Daily Business Report-Jan. 23, 2019
Rendering of Palisade at Westfield UTC, 300-unit housing project planned at Nobel Drive and Genesee Avenue.
Luxury 24-story, 300-unit
Palisade at Westfield UTC
scheduled to open in summer
While some San Diego developers are building or working on affordable housing projects, a European-based real estate company will be offering something for the well-to-do — 300 luxury housing units in a 24-story development set to open this summer at Nobel Drive and Genesee Avenue in UTC.
Palisade at Westfield UTC is a lease development by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield in partnership with institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Greystar Development Group. Unibail is based in Paris.
The 23-story tower will offer studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom residences in addition to penthouses. Pricing figures were not immediately available.
Palisade at Westfield UTC will feature sophisticated interior design, high-end finishes and architectural motifs, hardwood flooring, gas ranges, quartz countertops with waterfall islands and backsplashes, integrated high-end appliances, floor-to-ceiling glass windows, European-inspired custom bathrooms, expansive balconies, and Smart Home technology, according to the developers.
Other features:
• A 4,300 square-foot, resort-inspired rooftop “horizon lounge” with views of the ocean and surrounding landscapes. The lounge will offer a private dining space, expansive seating and entertaining areas, and outdoor decks with fire tables.
• State-of-the-art indoor and outdoor fitness centers as well as other wellness facilities including indoor and outdoor yoga and spin studios, elite locker venues with steam rooms, dog park, and bike cafe fully equipped with repair and servicing tools.
• Half-acre outdoor deck with swimming pool and Jacuzzi, outdoor bar and lounge, numerous reservable cabanas, and a variety of fire pits and relaxation nooks.
• Private library, sports lounge, resident clubhouse, chef’s kitchen, and karaoke room.
• An entire floor dedicated to resident co-working, complete with numerous private conference rooms and meeting spaces featuring top of the line audio and visual equipment.
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Bestselling author Piper Kerman
to keynote first San Diego Writers Festival
Piper Kerman, author of the national best-seller “Orange is the New Black” memoir, turned into an Emmy Award-winning Netflix series, will be keynote speaker at the inaugural San Diego Writers Festival April 13 at the Downtown Central Library. The 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. event is free to the public.
Kerman’s literary work chronicles the 13 months she spent in a federal correctional institution after a brief involvement with drug trafficking sent her to prison on money laundering charges. Kerman explores the experience of incarceration and the lives of the amazing women she met in prison; their friendships and families, their issues with mental illness, their substance abuse and their cliques and codes of behavior.
Kerman will give a keynote speech and Q & A as well as an onstage interview with award-winning playwright and festival co-founder Marni Freedman about Kerman’s legendary book, her memoir teaching, and her work for prison education reform.
The San Diego Writers Festival celebrates writers of all kinds, including authors of fiction books, nonfiction books, poetry, spoken word material, journalism, music, screenplays, graphic novels, comic books and more. Daytime events on the nine floors of the library will include interactive craft and industry-based workshops, live performances, educational panels about writing, opportunities to meet authors, book signings, readings, live music, and teen writing workshops as well as kid-friendly events.
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Atlas Technical Consultants and ATC
Group Services announce merger plans
Atlas Technical Consultants, which acquired San Diego engineering firm SCST last year, announced plans to merge with ATC Group Services LLC, an infrastructure engineering, testing, inspection and program management firm.
Together Atlas and ATC have a nationwide footprint located in more than 40 states with more than 140 offices and 3,200 employees, serving a variety of public and private sector clients. The combined company, which will retain the Atlas name and be led by current Atlas Chief Executive Officer, L. Joe Boyer, is well-positioned for growth as the merger provides added capabilities in engineering, materials testing, inspection, certification and environmental services, a wider operational footprint and the ability to deliver a more comprehensive suite of services to its diverse client base, according to the Atlas Technical Consultants’ announcement.
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Cynthia Rice honored with Oceanside’s
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. award
Cynthia Rice, MiraCosta College’s vice president of institutional advancement, has been honored by the city of Oceanside with its 2019 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award. Recipients of the award must be a resident of Oceanside who exemplifies the philosophy and ideals of the late civil rights icon. Rice has long been an active volunteer, not only at MiraCosta College, but through her church and various nonprofit organizations, including the North County African American Women’s Organization and the North San Diego County NAACP.
A former associate dean of student services at MiraCosta College’s San Elijo campus, Rice was named MiraCosta College’s first associate vice president of institutional advancement in July of 2017, a position that gave her direct oversight of the MiraCosta College Foundation, governmental affairs and advocacy, and college public relations and marketing.
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Salk researchers use latest
DNA sequencing in plants
Salk researchers have mapped the genomes and epigenomes of genetically modified plant lines with the highest resolution ever to reveal exactly what happens at a molecular level when a piece of foreign DNA is inserted. Their findings, published in the journal PLOS Genetics on Jan. 18, 2019, elucidate the routine methods used to modify plants, and offer new ways to more effectively minimize potential off-target effects.
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San Diego Community College District
official appointed to state oversite panel
Dr. Bonnie Ann Dowd, the San Diego Community College District’s executive vice chancellor of business and technology services, has been appointed to a statewide panel tasked with reviewing a new funding formula for California’s 115 community colleges.
The “Student Centered Funding Formula,” introduced for the first time in the 2018-19 fiscal year, marks a sea change in how the state finances its community colleges. Instead of basing all funding on the number of students attending each college, the new formula also takes into account student success milestones such as certificates and degrees awarded, and the number of students being served who are receiving financial aid.
Recent legislation calls for the 12-member Community College Student Success Funding Formula Oversight Committee to review the new financing formula. Oversight committee members have been appointed by the Senate Rules Committee, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the governor. Dowd was one of four members appointed to the panel by Senate President pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) and confirmed by the Senate Rules Committee on Jan. 9.
Before coming to the SDCCD in September of 2011, Dowd worked for more than two decades at Palomar College in San Marcos, most recently as vice president of finance and administrative services and previously as a tenured professor.
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Realtors group to open new office in Clairemont
The Pacific Southwest Association of Realtors (PSAR), a 2,800-member trade group for San Diego-area Realtors, has opened a new PSAR Central Service Center in Clairemont. A grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. today at 4340 Genesee Ave., Suite 203. Attending the event will be elected officials, community leaders and industry dignitaries. The new Service Center will provide MLS training, educational classes and resources for Realtors, including lock boxes and signage. PSAR also operates offices in El Cajon and Chula Vista.
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Personnel Announcements
Anthony Chalifoux named member of Balestreri Potocki & Holmes
Anthony Chalifoux has been named a member of the law firm Balestreri Potocki & Holmes. “We are pleased to welcome Anthony as a member,” said Thomas Balestreri, managing shareholder of the firm. “His knowledge and legal expertise, especially in the intellectual property arena, have become an invaluable asset to the firm and its clients.”
Chalifoux joined the firm as an associate in 2011 and attained senior attorney status in 2018. As a firm member, he will continue to represent a wide variety of clients in civil litigation and transactional matters with a particular emphasis in intellectual property law.
Balestreri Potocki & Holmes provides representation to a range of business clients with an emphasis in the legal advocacy and consultation of business owners and companies working in a wide range of construction, transportation and hospitality industries.
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Sean Gaffney joins Crosbie Gliner Schiffman Southard & Swanson
Crosbie Gliner Schiffman Southard & Swanson LLP, a San Diego-based commercial real estate law firm, announced the addition of Sean Gaffney as senior counsel. Previously with Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP, Gaffney joins CGS3’s real estate litigation group and will be based in the firm’s San Diego offices.
With nearly 20 years of litigation experience, Gaffney has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in all phases of trial work and alternative dispute resolution relating to California real estate law, including claims arising from failed real estate transactions and development projects; landlord/tenant disputes; corporate, partnership and LLC governance disputes; easements/adverse possession claims; construction and property management insurance coverage disputes; fraud/warranty claims arising from residential real estate transactions; construction defect and delay claims; and eminent domain and public/government construction claims.
Most recently, Gaffney was a member of the commercial litigation group at Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP in San Diego, where he worked for eight years. Prior to that, he practiced with Sullivan Hill for six years. Gaffney began his career with the boutique litigation firm Davidovitz & Bennett LLP in San Francisco.
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Biomed Realty promotes 3 San Diego-based officers
BioMed Realty announced the promotion of three San Diego-based officers.
Senior Vice President Kevin Simonsen has been elevated to general counsel. Simonsen most recently served as senior vice president, senior counsel and secretary since 2016. He has spent 13 years with the company and led the real estate and corporate legal teams the last three years. Simonsen joined BioMed Realty from Latham & Watkins and has two decades of legal experience.
Tracy Perrelle was promoted to vice president, West Coast property management, which currently encompasses 45 properties throughout the San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle markets. Perrelle has worked in various property management roles since joining BioMed Realty in 2012. Her real estate background includes senior roles within The Irvine Company and MIG Real Estate.
Paul Draper has been promoted to vice president, West Coast facilities after serving as senior director, West Coast facilities since joining BioMed Realty in 2007. Draper has worked in senior facilities, engineering, construction and operations management positions throughout his 39-year career, including senior positions at Biogen Idec and Hewlett Packard.
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Cheryl Wang and James Yang join Fish & Richardson law firm
Fish & Richardson, an intellectual property law firm, has added Cheryl Wang and James Yang to its San Diego office.
Wang joins the Litigation Practice Group where she will focus her legal work on patent litigation matters. Prior to joining Fish, Wang worked as a judicial intern for the San Diego Superior Court and as a pro bono volunteer. She received her J.D. in 2018 from the University of Virginia School of Law where she was the article editor for the Virginia Tax Review and the co-president of the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association. Prior to law school, she researched novel antibiotic compounds and porous silicon nanotechnology. Wang received her B.S. in Chemistry from University of California, San Diego in 2014. She is fluent in Mandarin and is admitted to the State Bar of California.
Yang also joins the firm’s Litigation Practice Group, focusing his practice on patent litigation matters. A 2018 graduate of Harvard Law School, Yang earned his J.D., cum laude, and served as an article editor for the biannual Harvard Journal of Law & Technology. Yang received his B.S. in biochemistry from McMaster University in 2012. He is fluent in Korean and is admitted to the State Bar of California.
