Daily Business Report: January 9, 2024
Visual Capitalist
Most Popular Neighborhoods for Potential U.S. Homebuyers
By NeoMam Studios
Location, location, location. This phrase has been a real estate mantra since time immemorial, and rightly so. Finding the right home is impossible without finding the right neighborhood.
Thousands of U.S. homebuyers scout online real estate marketplaces daily, searching for the right home. But these sites also attract window shoppers curious about the country’s nicest neighborhoods and luxurious homes.
HouseFresh has compiled the top 20 most popular neighborhoods by online interest, based on the search history of Zillow users.
In the post-pandemic world, surging housing prices have been a critical concern for American homebuyers. That’s likely why the most popular neighborhood—Northeast Dallas, which is highly sought-after for being in a strong market with lots of options in both size and affordability—can outperform more famous neighborhoods in viewing interest.
Here are how different neighborhoods in the U.S. stacked up:
Other strong cities for both first-time and second-time home buyers performed well. With affordable house values, sunny skies, large recreation spaces, and a dry climate, Phoenix had the strongest interest for a single city with three neighborhoods in the top 10: Camelback East, North Mountain, and Deer Valley.
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Alaska Airlines cancels 170 flights
on Sunday, 60 more on Monday
Alaska Airlines said it had canceled 170 flights on Sunday and a further 60 on Monday, after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of 171 Boeing 737 MAX-9 airplanes to run inspections. The airline said cancellations would continue through the first half of the week. The Sunday cancellations affected nearly 25,000 guests, added the Seattle-based carrier, which has 65 737 MAX-9 aircraft in its fleet.
The FAA on Saturday ordered the temporary grounding of 171 Boeing jets installed with the same panel after an eight-week-old Alaska Airlines jet was forced to make an emergency landing with a gap in the fuselage.
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New California housing laws aimed
to streamline building process take effect in 2024
By Ben Christopher | CalMatters
If California wants to build its way out of its long term housing shortage, plenty of things stand in its way in 2024: high interest rates, sluggish local approval processes and a persistent shortage of skilled construction workers, among others.
But a slew of housing bills from the 2023 legislative session going into effect on Jan. 1 promise to ease or eliminate some of the other burdens.
Among the batch of fresh housing laws are an especially high profile set by San Francisco Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener: Senate Bill 423 re-ups and expands a law that speeds up the approval of apartment building in which some units are set aside for lower income Californians, while SB 4 does something similar for affordable housing on property owned by religious institutions and nonprofit colleges.
Wiener’s two new laws set the tone of housing legislation in 2023, where ripping out barriers and boosting incentives for housing construction emerged as the dominant theme.
“The era of saying no to housing is coming to an end,” Wiener said in a statement after the two bills were signed.
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State judge recommends $4,000 civil fine for Ash
Street broker, but senior official rejects proposal
The broker behind the city of San Diego’s notorious Ash Street lease, which is costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars for a still unusable building, should pay a $4,000 fine for working both sides of the transaction, a state administrative law judge found. But the top California Department of Real Estate official rejected the proposed penalty against Jason Hughes. He alone will now decide whether or how the San Diego broker should be disciplined.
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County supports federal initiative to
protect immigrant military families
By Cassie N. Saunders | County of San Diego
The County’s Office of Military and Veterans Affairs is promoting a federal immigration program that supports immigrant families of U.S. service members.
The Military Parole in Place (MPIP) program provides some members of U.S. military families temporary permission to remain in the country while seeking permanent residency.
The temporary immigration status allows spouses, widow(er)s, parents and children of U.S. service members to stay, work and travel freely in the United States. The Board of Supervisors previously approved promoting the program to reaffirm the County’s support for service members and their families.
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NanoImaging Services names John Rigg as CEO
NanoImaging Services, the leading provider of cryo-electron microscopy services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology communities, announced the appointment of John Rigg as chief executive officer. Brian Conkle, who served as interim CEO in 2023, will remain at NIS as chief operating officer. Rigg brings over 20 years of leadership experience within the pharmaceutical and biomanufacturing industrie. Most recently, he served as CEO of Exelead Biopharma, a biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization.
Bristol Myers Squibb acquires RayzeBio for $4.1 billion
Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) has acquired San Diego-based radiopharmaceutical therapeutics company RayzeBio for $4.1 billion, following its $358 million IPO in Q3 of 2023. The acquisition enhances BMS’s diversified oncology portfolio and leverages RayzeBio’s actinium-based radiopharmaceutical platform targeting solid tumors.
Debbie Ung named president of Blanchard
Blanchard, a global pioneer in leadership development, consulting, and coaching for more than 40 years, named Debbie Ung as president in addition to her appointment as chief revenue officer. Other leadership transitions include Scott Blanchard shifting from president to chief executive officer and Tom McKee moving from CEO to chairman of the board. Ung, formerly executive vice president of sales and professional services, brings more than 25 years of industry experience to the role.
ASML, Samsung invest $760 million to build plant in South Korea
Tech giants ASML and Samsung Electronics will jointly invest $760 million to build a semiconductor processing technology plant in South Korea. Part of a “semiconductor alliance” between the Netherlands and South Korea, the investment aims to enhance global supply chains amid the growing strategic importance of semiconductors. With both ASML and Samsung present in San Diego, the partnership reflects strengthening and innovation ties between the Netherlands, South Korea, and U.S.
County launches $2 million grant program to tackle inequity
San Diego County’s new Equity Impact Grant program will invest $200 million over two years into community-driven initiatives that address inequity. Each year, the program will grant 10 San Diego-based social impact organizations $100,000 each in general operating funds, capacity-building support, and tailored coaching from the Nonprofit Institute at the University of San Diego to address inequities in food systems, housing, youth empowerment, and more.
San Diego companies: Host summer interns at no cost
In conjunction with the Border Region Talent Pipeline K-16 Collaborative, companies in San Diego and Imperial Counties are invited to apply to host funded computing, engineering, and/or business interns for the summer of 2024. Internship applicants will be sourced through Advancing San Diego’s Verified Programs, ensuring they are learning the industry’s most in-demand skills. Sign up here.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities is celebrating its 30th anniversary
Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc., the longest-tenured and pioneering owner, operator and developer of collaborative life science, agtech and advanced technology mega campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its one-of-a-kind, once-in-a-generation company. Alexandria pioneered the novel Labspace niche and created the first-ever REIT uniquely focused on the critically important life science industry with its founding on Jan. 5, 1994.
Heron Therapeutics in partnership with CrossLink Life Sciences
Heron Therapeutics Inc., a commercial-stage biotechnology company, announced that it has entered into a five-year distributor partnership with CrossLink Life Sciences LLC to expand the sales network supporting ZYNRELEF (bupivacaine and meloxicam) extended-release solution. The partnership will launch in several phases, initially at a regional level, followed by an expanded national rollout.
Del Mar Highlands Town Center supports education for youth
Del Mar Highlands Town Center (DMHTC) has partnered with Just in Time for Foster Youth (JIT) to empower young adults ages 18-26 to reach their educational dreams. DMHTC’s investment of $45,000 in JIT’s College Bound service will support over 150 transition age foster youth to launch their college journeys and make it all the way to graduation and beyond.
Janux Therapeutics promotes Tommy DiRaimondo to chief scientific officer
Janux Therapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a broad pipeline of novel immunotherapies by applying its proprietary technology to its Tumor Activated T Cell Engager and Tumor Activated Immunomodulator platforms, announced the promotion of Dr. Tommy DiRaimondo to chief scientific officer. In his prior role as head of research, DiRaimondo was instrumental in successfully transitioning Janux’s PSMA-TRACTr and EGFR-TRACTr programs from research into clinical trials.
