Daily Business Report: Friday, Sept. 16, 2022
Harbor Island West Marina scheduled for a $16 million
renovation by San Diego’s Pacific Building Group
San Diego-based Pacific Building Group has been awarded the Harbor Island West Marina project involving a complete demolition and renovation of the current marina at 2040 Harbor Island Drive. HIW Associates, who has owned and managed the marina since 1982, awarded the contract.
With an estimated cost of $16 million, the 16,000-square-foot project’s scope of work includes the construction of two new buildings: a 9,980-square-foot, two-story retail building connected with a 5,000-square-foot, two-story marina building.
Additions will also include an 800-square-foot west boater restroom building and new recreation areas featuring a pool, picnic area and site landscape. The marina will also renovate and bring back its full-service fuel dock, deli, jacuzzi and 620 boat slips, and continue to offer its sailing academy.
Joining PBG on the project is AO Architect based in Orange, Calif. Construction on the marina is anticipated to begin in January 2024, with an estimated completion date of January 2025.
The marina project follows Pacific Building Group’s $25 million transformation of Portside Pier waterfront restaurant along the North Embarcadero in 2020.
Top Photo: A rendering of the future Harbor Island West Marina project, which will include a complete demolition and renovation of the current marina located at 2040 Harbor Island Drive.
Single-family home sales in San Diego County
see month-to-month drop of 5 percent in August
Single-family home sales in San Diego County experienced a month-to-month drop of 5 percent in August — down from its high mark of $1 million in April — but overall resale home sales increased in the late summer heat, according to housing statistics compiled through the San Diego Multiple Listing Service by the Greater San Diego Association of Realtors.
Although detached properties saw a price cut, the median price of attached properties (condos and townhomes) was unchanged in August. That’s not to discount the fact that prices in the county are nearly 15 percent higher year-to-date compared to 2021.
August’s single-family home sales increased month-over-month by more than 14 percent and attached property sales rose by 10 percent. Notably, the one-year increase in the number of homes for sale in the San Diego market was 21 percent. Compared to the same month last year, however, sales are down by 30 percent.
“The market is shifting in a more buyer-friendly direction with more inventory of homes on the market for a longer amount of time,” said SDAR President Chris Anderson. “Still, inflation and higher interest rates are keeping some buyers on the sidelines waiting for price growth to level out; however, an interest rate hike does more damage to the buyer affordability and qualifying than higher prices. We recommend, if you qualify now, buy now.”
Most expensive property sold in August
The most expensive single-family property sold in August in San Diego County was a newly built modern estate on Clubhouse Drive in Rancho Santa Fe. Featuring dual private offices, a resort-style gym and wellness center, and a pool/spa, the 11,622-square-foot two-story property has 6 bedrooms, 8 baths, and 5 garage spaces. It sold on Aug. 8 for $16,595,000.
Is county pushing homeless people into El Cajon?
Mayor, supervisors disagree
By Gary Warth
Civic leaders in El Cajon are claiming the county is placing an unfair burden on their city by providing a large number of homeless people from other areas with rooms in their local hotels. “My question is, how many of these people are being housed in Del Mar, Solana Beach or Escondido?” El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells said. “My guess is zero.”
Wells said his city received no notification from the county that a high number of homeless people were using county vouchers to stay in El Cajon hotels.
“Why would they not discuss that with us?” he said. “Why would we have to find that out by putting two and two together?”
Following a press conference in El Cajon on Wednesday morning and some sharp responses from county officials, Wells said a positive step toward better communication had resulted, with El Cajon City Manager Graham Mitchell expected to discuss the issue that afternoon with a county administrator.
California sues Amazon, alleging its
policies cause higher prices everywhere
By Alina Selyukh and Raquel Maria Dillon | CalMatters
California sued Amazon on Wednesday, accusing the company of pushing sellers and suppliers into anticompetitive deals that lead to higher prices, including at rival online stores.
The lawsuit filed by state Attorney General Rob Bonta, focuses on the way Amazon — the largest online retailer — deals with third-party merchants, who account for most of the sales on the platform.
California alleges that Amazon penalizes sellers and suppliers that offer cheaper prices elsewhere on the internet, including Walmart and Target, for example by displaying their items lower or less prominently or outright blocking their new postings.
“Amazon makes consumers think they are getting the lowest prices possible,” the lawsuit alleges, “when in fact, they cannot get the low prices that would prevail in a freely competitive market because Amazon has coerced and induced its third-party sellers and wholesale suppliers to enter into anticompetitive agreements on price.”
California’s antitrust lawsuit is among the biggest legal challenges to Amazon in recent years, as lawmakers and regulators in the U.S. and abroad have investigated the retail giant for potential anticompetitive practices.
An Amazon spokesperson denied any antitrust violations, pointed out that a similar case in the District of Columbia was dismissed, and said the California Attorney General has it backwards.
Former Fresh Start Surgical Gifts patient
to speak at annual Butterfly Ball on Oct. 1
National nonprofit Fresh Start Surgical Gifts of San Diego will host its 31st annual Butterfly Ball, themed “The Wild West” on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the Hard Rock Hotel in Downtown San Diego. The event will celebrate over 8,600 children whose lives have been transformed through the gift of a Fresh Start. Former patient Tara Balady, who gained her fresh start back in 2008, when she received her seventh and last cosmetic surgery, will speak.
Fresh Start celebrates 31 years of life-changing work by the doctors and staff, along with their volunteers, partners and donors who have supported them along the way, giving each child a chance to live life apart from their condition.
Fresh Start Surgical Gifts is dedicated to transforming the lives of disadvantaged youth with physical deformities by providing comprehensive reconstructive surgery at no cost to the patient and their family. All of the world-class medical professionals generously donate their time and talent to deliver much-needed medical care and one hundred percent of all financial contributions go directly toward the patients. Every dollar donated allows Fresh Start to gift five dollars in medical services.
SDSU grad named permanent
host of ‘KPBS Roundtable’ radio show
Matt Hoffman, a SDSU grad who started work as a newsroom assistant at KPBS in 2013, has been named the new permanent host of “KPBS Roundtable,” a weekly radio program discussing the week’s top stories.
Hoffman has been filling in as interim host of “Roundtable” for the past year.
Hoffman worked in the newsroom until he graduated from SDSU in 2017.
He was hired as a general assignment reporter in August 2017 and as the health reporter in April 2021. He will also maintain his position as health reporter in addition to his “KPBS Roundtable” hosting duties.
Hoffman He previously worked at NBC San Diego as a writer and editor for their weekend morning shows.
Prior to joining KPBS as a reporter, Matt spent time interning at Fox Sports San Diego, The Mighty 1090, 97 Rock, and 1270 TheFan.
“KPBS Roundtable” airs Fridays at 12:30 p.m. on KPBS FM.
Erik Edwards joins CBRE’s San Diego
office as a senior vice president
Erik Edwards has joined CBRE’s San Diego office as a senior vice president with the company’s Debt and Structured Finance Group. Edwards will partner with senior vice president Norm Sangalang with the CBRE National Manufactured Housing & RV Resorts Specialty Practice to help build the company’s Manufactured Housing Communities (MHC) platform and provide financing for MHC investors and landlords.
With more than 21 years of experience in commercial real estate finance,Edwards joins CBRE from Wells Fargo.
Most recently, he served as director with the bank’s Multifamily Capital Finance Group, where he led and participated in originating and closing more than $5 billion in agency loans, and other loans brokered to outside lenders, on MHC throughout the U.S.
Before serving as irector at Wells Fargo, he was a vice president with the bank’s real estate capital markets, real estate managed assets, and real estate merchant banking groups.
During that time, he was responsible for all small loan commercial mortgage-backed securities originations in the Western U.S., managed a portfolio of distressed commercial real estate loans in the wake of the Great Recession, and worked on balance sheet programs and construction loan originations for the bank’s clients.
Explore Scripps Pier at sunset with Birch Aquarium naturalist
Starting this fall, outdoor enthusiasts will once again have the rare opportunity to experience breathtaking sunsets while taking a stroll on the iconic Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier as part of the 2022-2023 Outdoor Adventures programming at Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
During Sunset Pier Walks, guests will join Birch Aquarium naturalists on an exclusive walking tour of Scripps Pier — which is normally closed to the public — and learn about fieldwork being conducted by Scripps Oceanography researchers. The 90-minute tour features hands-on science stations where guests can scoop up plankton, examine samples under the microscope, dissect a squid and learn about local shark research. Guests will also have the opportunity to watch surfers and keep an eye out for wildlife — including dolphins, sea lions and leopard sharks — from this unique vantage point.
Sunset Pier Walks run on select Saturdays and Sundays from Sept 25 to Nov. 5. Additional dates may be added at a later time. Click here for more information.
AceloBio obtains accreditation
from College of American Pathologists
AcelaBio Inc., a contract research organization delivering histopathology and precision medicine laboratory services for global clinical trials, achieved its accreditation by the College of American Pathologists (CAP). CAP accreditation indicates that the laboratory meets stringent requirements of quality, accuracy, and consistency of test results to ensure optimal assessment of patient diagnoses and outcomes. It also ensures that the laboratory complies with the standards of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) since CAP requirements commonly exceed those standards. The assessment by CAP is performed according to discipline-specific checklists that include the latest best practices to ensure the laboratory follows rapidly evolving changes in laboratory medicine and technology.
Hot Pepper Mobile partners with NextNav to bring
vertical location technology to upcoming device
Mobile phone developer Hot Pepper Mobile, a San Diego-based company, and NextNav, a leader in next generation GPS, announced a new agreement that will bring NextNav’s Pinnacle vertical location technology to Hot Pepper Mobile’s upcoming feature phone on a tier-one carrier’s network, scheduled for release in 2023. The partnership will bring z-axis geolocation capabilities, which are increasingly critical for 911 emergency services, search and rescue, and lone worker safety, to an accessible and affordable consumer device. The license will also allow Hot Pepper Mobile to supply phones equipped with z-axis 911 technology to all major wireless US carrier partners.
Traditional 2D location technology is often insufficient or ineffective, particularly in dense, urban areas, which can be especially dangerous in time-sensitive emergency situations. NextNav Pinnacle leads the industry in providing precise, highly secure vertical location data – in independent tests conducted by CTI to measure z-axis capabilities, Pinnacle delivered “floor-level” accuracy in 94 percent of test calls, a level unrivaled by any other available technology.
Borrego sign agreement with Gotion High-Tech
San Diego-based Borrego, a leading EPC and O&M provider for large-scale solar and energy storage projects throughout the United States, has entered into a master supply agreement with Gotion High-Tech, one of the world’s leading battery and energy storage system manufacturers. The supply deal will provide Borrego with gigawatt-hours of secure, fixed-price volume capacity of Gotion’s DC block storage equipment, which will be available for customer delivery starting in 2023.
Gotion is a global tier-one vertically integrated stationary and EV battery and storage system manufacturer, with multi-gigawatt-hour production capacities. The company’s product line includes both liquid- and air-cooled UL-certified modular storage solutions featuring advanced lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery technology. Gotion’s U.S. headquarters and R&D facility are in Silicon Valley, and it has more than 100 megawatt-hours of storage systems installed in a variety of applications across the country.
Jamul Casino hosts first drag show, ‘Drag it Out’
Jamul Casino will host its first ever drag show, “Drag it Out” on Saturday. The 8 p.m. event will be at Jamul Casino’s star-lit, open-air venue, The Rooftop. Featuring San Diego’s top drag entertainers, the event promises to be a dazzling showcase of larger-than-life performances and celebrity impersonations. Located at 14145 Campo Road, Jamul Casino is San Diego’s newest and closest casino.
The “Drag it Out” show will bring together numerous renowned drag queens, including Paris Sukomi Max, Lala Too, Michele Ada, Disco Dollie, Keex Rose, Naomi Daniels, and the legendary Chad Michaels, one of the world’s premier Cher impersonators.
“Drag it Out” is a small way for us to embrace the LGBTQ2S+ community and express our desire to welcome people from all walks of life to our home and our nation,” said Erica M. Pinto, chairwoman of the Jamul Indian Village. “The event should be a blast—I can’t wait to see what the divas have planned!”
RIGGED wins Best Original Music by San Diego Movie Awards
RIGGED has been awarded Honorable Mention – Best Original Music by the San Diego Movie Awards, the independent festival that honors films and filmmakers across the globe, recognizing each type of artist involved in the filmmaking process.
This award follows RIGGED’s recent win for Best Short Documentary at the Septimius Awards held in Amsterdam earlier this year.
RIGGED’s recognition in the Best Original Music category is for Music Composer Garrett Wolfston, a professional music and film score composer whose original compositions are featured throughout the documentary.
Watch the RIGGED trailer, full-length film, and reviews here.
Sēd Communications launches The Greenhouse
Sēd Communications, a female-run marketing agency founded by advertising and PR industry veteran Loretta Markevics, has launched The Greenhouse, an in-house incubator within Sēd that invents brands and products to directly support the startup community. Brands created in The Greenhouse are also used as testing grounds for trying out new marketing innovations, tactics and technologies before they are recommended to the agency’s current startup clients.
The plan for the Greenhouse is to launch one new brand per year and any profits to be invested back into marketing those brands. Sēd’s agency team supplies all marketing support for the Greenhouse brands and as the owners of the brands they launch, the agency will use Greenhouse brands as a testing ground to experiment with new marketing tactics, technologies, and approaches.
“Through the addition of The Greenhouse within Sēd we are able to provide an ecosystem of support for the startup community beyond marketing services,” says Markevics.
