
Originally built in 1927 as the first Mount Carmel Catholic Church, this structure will be adaptively re-used to establish “El Salon,” the new space for the expansion of Casa’s art and culture programming that will host a theater and pop-up events with other San Diego arts and culture institutions. The “Casa-Patio” will house the UCSD Border Community Station, which serves as an urban laboratory that promotes interaction and collaboration with the community to address social and economic issues and support community development.
Casa Familiar’s Social Services Center (across the street from the project site) has seen an increase in demand and the project will provide office space to accommodate additional community workers, and office space for other arts and culture institutions seeking to reach this disadvantaged community.
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Salk scientists advance ultrasound technology
The emerging technology of sonogenetics—a technique where cells are controlled by sound—offers the potential to one day replace pharmaceutical drugs or invasive surgical treatments for neurological conditions like epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease or posttraumatic stress disorder.
The Salk Institute scientist who pioneered the idea of using ultrasonic waves to stimulate neurons and coined the term “sonogenetics” will participate in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s ElectRx program, aiming to take his lab’s work to the next level with $750,000 in new funding.
“We initiated this project about six years ago, when we first brought ultrasound into the laboratory to study a biological system,” says Salk Associate Professor Sreekanth Chalasani, the principal investigator of the grant. “We wanted to know whether ultrasound could stimulate behavior in the nematode—a simple organism whose basic neurological circuitry has similarities to our own—and, strikingly, we found that it could.”
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Dance & Theatre Studios building
completed at MiraCosta College
MiraCosta College has completed construction of the new Dance & Theatre Studios building on the Oceanside campus. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place on Friday, Nov. 2, from 8–9:30 a.m. to celebrate this new, modern space. Community members are invited to enjoy hosted refreshments and special guest performances from MiraCosta’s students.
Students began classes in the new building on the first day of fall 2018 semester. The Dance & Theatre Studios building provides 6,700 square feet of new studio space. Faculty and students both benefit from the $4.5 million facility, which provides additional instructional space fostering better collaboration between the theater and dance programs.
“We are so excited to have this long-awaited additional teaching space, which addresses some longstanding unmet needs for our dance and theatre programs,” said art department dean Jonathan Fohrman. “The new building enabled us to move the dance department from across campus to alongside the other arts, in a beautiful new facility.”
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San Diego Press Club to present journalism awards
The San Diego Press Club will celebrate its 45th annual Excellence in Journalism awards program tonight at the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation’s Joe and Vi Jacobs Community Center, 404 Euclid Ave., San Diego. More than 525 awards in more than 180 categories will be presented to print and broadcast journalists and photographers. Admission starts at $65 per person for members. For more information, visit www.sdpressclub.org.
The Press Club will present three special awards, including: Lori Weisberg, writer, photographer, San Diego Union-Tribune, Harold Keen Award for outstanding contributions in journalism; Matthew Hall, editorial and opinion director, San Diego Union-Tribune, Jim Reiman Award for excellence in media management; Jack Berkman, president/CEO, Berkman Strategic Communications, Andy Mace Award for career achievements in public relations. In addition, two college students will receive cash scholarships. They are: Lauren Mapp, San Diego State University, $2,500 Joe Lipper Scholarship; Katy Stegall, Southwestern College, $1,000 scholarship from the San Diego Press Club Foundation.
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SDEA hosts Employment Law Update
San Diego Employers Association (SDEA) hosts the 39th annual Employment Law Update on Jan. 17, 2019 at Crowne Plaza Mission Valley.
The event features three of San Diego’s top attorneys —Chris Olmsted with Ogletree Deakins, Rich Paul with Paul, Plevin, Sullivan & Connaughton and Lonny Zilberman with Wilson Turner Kosmo.
SDEA’s Employment Law Update will summarize the latest labor and employment law news, including updates on independent contractors, arbitration agreements, the wage increase affecting San Diego companies, new harassment prevention training requirements, and more. The attorneys will share insights from actual cases and review forthcoming legislative developments to keep an eye on throughout 2019. Early bird rates are available for members and nonmembers of SDEA through Dec. 31, 2018. To learn more and to register, visit www.sdeahr.org.
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Personnel Announcements
Jenna Reeder named manager of the
new Spa Terre at Kona Kai Resort & Spa
Newly renovated Kona Kai Resort & Spa on Shelter Island has hired Jenna Reeder as manager of the new SpaTerre, recently named as one of Condé Nast Traveler’s 10 Best Spas in San Diego. Reeder is a seasoned spa professional with expertise managing luxury spas.
Reeder comes to SpaTerre from The Spa at Harrah’s Resort Southern California, where she led a team of 42 staff and oversaw all daily spa operations with a focus on providing outstanding customer service. In 2016, she managed a $7 million renovation of the 11,000-square-foot spa and the expansion of its services.
SpaTerre is a new, 7,020-square-foot oasis featuring six treatment rooms, including a couples’ suite, “Zen Den” relaxation room, Vichy wet room and state-of-the-art fitness center.
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Frederick Schenk reappointed to Fair Board
Frederick Schenk, partner at the CaseyGerry law firm, has been reappointed to the 22nd District Agricultural Association, San Diego County Fair Board, by Gov. Jerry Brown.
A longtime San Diego resident, Schenk was originally appointed to the San Diego County Fair Board by former Gov. Gray Davis in 2002 and reappointed by Brown in 2011, serving as board president between 2013 and 2016. Currently he also serves on the boards of the American Board of Trial Advocates in San Diego and the American Association for Justice.
Schenk, who has been with CaseyGerry for more than 35 years, concentrates his practice on products/premises liability, catastrophic injury and asbestos litigation.
Schenk earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from UCLA, and a juris doctorate degree from the University of San Diego School of Law. He has been practicing law for nearly 40 years.
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Daniel Dufresne joins Tully Rinckey PLLC
Danel A. Dufresne has joined Tully Rinckey PLLC’s San Diego office as senior counsel. Dufresne represents the firm’s Security Clearance Practice Group and assists federal employees, government contractors and military personnel in all stages of obtaining a confidential, secret, or top secret clearance.
Prior to joining Tully Rinckey, Dufresne was general counsel at Epsilon Systems Solutions Inc. He assisted dozens of employees navigate the security clearance process by preparing responses to Standard Form 86 questionnaires, appearing as counsel of record at the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals, and filing appellate briefs with its appeal board.
Dufresne also served as senior counsel for the National Arbitration Forum where he educated corporate counsel about the legal and economic impact of implementing an arbitration program. Dufresne was a nationwide arbitration expert and also served as a deputy district director and legal counsel for a congressman.
