Daily Business Report: Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021
Discover Midway team envisions a plan for 3,280 homes,
new arena, and retail and office space for Sports Arena site
Calling themselves Discover Midway, four development partners — Affirmed Housing, ASM Global, Brookfield Properties and National CORE — have crafted a Sports Arena development proposal that includes 3,280 affordable and market rate rental homes, a new sports arena, a Mercado, office space and parks and green space.
“Our vision is to create a true, connected neighborhood featuring meaningful community amenities, housing for a wide range of income levels, active parks and dedicated green spaces, multi-modal transit improvements and an enhanced sports and entertainment experience for all San Diegans,” said Jessica Jones, senior director of community affairs at Brookfield Properties. “Our team has spent nearly two years evaluating numerous plans and scenarios for this project that create an immediate and lasting impact.” The Discover Midway team plans to integrate and transform the Sports Arena into a modernized and reimagined venue that will attract global talent, host marquee sporting events and facilitate community gatherings.
The 3,280 rental homes would house more than 6,500 residents, of which 25-32 percent would be designated as affordable.
A new Mercado will feature retail, food and beverage and services that will showcase local-area entrepreneurs.
TOP PHOTO: Rendering of Discover Midway’s reimagined sports arena in the Midway neighborhood.
Court may keep Midway District’s 30-foot hight limit in place
A San Diego Superior Court judge has signaled that she may invalidate a voter-approved ballot measure that sought to strike the Midway District from the city’s coastal zone, remove the 30-foot building height limit and serve as a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization.
The potential decision, which could be challenged on appeal, has unknown implications for the 48 acres of land that the city owns around Pechanga Arena.
Although applicants were made aware of the pending litigation, some of their conceptual proposals envision housing and commercial buildings, and even new arenas, that stretch well above 30 feet.
Why is California’s redistricting commission
under increased scrutiny?
By Sameea Kamal | CalMatters
California’s independent redistricting commission is taking a lot of heat for the congressional and legislative maps it’s drawing to beat a Dec. 27 deadline.
But it’s not just the at-times confusing product that’s under the microscope. It’s also the commission’s messy process — with accusations of secrecy, complaints about public input and now questions about whether taxpayers are getting their money’s worth.
The state is funding the commission with $20.3 million — about twice as much as the previous independent commission received.
Steven Maviglio — a Sacramento-based Democratic consultant who has been one of the commission’s most outspoken critics and opposed its creation to begin with — said it has been plagued with “cost overrun after overrun.”
“Everyone understands that redistricting is an ugly process no matter who does it, but what I’m seeing here is amateur sausage-making,” he told CalMatters.
Jane Andersen, chairperson of the commission this week, said that the panel has demonstrated a commitment to an open process with extensive public outreach – one that took place under “extraordinary circumstances,” including the pandemic and an unprecedented delay in the 2020 Census data.
Who’s got your mail? Google and Microsoft, mostly
By Ioana Patringenaru | UC San Diego
Who really sends, receives and, most importantly perhaps, stores your business’ email? Most likely Google and Microsoft, unless you live in China or Russia. And the market share for these two companies keeps growing.
That’s the conclusion reached by a group of computer scientists at the University of California San Diego, who studied the email service providers used by hundreds of thousands of Internet domains—between 2017 and 2021.
“Our research team empirically showed the extent to which email has been outsourced and concentrated to a small number of providers and service providers,” said Stefan Savage, a professor in the UC San Diego Department of Computer Science and Engineering and one of the paper’s senior authors.
The team presented their findings at the Internet Measurement Conference 2021, which took place virtually Nov. 2 to 4, 2021.
This concentration has several consequences: it increases the impact of service failures and data breaches; and it exposes companies and users outside the United States to potential subpoenas from U.S. government agencies.
San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl
UCLA Bruins vs. NC State Wolfpack
Tuesday, Dec. 28
Kickoff at 5 p.m.
Carlsbad’s Aston Views office building
acquired by Miramar Capital for $20 million
Aston Views, a freestanding 82,972-square-foot office/flex building in Carlsbad, has been acquired for $20 million by Miramar Capital. The seller was MCR Aston LLC.
The two-story building was approximately 90 percent leased at sale.
Built in 2001, Aston Views is located at 1808 Aston Ave .and consists of a single two-story building on approximately 8.7 acres. The property is located off College Boulevard, and is near Interstate 5 and the McClellan Airport.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Rick Reeder and Brad Tecca of the firm’s Capital Markets in San Diego represented the seller in the transaction. The firm’s Justin Halenza and Michael Mahoney also provided leasing advisory.
Aston Views office building at 1808 Aston Ave. in Carlsbad.
City approves $2,500 sign-on bonuses
for newly hired sanitation drivers
In order to attract qualified candidates in the face of a nationwide truck driver shortage, the City of San Diego is launching a Sanitation Driver Sign-On Bonus Program to hire and retain qualified sanitation drivers for the city’s Environmental Services Department. These key positions provide a critical service in collecting refuse, recycling and organic waste from San Diego homes and businesses.
The City Council approved signing bonuses for sanitation drivers and, separately, approved a special salary increase for the recruitment and retention of pool guards in the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.
As part of the Sanitation Driver Sign-On Bonus Program, successfully hired candidates will receive a total of $2,500 with $1,250 being paid at the time of hire and $1,250 after one year of active service. The program will be capped at 100 successfully hired sanitation drivers through June 30, 2023.
Faced with similar hiring challenges, private waste collection companies and municipalities are offering similar sign-on bonuses in 24 states, including California and Arizona.
Credit union celebrates grand opening
of Encinitas 24/7 Library Kiosk
The San Diego County Credit Union celebrated the grand opening of the San Diego County Library System’s Encinitas 24/7 Library Kiosk located outside of the SDCCU Encinitas Branch location at 501 N. El Camino Real, Encinitas, 92024.
The 24/7 library kiosk provides convenient access to library materials around the clock. San Diego County Library cardholders can check out and return materials, place holds, download audio and eBooks, browse the catalog and tap into a Wi-Fi hotspot.
The Encinitas Library will support the kiosk containing about 350 items such as popular books and movies for all ages. Customers can browse the catalog and library databases as well as access their account information. This kiosk has been years in the making and SDCCU is proud to help provide space for this wonderful community asset.
Cooler Heads receives FDA clearance
to help save cancer patients’ hair
Tech company Cooler Heads announced it has received FDA clearance to sell its revolutionary scalp cooling device to help cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy save their hair. Cooler Heads achieved this milestone after raising less than $1.5 million in venture capital funding.
“Scalp cooling is an effective way for cancer patients to save their hair, but existing methods are prohibitively expensive and difficult to use,” said Cooler Heads CEO Kate Dilligan.
Dilligan is a veteran entrepreneur and cancer survivor who, after spending over $8,000 to keep her own hair during chemo, made it her life’s work to develop an easy-to-use, tech-enabled scalp cooling solution that is dramatically less expensive than today’s methods.
Dilligan notes that saving one’s hair is not about vanity, instead “it’s about recognizing yourself in the mirror; it’s about privacy, dignity, and not letting cancer take your identity from you.”
Cotiviti’s RaeAnn Grossman to speak at The RISE
Women in Health Care Leadership Summit
RaeAnn Grossman, executive vice president of population health management, risk adjustment, and quality operations at Cotiviti, will co-chair and participate as a speaker in The RISE Women in Health Care Leadership Summit taking place Dec. 14–15 in San Diego. Grossman will take part in a panel discussion on how women can effectively negotiate beyond salary; how to better align, collaborate, and execute no matter what size of organization; and best practices for exceeding expectations and succession planning.
Grossman’s session, “Let’s Discuss: Negotiating Beyond Money” will take place Tuesday, Dec. 14, at 2:15–3:15 p.m. at the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel.
For her discussion on negotiation, Grossman will draw on her more than 25 years of experience in the health care industry where she has held executive roles in both the payer and provider spaces.
San Diego Realtors group announces $1 million+
grant funds to defend coastal communities
The Greater San Diego Association of Realtors announces an additional grant support for Smart Coast California, a nonprofit organization founded by Realtors in response to sea level rise policies impacting coastal communities and property owners. The most recent grant in the amount of $495,000 was approved by the National Association of Realtors on Dec. 2, bringing the total grant awards this year to $1.07 million.
SDAR President Carla Farley also serves as the 2021 president of Smart Coast California. The organization was founded in 2019 to monitor coastal policies and be a strong voice advocating for the protection of communities and the property rights of homeowners. Smart Coast California membership includes 29 local Realtor associations along California’s 1,100-mile coastline.
Previous grant funds totaling $300,000 were approved on Oct. 5 by the California Association of Realtors IMPAC Trustees. The organization was earlier awarded $212,000 in August by NAR. The funds will be used to enhance monitoring capabilities, expand advocacy initiatives, and grow the organization.
