Daily Business Report-Feb. 4, 2020
Rendering of apartment project at 635 Robinson Ave. in Hillcrest
$43 million construction loan obtained for
7-story Hillcrest apartment development
Greystar and Cigna Invesgtments Management have obtained a $43 million construction loan for the development of a seven-story mixed-use property at 635 Robinson Ave. in Hillcrest.
Hillcrest 111 will be comprised of 111 residential units, including nine low-income apartments, and 3,200 square-feet of retail space on the ground floor. The structure will also include three levels of subterranean parking for residents and the retail businesses. Community amenities include a fitness center, clubroom and a rooftop deck with a spa, grills, bar and cabanas.
Mark McGovern, Morgon Fraser, Brian Cruz and Colby Matzke of CBRE’s San Diego office arranged the construction loan with a three-year initial term, on behalf of the borrower.
Hillcrest has not seen new construction of this scale in nearly a decade, according to CBRE research. Of the 19,000 multifamily units in the 92103 ZIP code, only 176, or 0.9 percent, were built in the last eight years.
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Early voting begins for March 3
Presidential Primary Election
Voters interested in casting their ballots early for the March 3 Presidential Primary Election can now do so at the County Registrar of Voters office located at 5600 Overland Ave. on the County Operations Center campus in Kearny Mesa. Early voting began Monday and will continue from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and until the polls close on Election Day. The office will also be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 29 and Sunday, March 1 for weekend voting.
Over 1.3 million mail ballots were sent out through the U.S. Postal Service Monday, and voters could find them in their mailboxes as early as that same day.
“If you know how you want to vote, grab that mail ballot when you get it, mark it and send it back in right away,” said Registrar Michael Vu. “The sooner we get the ballot back, the sooner we can start processing it so it will be counted right when the polls close at 8 p.m. on March 3.”
You’ll also find something new in your mail ballot packet this year– an “I Voted” sticker.
Mail ballots are convenient for voters who’d rather not make a special trip to the Registrar of Voter’s office to cast their ballots or wait for the polls to open on Election Day. Registered voters can request a mail ballot until Feb. 25.
Meantime, the Registrar is still looking for poll workers, especially bilingual poll workers. For more information, call (858) 565-5800 or visit sdvote.com.
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Lobbyists: Sacramento’s growth industry
Dan Morain | CALmatters
In 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s first year in office, corporations, unions, trade organizations, local governments and other interest groups spent $394.6 million lobbying state policymakers, a 7.7 percent increase from the year before.
The spending represents a 35 percent increase from the $291 million spent in Jerry Brown’s first year in office, 2011, year-end lobbyist employer reports filed with Secretary of State Alex Padilla show.
Five top spenders in 2019:
Western States Petroleum Association, a trade group of various oil interests, $8.8. million.
- California Teachers Association, the public school teachers’ union, $6.9 million.
Chevron, $5.9 million
- California State Council of Service Employees, representing state workers, $4.4 million.
- Edison International, $3.3 million
Edison, PG&E, Pacificore and Sempra combined to spend $9.7 million as legislators grappled with wildfire legislation and other issues related to electricity.
Growth in big spenders:
- 3,468 entities spent money on lobbying in 2019, up from 3,018 in 2015, a 15 percentrise.
- 167 spent $400,000 or more in 2019, up from 132 in 2015, a 26 percentincrease.
- 48 spent $1 million or more in 2019, up from 35 in 2015, a 37 percentincrease.
Note: Lobbyist employers use in-house lobbyists and hire outside firms.
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Viasat wins Air Force contract worth
up to $90 million for new radios
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Viasat a contract worth as much as $90 million to provide special warfare airmen new handheld radios.
Under the contract, which runs through 2023, Viasat will provide its Battlefield Awareness Targeting System-Dismounted (BATS-D) handheld Link 16 radios, which give warfighters access to real-time, secure and reliable communication for enhanced close air support communications. Viasat will also provide operator training and maintenance. The contract came from the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center.
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San Diego-based TechFlow awarded
contract in support of Army NETCOM
TechFlow, a San Diego logistics and digital services company, has been awarded a contract in support of NETCOM Advanced Capability Engineering Directorate (ACED) focused on Army installation networks.
Under this contract, TechFlow will address three phases of demonstration to support the Army’s technology evaluation. Phase 1 will address Simulated Network Assessment, Phase 2 will address Operational Network Assessment, and Phase 3 will address a System of Systems implementation of network simulation and decision support at scale.
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CaseyGerry partner named president
of San Diego County Bar Foundation board
Gayle M. Blatt, partner and head of CaseyGerry’s complex litigation team, will serve as the 2020 president of the board of the San Diego County Bar Foundation (SDCBF).
As president, Blatt will work closely with the SDCBF board of directors to uphold the foundation’s mission.
As the charitable arm of the San Diego County Bar Association, the SDCBF “strives to provide access to justice by investing in sustainable results and advocacy for people and communities in our region that are impacted by poverty, abuse and discrimination.
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Paul Marttila named VP of global business
development for Realtors association
Paul Marttila has been named vice president of global business development for the Greater San Diego Association of Realtors.
For more than 30 years, Marttila has held senior positions in both the private and not-for-profit sectors. He was a real estate partner at Andersen LLP (in the U.S. and Europe) and a U.S. tax partner at BDO LLP, leading those firms’ business location and incentives consulting practices.
Marttila has also held senior economic development positions, including managing director of European operations for the state of Pennsylvania and SVP of business development for the state of Florida.
Immediately prior to joining SDAR, Marrtila operated his own location/incentives and economic development consultancy, Business Location Dynamics LLC. To date, Marttila has conducted business in 45 countries on five continents and he worked for 14 years as an expatriate in three foreign countries.
Marttila holds a master’s degree from the Patterson School of Diplomacy & International Commerce (UK) and a bachelor’s degree in economics and government overnment from Franklin & Marshall College.
