Daily Business Report-Dec. 18, 2019
San Ysidro Port of Entry. (Photo by John Gibbins)
Binational community celebrates construction
completion at San Ysidro Port of Entry
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection celebrated the completion of a 10-year construction project at the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry. The $741 million project expanded and renovated the 50-acre San Diego-Tijuana region complex that is the busiest land border crossing in the Western Hemisphere with more than 20,000 vehicles and 70,000 pedestrians processing each day.
Throughout the decade-long project, GSA worked closely with local stakeholders, regional governments, and counterparts in Mexico during all construction phases. From the beginning of construction on this state-of-the-art public facility, the objective was to minimize the impact the work had on travelers, businesses and the binational community while maintaining operational facilities for federal agencies across the duration of the project. The new, expanded vehicle and pedestrian processing infrastructure now provides the physical capacity to ease traffic, reduce wait and travel times, and delivers mission-support capabilities to assigned federal agencies.
Completed in three phases, GSA’s project-management team and its private-sector construction partners transformed a 1970s-era campus into a technological hub to meet the changing needs of tenant agencies, including CBP, and the traveling public. The LPOE reconfiguration included demolition and construction of primary and secondary inspection areas, administration and pedestrian buildings. The project’s expansion includes a new pedestrian crossing on the east side of the port that connects to a new multimodal transportation hub in Mexico, along with expanded northbound inspection facilities. There is also a bi-directional crossing to Virginia Avenue with an associated transit center and to El Chaparral, Mexico’s border facility. There are now 63 northbound vehicle primary inspection booths and one dedicated bus lane (spread across 34 lanes). The new port also has improved processing facilities for travelers including Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection (SENTRI); and, more than 110,000 square feet of new primary and secondary vehicle inspection canopy that utilizes state-of-the-art materials which both conserve and produce energy.
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Mystery Galaxy booksellers find new
owners and new home in the Midway District
Mysterious Galaxy, an iconic independent bookstore specializing in science fiction, fantasy, mystery, young adult, romance, and horror, will transfer ownership to Matthew Berger and Jennifer Marchisotto in January 2020. The store, currently located in Clairemont, will also be moving to the Midway District in the new year.
Mysterious Galaxy has been a destination bookstore for local and international customers for 27 years. It offers a curated selection of genre fiction and hosts author and community events each week.
The bookstore staff will stay on through the transition.
“We are unbelievably excited to take on official positions within the Mysterious Galaxy family,” says Jennifer Marchisotto. “When we moved to San Diego from Orange County six years ago, we went from occasional visitors to regulars. As lifelong readers and avid fans of science fiction and fantasy, we love being a part of the Mysterious Galaxy community over these past 27 years. As we move into our new position as owners, we want to preserve all that makes the store special, while continuing to grow its presence in the community.”
Mysterious Galaxy founders Terry Gilman and Maryelizabeth Yturralde said they are thrilled that Matt and Jenni will take the bookstore to the next level under their leadership.
Mysterious Galaxy’s new home, located at the corner of Rosecrans Street and Midway Drive, is significantly larger than previous locations. They plan to continue offering Mysterious Galaxy’s myriad literary events while expanding their children’s literature section and partnering with local schools to develop new educational programs.
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First battery-electric MTS bus now serving passengers
The first of six battery-electric buses acquired by the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) has began serving passengers, setting in motion the two-year electric bus pilot program first announced earlier this fall. The historic first trip departed the 24th Street Transit Center in National City, serving passengers of Route 13 to Kaiser Hospital. The launch of passenger service follows several weeks of route validation and bus operator training on multiple routes around San Diego.
MTS’s existing fleet of 40- and 60-foot fixed route buses is fueled by compressed natural gas. State regulations require public transit agencies to gradually transition to all-ZEB fleets by 2040. MTS is preparing for that mandate by initiating this pilot program, which allows MTS staff to analyze vehicle performance under various conditions and train drivers on the most efficient driving habits.
After 18 months of testing and modeling, MTS will have an accurate and holistic picture of the operational realities to present to the MTS Board as the agency develops a road map to transition to a full zero-emissions fleet.
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Scripps Mercy San Diego receives
$360,000 grant for residency spots
Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego has received a $360,000 CalMedForce grant from Physicians for a Healthy California to help fund two internal medicine residency positions in 2020. Money for the grant program comes from a $2-per-pack tobacco tax that was approved by California voters in 2016.
The CalMedForce grant creates more opportunity to expand the number of physicians who train and stay in the local community, said Paul Han, M.D., associate director of Scripps Mercy’s residency program.
During a previous funding round earlier this year, Scripps Mercy Hospital Chula Vista received a $225,000 grant to help fund a family medicine residency position at that location.
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Divided City Council tentatively votes
to ban dockless scooters on boardwalks
The San Diego City Council voted 5-4 Monday to tentatively approve a prohibition of dockless electric scooters on the city’s boardwalks.
The ordinance would ban the use of motorized vehicles, not including motorized wheelchairs, on the Mission Beach and Pacific Beach boardwalks, Mission Bay Park Bayside Walk and the La Jolla Shores Boardwalk. The council also voted in favor of an amendment to the city’s existing regulations of dockless motorized vehicles to reduce speed limits on the boardwalks from 8 mph to 3 mph.
— Times of San Diego.
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ViaSat secures potential $93 million
Air Force handheld radio delivery
ViaSathas been awarded a potential four-year, $93 million contract to supply multimode handheld link radios and associated equipment to the U.S. Air Force’s special warfare troops.
The company will also train personnel on how to operate the AN/PRC-161 Handheld Link 16 radio technology as part of the contract, the Department of Defense
The AF Life Cycle Management Center is the contracting activity and will use fiscal 2020 other procurement funds for orders.
Contract work will take place in Carlsbad through Dec. 31, 2023.
ViaSat designed its Handheld Link 16 technology to help military users communicate air and ground situational awareness data when they perform tactical missions.
— GovCon Wire
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JLL expands industrial brokerage
practice in the San Diego area
JLL announced that Greg Lewis and Ryan Spradling have each joined the firm as executive vice president in the San Diego office. They will team with JLL’s San Diego industrial team in representing institutional landlords and tenants on their large scale industrial real estate needs in San Diego County.
With more than 18 years of commercial real estate experience, Lewis previously served as vice president for a global commercial real estate services firm where he specialized in working with industrial landlords and tenants in the North County San Diego. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona.
Spradling has worked in commercial real estate for more than 16 years, most recently serving as a senior director for a global commercial real estate services firm where he specialized in working with industrial landlords and tenants in Central and South San Diego County. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University.
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Rincon Reservation Road Brewery set to debut
West Coaster
In September, we (West Coaster) reported that Valley Center’s SR76 Beerworks had undergone a full-scale rebrand that included a new name, Rincon Reservation Road Brewery. That interest, which is owned and operated by the Rincon Economic Development Corporation (the economic arm of the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians), now has a website and is preparing to open next month.
Rincon Reservation Road Brewery—which goes by the nickname 3R Brewery—is the first certified Native American-owned and operated brewery on tribal land in Southern California. The new name references a trail along the San Luis Rey River the Luiseño Indians traveled from the Warner Hot Springs area of Palomar Mountain to modern-day Oceanside in order to hunt, gather and fish. Tribal villages were located along the trail at Rincon and Pauma. Today, Rincon Reservation Road runs through several Indian reservations, including Rincon, Pechanga, Soboba, Pala, Pauma and La Jolla.
