Daily Business Report: Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022
Cal State San Marcos to build new affordable
housing and dining facility on campus
Cal State San Marcos plans to build a new affordable housing and dining facility on campus as the university does its part to alleviate the burden of the region’s housing crisis on students and lower their expenses to help them achieve their educational goals.
The University Village Student Success (UVSS) Housing and Dining Project will construct a 205,200-square-foot traditional student housing community with space for 600 residents along with a 19,481-square-foot dining hall with affordable meal plans and seating for 320. The ground-breaking for the facility is tentatively scheduled for February 2024.
The project is designed to reduce overall costs for students and thereby increase access to an education at CSUSM. It also will help support the smart-growth and environmental goals of the university and San Marcos by reducing student commutes from across the county and beyond.
The project will be funded in part by $91 million that CSUSM is receiving from Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Legislature in their $300 billion budget for 2022-23. Of the $497 million being allocated for student housing projects on nine California State University campuses, CSUSM is being given the second-highest amount.
The UVSS construction will follow on the heels of new student housing and dining that are opening this year. North Commons, which opened for the start of the fall semester on Aug. 29, houses 332 students in the North City development across from CSUSM. Also in North City is Campus Way Cafe, an 8,000-square-foot dining hall that will open in September.
The UVSS project will establish a true first-year residential housing program geared toward acclimating students to university life. Ample space will be provided for administrative offices, living-learning classrooms and community rooms, and spaces to support basic needs programing such as a mental health liaison, a registered dietician and staff support.
CSUSM will make a commitment to offer available housing at UVSS to low-income students. Fifty-five percent of CSUSM students are first-generation college students, while 44 percent have an exceptional financial need.
Top Photo: Rendering of the planned student housing and dining facility.
Cal State San Marcos housing demands
Cal State San Marcos is experiencing tremendous demand for additional housing, especially due to the high cost of living in the San Diego region. Off-campus housing costs have made local housing unattainable for many, especially underrepresented minorities and first-generation students. A recent institutional demand study revealed an ongoing demand of 571 beds based on current enrollment and a projected demand of 868 beds based on an increased enrollment of 20,000 students.
Until this year, Cal State San Marcos’ housing capacity was 1,547, less than 10 percent of the university’s student population. The University Village Apartments, built in 2003 as CSUSM’s first on-campus housing complex, features space for 681 residents. The QUAD, which opened in 2013 after CSUSM collaborated with a private partner to build suite-style units (like UVA), houses 866. When the University Village Student Success (UVSS) Housing and Dining Project is completed, the capacity figure will rise to more than 15 percent of the student population.
For many students, however, a true residential experience is often viewed as an option only for those with the financial means to make it a reality.
“Students should never have to decide between paying for rent or school supplies, or decide which utilities or basic needs they can live without while pursuing their dreams of becoming a teacher, nurse, scientist or entrepreneur,” said Jason Schreiber, CSUSM’s dean of students. “This new project will result in a clear public benefit, providing low-cost student housing and reduced rents so that students can focus their attention where it matters: their hopes and dreams for the future.”
Sharp Healthcare buys corporate office campus
in Kearny Mesa to convert to medical space
Sharp Healthcare Inc., one of San Diego’s larges health care providers, has purchased a 95,000-square-foot, two-building corporate office campus in Kearny Mesa for $27.5 million, and intends to convert most of the property to medical space. The seller was Jack Henry & Associates Inc. of Missouri. The property is at 8975-8985 Balboa Ave.
Brandon Keith, senior vice president, and Randy LaChance, executive vice president, of Voit Real Estate Services’ San Diego office directed the sale. Michael LaBelle of Savills USA represented Sharp.
“Sharp Healthcare already has a significant presence in the Kearny Mesa market. Due to the recently updated Kearny Mesa Community Plan, the surrounding area is poised to see significant residential growth over the next 10 + years, and this central location will allow Sharp to service that growing Kearny Mesa population,” said Keith.
LaChance said the buildings offered additional features conducive to medical space conversion, including high ceiling heights, heavy power, and a large back-up power generator.
San Diego law firm holds grand opening
of Tijuana office despite border violence
San Diego-based tax law firm Hone Maxwell LLP, nonetheless, is not letting the unrest keep it from fulfilling its commitment to its professional partners in Mexico.
This week, the firm is holding its Tijuana office grand opening. The office serves as a hub for the firm’s attorneys and staff to continue their close working relationships with their financial and legal counterparts in Mexico.
It’s a scary time in Tijuana but Managing Partner Josh Maxwell understands that keeping up strong relations is important to the individuals and businesses who rely on these cross-border ties to keep industry moving.
Failure to do so impacts people’s livelihoods, the supply chain and the global economy.
“Hone Maxwell began 10 years ago as a California law firm founded by two law school friends and is now an international firm serving clients across Asia, Mexico and elsewhere,” said Maxwell. “It is important to me to maintain strong ties to the Mexican community. With many clients, attorneys and staff — and my wife — all from Mexico, I am professionally and personally proud to establish our Tijuana office and to be able to work more effectively with our clients and partners south of the border.”
MedCrypt appoints Naomi Schwartz as senior
director of cybersecurity quality and safety
San Diego-based MedCrypt Inc., the proactive cybersecurity solution provider for medical devices, has hired Naomi Schwartz as its new senior director of cybersecurity quality and safety.
Prior to MedCrypt, Schwartz was a premarket reviewer and consumer safety officer for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health. With over 20 years of systems engineering experience, Schwartz’s primary focus at MedCrypt will be to lead analysis of cybersecurity designs for medical devices and help medical device manufacturers optimize their cybersecurity framework to meet guidelines set by the FDA.
During her time with the FDA, Schwartz approved the software and cybersecurity for the world’s first regulated Automated Insulin Dosing (AID) System and created Class II pathways for the three major components of AID systems, a game-changer for supporting patients with insulin-dependent diabetes.
She was also the FDA’s liaison on standards for cybersecurity of diabetes devices and for EMC of In Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) devices. Prior to that, Schwartz spent 15 years supporting the Department of Defense as a contractor, specializing in radar system requirements and performance analyses, system design, and independent verification and validation.
Illumina deepens commitment to customers
in China with new manufacturing site
Illumina Inc. announced the opening of its first manufacturing site in China. The new Shanghai-based facility enables localized production for Illumina’s gene sequencing instruments and consumables and reflects the growing demand in the Chinese market for Illumina’s systems and products.
“Our new manufacturing site in Shanghai will allow us to bring more of our innovative and life-changing technologies to the region,” said Kevin Pegels, chief of global operations at Illumina. “This investment also creates greater efficiencies in our global supply chain to meet increasing customer demand in this critical growth geography.”
The new Illumina China manufacturing site will initially produce 16 sequencing reagents for clinical use, with production on the first batch of products scheduled to begin by the end of this year. The company aims to achieve complete localized production for its gene sequencing instruments and consumables within the next five years.
San Diego Promise enrollment reaches all-time
high at San Diego Community College District
The San Diego Community College District saw record-breaking interest in the San Diego Promise with 2,349 students enrolling in the program for fall 2022, which began on August 22. The new cohort joins 1,400 peers entering their second year of the two-year program.
This year’s enrollment saw an extra boost after the initial deadline of August 15 was extended by a week. In total, the SDCCD received 4,487 applications this fall – also a program record. Students who sign a contract to enroll in the San Diego Promise receive up to two years of free tuition and fees toward San Diego City, Mesa, or Miramar colleges.
Students accepted into the San Diego Promise must attend an orientation, sign a Promise contract, maintain a 2.0 college GPA, meet with a counselor each semester, and complete a comprehensive education plan. Along with free tuition and book grants, other benefits of the San Diego Promise program include individualized counseling and guidance support, access to peer mentors, and coverage of student health fees.
Million-dollar homes being sold are getting smaller
Sales of homes costing $1 million more than doubled over the past three years, but as with
many products in the grocery store, buyers are getting less than they used to, according to a new analysis by Zillow.
Million-dollar homes are getting smaller. Homes that sold at or near $1 million contracted nearly 500 square feet, from a peak of 3,021 in the middle of 2020 to a valley of 2,530 in early 2022, according to floor plan data for Zillow listings. Home size bounced back before July and is now 2,624 square feet, down 397 square feet from the 2020 peak.
“Buyers with seven-figure budgets shopping for homes during the pandemic were doing so coming off the longest period of economic growth in U.S. history and with the help of historically low interest rates,” said Anushna Prakash, economic data analyst at Zillow. “Sales for expensive homes soared while buyers in the heat of competition accepted smaller layouts.”
The typical home in the $1 million range shrank in nearly every major metropolitan area. The largest declines are found in Phoenix — down 1,116 square feet from 2019 to 2022 — and Nashville, where these homes lost 1,019 square feet.
Point Predictive launches BorrowCheck for auto dealers
Point Predictive Inc., the San Diego-based company that provides artificial intelligence solutions to lenders, has launched BorrowerCheck for Dealers, the company’s first solution designed specifically for automotive dealerships. BorrowerCheck enables auto dealers to recognize borrowers with income, employment, and identity-related risks that may result in a demand to buy back the loan from the lender or add friction to future loan applications.
The solution offers a more accurate and comprehensive view of borrower risk than the red-flag solutions that dealers use today. BorrowerCheck is the first in a planned suite of products for dealers that will leverage the Point Predictive auto lending consortium. The consortium contains data on more than 120 million historical auto lending applications, 12 billion application risk attributes, and more than 56 million unique consumers.
Point Predictive invites auto dealers who wish to learn more about BorrowerCheck for Dealers to visit https://pointpredictive.com/ or contact info@pointpredictive.com.
Mitchell accelerates total loss settlements
for auto insurers and policyholders
Mitchell, a San Diego company and leading technology and information provider for
the property and casualty claims and collision repair industries, announced that its
advanced vehicle valuation solution now delivers full lender coverage and automated tax and fee calculations for total loss claims. These enhancements are designed to streamline the total loss settlement process for carriers by integrating Mitchell’s advanced WorkCenter platform with market-leading technologies from LossExpress and Claim Toolkit.
“Mitchell is absolutely committed to automating and expediting the claims process for our customers,” said Debbie Day, executive vice president and general manager of Mitchell’s Auto Physical Damage division. “By joining forces with LossExpress and Claim Toolkit, we can help insurers reduce settlement cycle time—allowing them to provide better, faster and more accurate outcomes to their policyholders.
Mitchell WorkCenter Total Loss combines the company’s best-in-class physical damage claims handling solutions with J.D. Power data analysis and pricing techniques to generate fair market values for vehicles declared a total loss.
Petco expands Vital Care membership to
include birds, reptiles, fish and small pets
Petco Health and Wellness Company Inc. announced the expansion of Vital Care, its paid health and wellness membership program, to now include birds, reptiles, fish and small pets. Previously only available for dogs and cats, Vital Care unlocks the best of Petco through exclusive savings and rewards on nutrition, supplies, services, veterinary care and more with benefits tailored to each species’ individual needs.
In the U.S., there are more than 13 million fish, 9 million bird, 6 million small animal and 5 million reptile households that have embraced these pets, and Petco is the first national pet specialty retailer to offer this type of comprehensive wellness plan at scale.
Pet parents can enroll their bird, reptile, fish or small animal into Vital Care for $9.99 per month per pet type. Existing Vital Care members with dogs and cats can also add a bird, reptile, fish or small animal to their plan for an additional $7.99 per month per pet type.
California Lawyers Association
to honor California Chief Justice
The California Lawyers Association will present the inaugural Judicial Excellence Award to outgoing Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye, who is concluding her 12-year term on Jan. 2, 2023, after 32 years of service at every level of the state court system. The award will be presented on Sept. 17.
he Judicial Excellence Award was established to recognize a member of the California Judicial Branch who exemplifies the mission of CLA and is dedicated to promoting excellence, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession. The recipient of the Judicial Excellence Award is also committed to the improvement of the administration of justice and preserving the rule of law.California Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye is a brilliant legal mind and wonderful person,” CLA President Jeremy M. Evans said. “The court, judicial system, and legal community will miss her steadfastness, humility, and care for others. We are also excited for her future and future of the court with Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero at the helm.”
