Daily Business Report-Dec. 3, 2020
Environmental Plaza in Sorrento Valley
Sorrento Valley industrial
property sold for $15.3 million
An industrial campus in Sorrento Valley — Environmental Plaza — has been acquired by Hill Properties, a local real estate investment firm, for $15.3 million. The seller was a private family.
Located at 4174-4206 Sorrento Valley Blvd., Environmental Plaza is a seven-building, 91,669-square-foot industrial campus with suites ranging from 1,000 to 4,200 square feet. The property was 87 percent leased at the time of sale to 37 tenants. The site is one-half mile from the interchange between I-5 and I-805, connecting Sorrento Valley to the rest of San Diego County.
CBRE’s Matt Pourcho, Anthony DeLorenzo, Gary Stache, Bryan Johnson and Bill Dolan represented the seller in the transaction. The buyer was self-represented.
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Report: One in 10 paystubs submitted
to lenders as proof of income are fake
Point Predictive Inc., the San Diego-based company that provides machine learning solutions to the lending industry, has determined that many U.S. auto lenders may be experiencing a 50 percent increase in fraudulent misrepresentation of applicant income since the onset of the pandemic, an amount that is a major contributor to the estimated $7.3 billion in exposure that the industry has faced in 2020.
The company arrived at this conclusion after analyzing tens of millions of loan applications spanning the most recent five-year period and attributes the increase in part to the surge in unemployment and professional fraud activity. The company also calculated that an astonishing 10 percent of all paystubs submitted to lenders as proof of borrower income are falsified. This rate of fraudulent documentation renders broad reliance on paystubs a highly risky method for lenders to verify borrower income.
As a result of these findings, Point Predictive Co-Founder and Chief Fraud Strategist Frank McKenna urges lenders to reconsider the practice of relying on paystubs to verify every borrower’s income. Instead, McKenna recommends the new IncomePass Report, a more reliable and cost-effective way for automotive, personal finance, and mortgage lenders to evaluate income misrepresentation by potential borrowers.
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Biometric facial comparison technology
now implemented at Cross Border Xpress
Cross Border Xpress (CBX), the enclosed pedestrian skybridge connecting San Diego directly to the Tijuana International Airport now includes biometric facial comparison technology to further secure and streamline travel into the United States. The use of this innovative technology provides travelers a touchless procedure that modernizes the entry process where travelers are already required by law to verify their identity.
The biometric facial comparison process occurs only at a time and place where travelers are already required by law to verify their identity by presenting a travel document. When a traveler arrives at the CBP processing area, he or she will pause for a photo at the primary inspection point. A CBP officer will review and query the travel document, which will retrieve the traveler’s passport or visa photo from government holdings. The new photo of the traveler will be compared to the photo previously collected. The facial comparison process only takes a few seconds and is over 97 percent accurate.
It is voluntary for U.S. citizens to have their photo taken. U.S. citizens who wish to opt out of the new biometric process may notify a CBP officer when approaching the primary inspection area.
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How California moved to the future
of voting during a pandemic
Forty-eight counties responded to a CalMatters election survey and many attributed the smooth election to new vote centers with savvy technology. Yet as Sacramento politicians say they want to make vote-by-mail permanent and expand vote centers, some counties are balking at costs and lack necessary infrastructure.
Read the special report from CalMatters
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Chamber’s International Tribute Awards
celebrate binational leaders
In celebration of the region’s outstanding commitment to binational collaboration, the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce brought together business, government, and community leaders from San Diego and Baja at the virtual International Tribute Awards on Tuesday.
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Christopher Landau delivered featured remarks on the future of the U.S. Mexico relationship.
The Chamber also presented three awards to those whose efforts have helped define the region’s cooperative spirit. This year’s International Tribute awardees are:
- International Business of the Year — Toyota
- Cross-Border Hero — Cross Border Xpress
- Cross-Border Leader of the Year — Luis M. Hernandez, President of INDEX Zona Costa
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Virus-like probes could help make rapid
COVID-19 testing more accurate, reliable
Nanoengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed new and improved probes, known as positive controls, that could make it easier to validate rapid, point-of-care diagnostic tests for COVID-19 across the globe.
The positive controls, made from virus-like particles, are stable and easy to manufacture. Researchers say the controls have the potential to improve the accuracy of new COVID-19 tests that are simpler, faster and cheaper, making it possible to expand testing outside the lab.
“Our goal is to make an impact not necessarily in the hospital, where you have state-of-the-art facilities, but in low-resource, underserved areas that may not have the sophisticated infrastructure or trained personnel,” said Nicole Steinmetz, a professor of nanoengineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.
Positive controls are a staple in the lab—they are used to verify that a test or experiment indeed works. The positive controls that are primarily used to validate today’s COVID-19 tests are naked synthetic RNAs, plasmids or RNA samples from infected patients. But the issue is RNA and plasmids are not stable like viral particles. They can degrade easily and require refrigeration, making them inc
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SDSU, Mexico sign pact for future collaboration
San Diego State University has entered into an agreement with the government of Mexico that paves the way for the expansion of binational cooperation across a wide range of initiatives.
The non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) between SDSU, the Secretariat of Public Education of Mexico and the Secretariat of Public Education of Baja California will serve as a framework for future collaborations in research, academic and educational activities, joint events, private sector partnerships and other areas.
The MOU aligns with the vision of SDSU as a Hispanic-Serving Institution on the border outlined in the university’s new five-year strategic plan, “We Rise We Defy: Transcending Borders, Transforming Lives.”
The MOU paves the way for SDSU to work closely with Mexico’s public universities, teacher colleges and K-12 institutions. Cristina Alfaro, SDSU interim associate vice president for international affairs, said she envisions possibilities such as joint research, joint supervision of doctoral students and the expansion of collaborative online international learning programs, where faculty in different countries work together to develop shared classroom components.
SDSU and its partners in Mexico next plan to engage in a series of webinars to discuss action steps for future collaboration in multiple areas.
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Small Business Hiring Tax Credit
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration(CDTFA) is accepting applications through Jan. 15, 2021for qualified small business owners to reserve up to a $100,000 hiring tax credit. The small business hiring tax credit provides a credit that a small business employer can use to offset their income taxes or their sales and use taxeswhen filing their tax returns.
The tentative credit reservation is allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Within 30 days of receiving an application, CDTFA will notify each applicant via email whether a tentative credit reservation has been allocated to them and the amount. To learn more about qualifications and how to apply, view the Frequently Asked Questions available on the CDTFA website.
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Wounded Warrior Homes breaks ground
on new residence for veterans
Local nonprofit Wounded Warrior Homeswill break ground Saturday on an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) in Vista to house veterans with post-traumatic stress (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury.
The ADU will be Wounded Warrior Home’s fourth residence and will provide transitional housing for one additional veteran at a time. This addition brings the total number of veterans housed through Wounded Warrior Homes up to 14 veterans at a time.
The excavation work for the foundation will be done by volunteers from Navy Seabee unit CBMU-303, and almost all other labor also will be done by volunteers. The ADU will be donated from Warrior Village Project in conjunction with San Marcos High School.
“We are honored to receive the first cottage built by the students at San Marcos High School and the Warrior Village Project,” said Mia Roseberry, executive director of Wounded Warrior Homes.
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Housing forecast: sellers will get top dollar
as buyers struggle with affordability
Amid COVID-19 uncertainty, 2021 will be a robust sellers market as home prices hit new highs (+5.7 percent) and buyer competition remains strong, according to
the realtor.com 2021 housing forecast. Inventory is expected to make a slow but steady comeback, which will give buyers some relief. However, increasing interest rates and prices will make affordability a challenge throughout the year.
“The 2021 housing market will be much more ‘normal’ than the wild swings we saw in 2020. Buyers may finally have a better selection of homes to choose from later in the year, but will face a renewed challenge of affordability as prices stay high and mortgage rates rise,” said realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “With less cash and no home equity, millennial and Gen Z first-time buyers will be impacted the most by rising home prices and interest rates. While waiting until the fall or winter months of 2021 may mean more home options to choose from, buyers who can find a home to buy earlier in the year will likely see lower prices and mortgage rates.”
