Daily Business Report-Feb. 28, 2019
SpotAngels coverage area is shown in white on the map. Downtown San Diego, Balboa Park, Pacific Beach and Mission Beach are fully covered. The map is crowdsourced so as more people join and contribute, the coverage will grow like it did in San Francisco, New York City and many other cities, according to SpotAngels.
New free parking app launches in San Diego
Lets drivers know where to find parking in real time
SpotAngels, a free community-based parking app that helps drivers find parking and avoid tickets, launches today in San Diego on the heels of a recent round of funding led by co-founder of Google Maps, Lars Rasmussen.
Unlike other parking apps like SpotHero or Parkwhiz that only show parking garages, SpotAngels also shows street parking as well as provides you with alerts on parking rules so, according to SpotAngels, you never get a ticket.
SpotAngels analyzed the city’s data before the launch and found that 550,722 parking tickets were issued in San Diego in 2017. This same data also shows that the worst day to park if you consider the number of tickets issued is Wednesday but SpotAngels is now available to San Diegans to help with that.
“A few of our early users got really excited about SpotAngels in San Diego. It helps them on a weekly basis remember to move their car for street sweeping and find free and cheap parking in busy areas,” says Aboud Jardaneh, co-founder of SpotAngels.
SpotAngels displays a crowdsourced map showing the location of all street parking spots and garages, with detailed rules and prices kept up-to-date by the active community. It includes local specificities such as San Diego’s Residential Parking Permits enabling to park for free. The map helps drivers find free and cheap parking, fast.
SpotAngels, according to Jardaneh, also makes sure that drivers never get a parking ticket. The app runs in the background and knows where and when you park your car and you leave a spot. It sends reminders when it’s time to move your car for street sweeping or any other parking rule.
After leaving a spot, the map displays an open spot to help other drivers of the community find a spot.
In Downtown San Diego, SpotAngels counted a total of 8,992 legally parkable street parking spots of which 4,499 street spots that are free of charge.
SpotAngels has previously established its community of drivers in several cities in California and nationwide: San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, LA, New York City, Boston, Chicago, Seattle, Washington D.C., Philadelphia among others. In 2018, the app has saved drivers over $7.5m on street cleaning tickets as well as time and money finding parking.
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Escondido medical office building
acquired by Chicago real estate firm
Palomar Health Outpatient Center Phase 1, a medical office building in Escondido totaling 75,000 square feet, has been acquired by Harrison Street Real Estate Capital LLC. The seller was Encinitas-based real estate developer JRMC Real Estate Inc.
HFF was the broker.
The property is a three-story, build-to-suit, Class A building that is 100 percent leased to Palomar Heath, which plans to offer high-acuity services such as radiation, oncology, express care/outpatient clinical services and a Palomar-Rady Children’s Hospital venture at the facility. Phase I was delivered in April 2018. The Palomar Health Outpatient Center Phase I is located on the 56-acre Palomar Medical Center Escondido campus, a 288-bed hospital with the only Trauma Center within a 20-mile radius.
Harrison Street Real Estate Capital is headquartered in Chicago.
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Tracy Warren Presentation: Breaking Barriers
From broadcasting to the boardroom, Tracy Warren has been breaking barriers in male-dominated industries from the onset of her careers as a sportscaster and an employment attorney. Noting that, “Sometimes the locker rooms are better than the courtrooms” because she was always treated with civility.
Breaking Barriers challenges women to focus on how they can utilize their individual skills and talents to excel in traditionally male-dominated industries, and realize that truly the only barriers we face are those we create for ourselves.
Warren will speak at the Leadership Conference April 5 as part of San Diego Women’s Week sponsored by North San Diego Business Chamber. Women’s Week runs April 1-5. Click here for the schedule.
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County passport application office named nation’s best
The State Department has named the County’s passport application office the best public acceptance facility out of 8,000 operations of its kind in the nation. The award recognized the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors passport office’s superior customer service and implementation of a new online appointment system.
The award states that the office at the County Administration Center in Downtown San Diego serves “as a shining example for all passport acceptance facilities.”
The Clerk of the Board of Supervisors accepted the 2018 Acceptance Facility of the Year (Public) award from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs in Washington, D.C. on Friday. The department’s National Awards Program for Passport Acceptance Facilities and Acceptance Agents recognizes facilities and agents who have gone above and beyond in offering customer service or implemented innovation that streamlines processes and enhances the customer experience.
The County began accepting passport applications in 1999. To date, it has accepted more than 253,000 applications.
In February 2018, the County switched from a walk-in to an appointment-only facility. The change has resulted in decreased wait times for applicants. Since then, 18,154 appointments have been scheduled for passport services through its online system.
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Ad Astra Ventures accepting female
founder applicants for spring program
Ad Astra Ventures is accepting applications for its third business accelerator cohort, an eight- week program in Solana Beach that begins in early April. High growth startups with at least one female founder are encouraged to apply online by March 8, 2019. Each admitted participant receives in-depth business training, formal mentoring and a $20,000 seed investment.
Founded in 2018 by San Diego investors and startup advocates Vidya Dinamani, Allison Long Pettine, and Silvia Mah, Ad Astra Ventures equips female founders to build, run and scale investable businesses. Their accelerator program has graduated two cohorts to date. Alumni run companies in a variety of industries including life science, technology and consumer products.
“Ad Astra changed my life; not just as a startup founder/CEO, but as a person and a leader in my community,” said Debbie Chen, Ad Astra alumnae and CEO of Hydrostasis. “I now walk through life with a gender lens, understanding and navigating the world.”
Those interested in applying for the next program, which will take place from April 8 through May 31, can do so at adastra.ventures/application/.
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Annual Student Research Symposium
returns to San Diego State University
San Diego State University students will present their original research at the 12th annual Student Research Symposium (SRS) on Friday and Saturday, March 1-2, in the Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union.
In related news, the university will also host the Student Research Symposium Showcase during SDSU President Adela de la Torre’s inauguration, to be held April 11. The event, and other inauguraiton events, are free and open to the public. Event details and RSVP information are available online. Click here
The SRS, held the month prior to the inauguration events, is a venue for SDSU graduate and undergraduate students to present their work from a variety of disciplines. This includes research, scholarship and creative activities from health and nutrition, biology, mathematics, humanities and engineering to name a few. The symposium provides a space for students to display, discuss and share their work through visual and oral presentations.
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Adjacent mixed-use properties
in La Jolla sell for $8.975 million
Two adjacent mixed-use retail properties in downtown La Jolla have sold for a combined total of $8.975 million. The properties are located at 7545-7553 and 7527-7535 Girard Ave. Rancho Girard LLC was the seller of both properties. The buyer was identified as YDNL LLC.
The 7545-7553 Girard property is a 7,649-square foot restaurant and retail building featuring La Jolla’s iconic Harry’s Coffee Shop, in addition to a retail space occupied by Everett Stunz. Located next door, 7527-7535 Girard features two residential apartments in addition to long-term retail tenants – including Dewhurst & Associates and Salon Spruce, among others – on a 9,749-square foot lot.
Colliers International San Diego Region represented the seller of both properties.
Pacific Commercial Management Inc. represented the buyer of 7545-7553 Girard.
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Debbie McKeon named president and CEO of San Diego Grantmakers
Debbie McKeon has been named president and CEO of San Diego Grantmakers. She joins SDG after previously serving as the executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Council of Michigan Foundations and will take up her new role on April 8.
McKeon brings extensive experience in designing and supporting cross-sector collaborative impact models, especially utilizing network and systems change practices and building public-private partnerships. She is nationally recognized for her expertise and innovative approaches in philanthropy, nonprofit capacity building, and business development and is a frequent speaker at national convenings to share her learnings.
Former positions include executive director of NorthSky Nonprofit Network and managing director and CEO of the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, both of which she was a founder. Recent state level board positions include the Michigan Association of United Ways and Michigan Humanities Council.
“I am honored to join San Diego Grantmakers to build upon the successes of its nationally recognized initiatives such as the Social Equity Collaborative Fund and Military Transition Support Project, which ultimately became zero8hundred, and other sector leading innovations, especially in impact investing, education and addressing homelessness,” McKeon said.
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Personnel Announcements
Amanda Penir and Jessica Mabry
promoted at Park 12 — The Collection
Park 12 — The Collection, the newest Downtown San Diego high-rise from Greystar, has announced the promotion of Amanda Penir to leasing and marketing manager and Jessica Mabry to assistant community manager. The 718-unit, four-building apartment and retail complex is at 100 Park Plaza.
Previously Park 12’s leasing and marketing manager, Mabry will now help oversee day-to-day operations for the development, slated to be complete this spring. With nine years of experience in the student housing and multifamily industries, she has expertise in marketing, property operations, graphic design/social media and market research.
Penir is an award-winning leasing specialist with seven years of multifamily and property management experience. She was previously a leasing professional for Park 12, and in her new role takes charge of managing Park 12’s leasing staff – working to set goals and help drive leases.
Park 12 – The Collection is comprised of one high-rise and three mid-rise buildings – all owned and operated by Greystar.
