Daily Business Report-Nov. 15, 2018
San Diego County wine industry economic impact grew by $19.6 million in 2017. (Photo courtesy of the San Diego County Vintners Association)
San Diego County wine industry
shows big growth in economic impact
The San Diego County wine industry generated a $50 million economic impact in the region in 2017, a $19.6 million increase from 2016, according to the 2018 San Diego County Economic Impact of Wineries report issued Wednesday by the San Diego County Vintners Association.
Written by an independent economic analyst, Vince Vasquez, the report relies on survey data, California ABC licenses and San Diego County records to calculate the economic health and expansion of the wine industry in San Diego County.
San Diego County is experiencing seven years of record growth in the number of active winegrower licenses in the county. There are currently 174 winegrower licenses (the ABC permit required to operate a vineyard/winery), and 115 actively operated wineries in the county. In 2017, area wineries generated about $26,134,100 in gross sales, a 9.4 percent increase from 2016. Additionally, the total number of wine industry jobs increased in 2017 by 7.3 percent. The report also shows that local winemakers gave high satisfaction marks for the 2017 harvest yield and quality, with more acres harvested for wine grapes in San Diego County than ever before.
“Our wine industry is going gangbusters right now and has emerged as a significant player in our local economy,” said County Supervisor Dianne Jacob, whose district includes Ramona and other winery hotspots. “I see a real can-do spirit among our vintners and the county will continue to do all it can to encourage this growth.”
Click here to access the full report.
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Small Vista industrial building
sells to owner-user for $1.79 million
A freestanding 9,150-square-foot industrial building in Vista has been sold to an owner-user for $1.79 million. Ki’s Kitchens, a privately-owned commercial kitchen company based in North County, acquired the high image property located at 2530 Pioneer Ave. from BS Ventures LLC. The buyer plans to relocate from its current location in neighboring Carlsbad.
Built in 1989, the building at 2530 Pioneer is an industrial property with recently upgraded interiors. The property features a modernized conference room, private office space and open break room/reception, as well as floor-to-ceiling glass walls, multiple restrooms, motorized grade loading, and a secured fenced yard. The building sits amidst a sea of well-known regional and global local businesses.
Cushman & Wakefield’s San Diego office represented the seller in the transaction.
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BLT Enterprises sells Kearny Mesa
R&D/flex building for $18 million
BLT Enterprises, a commercial real estate development and investment company, has sold a 54,000-square-foot R&D/flex building in Kearny Mesa for $18 million, or $330 per square foot, to the San Diego Unified School District.
BLT acquired the property in 2017 and sold it a year and a half later, according to Bernard Huberman, founder and president of BLT Enterprises.
“Due to the property’s strategic location in a thriving industrial submarket, we knew that we could quickly enhance value by renovating, upgrading and modernizing the asset,” says Huberman.
During ownership, BLT Enterprises converted the 77,000-square-foot, two-story office building back to its original 54,000 square-foot size by removing the dated addition of a second-story office space constructed in the late 1980s. BLT Enterprises also modernized and upgraded the property by integrating a unique outdoor amenity space, new lobby, exposed high ceilings, skylights, dual pane energy efficient glazing, and LED lighting, among other features.
The property is located at 5454 Ruffin Road. SD Realty Partners and CBRE represented BLT in the sale.
Flooding at Cortez Avenue and Seacoast Drive during an El Niño event on Dec. 12, 2015. (Photo: Chris Helmer, city of Imperial Beach)
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Flooding at Cortez Avenue and Seacoast Drive during an El Niño event on Dec. 12, 2015. (Photo: Chris Helmer, city of Imperial Beach)
Imperial Beach gets new sea-level rise
and flood alert network with donation
The city of Imperial Beach is a low-lying coastal community that is one of the most vulnerable in California to sea-level rise. During periods of extreme high tides and winter swell, the city experiences flooding that impacts residents, businesses and infrastructure. Now, thanks to a $250,000 donation from the David C. Copley Foundation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography will help the city significantly upgrade its flood alert capabilities and better prepare for sea-level rise.
The Resilient Futures program will create a flood alert system customized to the specific needs of Imperial Beach. A network of instruments to measure local wave and water level conditions is being installed by researchers with the Center for Climate Change Impacts and Adaption at Scripps. These observations will improve predictive models of coastal flooding, especially where large waves and extreme tides may occur simultaneously, exacerbating flooding risk. Additional measurements will also be made to monitor flooding on shorelines adjacent to South San Diego Bay and the Tijuana Estuary.
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Navigating the tides of waterfront development
CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) San Diego will host a Nov. 29 panel discussion about the challenges of San Diego waterfront development. Topics will include the Port’s mandatory land use; recent changes and the Port’s vision for future development; unique challenges of developing a waterfront; regulatory agencies involved in waterfront development; and pitfalls to avoid. It will be held at 11:30 a.m. at Tom Ham’s Lighthouse, 2159 Harbor Island Drive, San Diego.
Panelists will be Penny Maus, department manager, business development real estate, Port of San Diego; Kipland (Kip) Howard, president, Allegis Development Services; and Donna D. Jones, partner/owner, Law Offices of Donna Jones.
Cost: members 45, nonmembers $70, students $25.
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‘Don’t touch the bear’
“The one key piece of advice I got from the governor is, ‘Don’t touch the bear.’” — Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, outside Gov. Jerry Brown’s office Tuesday.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger bought the 800-pound bronze grizzly in Aspen and placed it at the door to the governor’s office. California Highway Patrol officers named the statue Bacteria Bear because of all the school children who pet it on field trips to the Capitol.
The bear still belongs to the former governor, who has lent it to the Capitol for lack of a better place to house it.
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Skyfire Consulting to join
San Diego’s UAS IPP team
The city of San Diego has selected Skyfire Consulting to join its UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP) team. Considered a leading provider of public safety UAS technologies in the U.S., Skyfire Consulting was selected thanks in large part to its substantial experience with FAA regulations related to public safety UAS use.
Additionally, the Atlanta-based UAS consultancy has as already worked to obtain the first two certificates of authorization for the Chula Vista Police Department, which is also a part of the San Diego IPP team.
During the UAS Integration Pilot Program, the city of San Diego will test new UAS hardware, software, and operational concepts in the use of UAS in public safety operations. The city is specifically focused on testing the use of beyond visual line of sight flights in public safety, in preparation for autonomous deployment of UAS in emergency situations.
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Dempsey Construction completes
renovation of Social Security offices
Dempsey Construction has completed the extensive renovation of the 13,500-square-foot Social Security Administration offices at 2160 El Camino Real in Oceanside.
The project’s scope of work began with the interior demolition of existing space, followed by extensive interior improvements including the construction of new ceilings, flooring, and wall coverings throughout. In addition, significant enhancements included new electrical and HVAC systems, and data and security upgrades.
According to Dempsey Construction’s Project Manager Bob Milch, the improvement project was undertaken while the Social Security Administration conducted business uninterrupted, which required the project to be constructed in several phases, as well as the utilization swing spaces and night-work, to allow for Social Security’s continuous operation.
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Lilys McCoy to serve as president
of San Diego County Bar Association
Lilys McCoy, a program director and instructor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, will serve as president of the San Diego County Bar Association for 2019. McCoy, who has been with Thomas Jefferson School of Law since 2012, runs the school’s Center for Solo Practitioners and Solo Practice Concentration, a lawyer accelerator program designed to increase access to justice. She also is the supervisor of the school’s national trial team which competes in mock trial competitions throughout the United States. Previously, McCoy was a litigator who represented clients in consumer fraud cases. Her bar leadership experience at the SDCBA has included overseeing the organization’s mentorship program and other programming for law students and new lawyers. McCoy’s leadership experience also includes serving as the president of Lawyers Club of San Diego.
Johanna Schiavoni has been elected to succeed Lilys as the Bar’s 2020 president and will serve as president-elect in 2019. Schiavoni is an appellate attorney and sole practitioner who handles high-stakes civil appeals and represents indigent criminal litigants as appointed by the court. She also served as the 2013-2014 president of Lawyers Club of San Diego, and since March, she has served on the board of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.
The 2019 board of directors will take part in an installation ceremony at Stepping Up to the Bar, the association’s annual holiday reception, on Dec. 6 at the New Children’s Museum at 200 West Island Ave. at 5:30 p.m.
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Year-long 100th anniversary celebration starts
today for the San Diego & Arizona Railway
The Pacific Southwest Railway Museum Association today launches a year-long, 100-year anniversary celebration of the 1919 completion of the San Diego & Arizona Railway. A reenactment ceremony will be held Saturday at the Campo Railroad Park and Museum.
Centennial activities over the next year will include free lectures at public libraries and community groups, special events with other local historical organizations, a groundbreaking festival and presentation of silent movies with chase scenes showing the San Diego & Arizona Railway. Free lectures by volunteers and loan of a traveling exhibit can be requested by visiting the PSRM website, www.psrm.org.
Predominantly financed by entrepreneur John D. Spreckels at a cost of $18 million, or roughly $123,000 per mile, the 148 miles of rail line was called the “Impossible Railroad” by engineers of its day due to the immense logistical challenges, which included extreme terrain requiring 2.5 miles of bridges and trestles and 21 tunnels, including 11 miles through the treacherous Carrizo Gorge, an area where cliffs dropped more than 1,000 feet to the bottom (17 of the 21 tunnels were located in Carrizo Gorge). Additional challenges during the 12 years of construction included floods, landslides, fires, hot weather, deaths from the flu, sabotage by Mexican revolutionaries and various delays caused by World War I.
On Nov. 15, 1919, Spreckels himself drove the final “golden spike,” which he accidentally bent, at a ceremony held at Carrizo Gorge, 35 miles east of Campo in Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Photos show the crowd laughing at the bent iron railway spike, which was plated with gold.
The completion of San Diego & Arizona Railway established a direct transcontinental rail link to the east by connecting with the Southern Pacific Railroad in El Centro. Previously, San Diegans had to travel north to Los Angeles to connect with an east-bound train. The line is still partially in use today for vintage train rides and by three freight operators.
