Daily Business Report-Aug. 8, 2019
Quarterly activity was driven by some large investments, which included Poseida Therapeutics securing $142 million. (Lab photo courtesy of Poseida Therapeutics)
Second quarter Venture capital
investments in San Diego region
jump 1,009 percent from prior quarter
Second quarter venture capital investments in the San Diego region reached $499 million, a 1,009 percent increase from the prior quarter and a 14 percent increase from the same quarter in 2018, according to the latest life sciences report from JLL.
Quarterly activity was driven by some large investments, which included: Poseida Therapeutics securing $142 million, Vividion Therapeutics capturing an $82 million round and Locana raising $55 million.
Venture capital investments into the San Diego life science market have been extremely robust since 2018, with four out of the last five quarters producing investment levels above $400 million — activity that the San Diego life sciences community has never witnessed, the JLL report said.
In terms of real estate activity during the quarter, the life sciences cluster produced 419,225 square feet of gross leasing among 17 completed transactions. The second quarter had 31 percent growth in total leasing when compared to the first quarter of the year and 103 percent growth when compared to the second quarter of 2018. This activity produced 263,399 square feet of positive net occupancy growth by tenants.
The market saw a half-dozen new company formations that generated over 78,000 square feet of gross leasing activity. Established San Diego firms grew during the quarter, highlighted by Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Omniome and Explora Biolabs. 82 percent of the completed deals during the quarter were signed by companies that had space needs under 35,000 square feet. Further segmenting the quarter’s demand, 24 percent consisted of companies with space needs under 7,000 square feet, 29 percent among companies with space needs between 7,000 and 17,000 square feet and 29 percent from companies between 17,000 and 35,000 square feet.
__________________
Manchester Financial Group holds ‘topping out’
of new Navy Headquarters Building
Manchester Financial Group held the “topping out” ceremony for the development of the U.S. Navy Headquarters building, the cornerstone of the $1.7 billion redevelopment of the 14-acre Manchester Pacific Gateway, in the works for 14 years.
The ceremony, which comes ahead of schedule, celebrated the progress toward the approximate $200 million building’s completion expected to occur in October 2020.
“We are ecstatic that we are on schedule for the topping out of the iconic Navy Headquarters building. The completion assures the ultimate realization of Manchester Pacific Gateway, a magnificent mixed-use hotel, retail and office development,” said chairman emeritus of Manchester Financial Group, Doug Manchester.
When completed, Manchester Pacific Gateway will feature five buildings totaling three million square feet within eight-city blocks, including the new 17-story Class A office building for the U.S. Navy headquarters.
__________________
Secret formulas guide who gets denied
home insurance in wildfire risk areas
By Ry Rivard | Voice of San Diego
When insurance companies deny coverage or raise prices in areas at risk of wildfire, they’re often relying on secret formulas designed to predict what homes are likely to burn, according to a Voice of San Diego review of thousands of pages of regulatory filings by eight of California’s largest home insurers.
The reason for cutting policies or hiking prices seems obvious. Destructive fires have burned California again and again, destroying thousands of homes in recent years and costing billions of dollars.
Less obvious is how companies decide who gets insurance and how much to charge.
Companies use risk predictions to draw hard lines around certain homes, making some properties uninsurable by name brand companies like State Farm, Farmers Insurance and AAA.
__________________
Home sales in San Diego County ticked
up in July — by 2-and-a-half percent over June
Sales of previously owned homes in San Diego County ticked up for midsummer, according to housing statistics compiled through the San Diego Multiple Listing Service by the Greater San Diego Association of Realtors.
Resale single-family home purchases were up 2-and-a-half percent in July compared to June. Attached properties (condominiums and townhomes) increased by a healthy 5 percent from the previous month. Compared to July of 2018, however, home sales were down slightly last month.
Prices of resale homes dipped slightly in July, but are up for the year. The median price of a single- family home was $655,000 last month (down 2 percent from June), and the price of attached properties in July was $435,000 (about 1.5 percent lower). For the year-to-date, prices of all properties are 2.3 percent higher.
“The inventory of homes for sale across the county just can’t seem to jump start, although some neighborhoods have been consistently strong,” said SDAR President Kevin M. Burke, JD. “We can be thankful for the continuing economic expansion, low mortgage rates, and the recent reduction in the benchmark interest rate by the Fed.”
In July, the zip codes in San Diego County with the most single-family home sales were:
92028 (Fallbrook) with 58
92128 (Rancho Bernardo East) with 56
92057 (Oceanside North) and 92064 (Poway), both with 50
92009 (Carlsbad SE), 92065 (Ramona), and 92130 (Carmel Valley), each with 49
92129 (Rancho Peñasquitos) with 47 The most expensive single-family property sold in July in San Diego County is an oceanfront home in the Beach Colony of Del Mar, originally built in 1968 and rebuilt, with 2,500 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, and a sale price of $15.4 million. SDAR’s housing statistics are compiled monthly from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Click here for a detailed look at the numbers.
__________________
America’s Warrior Partnership collaborates
with firms to raise donations for military vets
America’s Warrior Partnership is collaborating with Murphy Development Company and Lusardi Construction Company to conduct Patriot’s Pour, a campaign designed to raise donations for and awareness of service programs for military veterans, their families and caregivers who live in the San Diego area.
As part of the campaign, Murphy Development and Lusardi Construction will offer their vendors, subcontractors, tenants and brokers the opportunity to donate. In other words, for every yard of concrete that the companies pour at The Campus at San Diego Business Park, Building 3 project, money will be raised that will directly fund initiatives and programs that serve veterans.
Murphy Development and Lusardi Construction will host a Kick-Off Lunch & Fundraiser to introduce Patriot’s Pour to the community. The event will include a ceremonial concrete pour coinciding with the first official program donation delivered to America’s Warrior Partnership. The event will take place on Thursday, Oct. 3, from noon to 2 p.m. at Building 3 of The Campus at San Diego Business Park.
__________________
Seclytics partners with Tokyo firm to protect
Japanese companies against cyber attacks
San Diego-based Seclytics Inc. and Tokyo Electron Device Limited announced that they have entered into a strategic partnership, which will provide companies in Japan with access to Seclytics’ science-based platform that delivers accurate, verifiable and actionable cyber attack predictions.
“Nowadays, cybercrime is more sophisticated than ever, and cybersecurity threats are huge concerns for organizations,” said Joe Jozen, CEO of Tokyo Electron Device America. “Japan is no exception. The upcoming Tokyo Olympics Games in 2020 makes it a nationwide problem, and it is crucial for Japanese organizations to take proactive measures, rather than reactive.”
__________________
Michael Baker International gets potential
$99 million contract from the Navy
Michael Baker International, an engineering, planning and consulting services firm, has been awarded a five-year contract worth up to $99 million to provide civil engineering services for projects at various government installations located in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest area of responsibility, which includes California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah, with the possibility of supporting additional projects worldwide.
Under this contract, Michael Baker will support large projects under the Military Construction (MILCON) Program. Improvement projects may include, but are not limited to, new construction, repair and renovation of runways, taxiways and aprons.
__________________
Heart transplant program boasts
nation’s best survival rates
The heart transplant program at UC San Diego Health has demonstrated the best one-year survival rate for patients in the United States among health care providers with a volume of more than 50 heart transplants per year, according to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR).
“At one year, 98.7 percent of our patients are alive and enjoying excellent health with their new hearts,” said Victor Pretorius, surgical director of cardiac transplant and mechanical circulatory support at UC San Diego Health. “This superb outcome is clear evidence that the Cardiovascular Institute offers a top multidisciplinary team of experts who save lives, safely and reliably, through transplantation.”
More than 67 percent of patients at UC San Diego Health are transplanted within three years, faster than the national average.
__________________
Chula Vista police seek
expansion of drone program
Union-Tribune
As part of plans to expand a pioneering drone program, the Chula Vista Police Department wants to fly its drones out of a second location beyond police headquarters and explore automatic capabilities of drones. To that end, the City Council approved on July 23 an $80,000 contract with a company that will help grow and manage the program, which is lauded by police as the future of drones in law enforcement.
__________________
Allison Goddard appointed to San Diego federal court
Allison H. Goddard has been appointed judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Goddard will fill the position left vacant when Judge Nita L. Stormes retired. Chief Judge Larry Alan Burns administered the oath of office to Goddard on Aug. 1.
Prior to her appointment, Goddard was a civil litigator for 19 years, focusing on business disputes, class actions, and intellectual property disputes. She has served as class counsel in 17 cases, including three class actions that went to trial. She has successfully argued multiple appeals, including two appeals before the California Supreme Court. As a civil litigator, she represented a wide variety of clients, from individual consumers and employees to Fortune 500 companies.
Goddard is an active member of the legal community. She was president of the San Diego chapter of the Federal Bar Association in 2009, and served as a Lawyer Representative for the Southern District of California from 2011 to 2013. She is a Master of the Louis M. Welsh Inn of Court, and coaches a high school mock trial team in the county of San Diego’s annual Mock Trial competition. She was included on the Daily Journal’s Annual List of Leading Women Lawyers in California in 2018, and received an Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award from Consumer Attorneys of San Diego in 2017.
Judge Goddard was born in Nashville, Tenn., and moved to San Diego in 1994. She graduated from Boston College in 1993, and from the University of San Diego School of Law in 2000.
