Daily Business Report-Jan. 9, 2020
Rendering of Jefferson La Mesa, a project of JPI of Irving, Texas.
Luxury multi-family development
planned for downtown La Mesa
JPI of Irving, Texas announced the close of construction financing on Jefferson La Mesa, a four-story luxury multi-family development to be built at the intersection of Baltimore Drive and University Avenue in the heart of downtown La Mesa.
“Jefferson La Mesa is a joint venture with the Kitzman family, who are the long-standing owners of the site,” said David Potter, vice president and area development partner for JPI’s Western Region. “Together, we worked hand-in-hand with the local community and elected officials to envision a property that does not just provide homes but also contributes to the vitality and connectivity of the La Mesa community.”
Jefferson La Mesa will consist of 230 apartment homes over a span of nearly five acres. Scheduled to open in late summer 2021, the four-story garden-style community will feature approximately 205,000 net rentable square feet, including studio, one-, two- and limited three-bedroom units. Apartment homes will feature sleek and contemporary finishes, designer kitchens with islands, SMART home technology and more. Community amenities will include a two-level fitness center with yoga room and cycling studio, co-working space, resort-style pool with cabanas, high-tech resident lounge, pet park with grooming station, outdoor fire pit, and other design features.
________________________
La Jolla Village multi-tenant retail building
sold for $15.3 million to Girard Avenue LP
Girard Avenue LP has purchased a multi-tenant retail building on Prospect Street in La Jolla Village for $15.3 million. The seller was a private family trust.
The property consists of an 8,116-square-foot building on 0.34 acres that is located at 1133-1147 Prospect St. and situated within a prominent core area of La Jolla.
Mike Slattery, Jason Kimmel, Tim Winslow, and Kevin Nolen with Cushman & Wakefield in San Diego represented the seller in the transaction.
________________________
Former motel site to be transformed
into affordable rental apartments
Father Joe’s Villages, working in partnership with Chelsea Investment Corp., will turn a former motel in San Diego into 82 units of rental housing for people experiencing homelessness.
The property, previously known as the EZ-8 Motel, will be called Benson Place, the first development property that Father Joe’s Villages is building through its Turning the Key initiative to create 2,000 new units of affordable homes and permanent supportive housing in San Diego. It is located at 1010 Outer Road and faces Interstate 5 in the Otay Mesa/Nestor area of the city of San Diego.
The development has an estimated development cost of $24.6 million.
The apartments at Benson Place will be affordable to households and individuals experiencing homelessness with income up to 30 percent of the San Diego Area Median Income, which is currently $22,500 a year for an individual. The development also includes one manager’s unit.
________________________
Former industrial site in East County sold
to multi-family developer for $2.3 million
CBRE has announced the sale of the site of a former industrial property and a single family home in El Cajon for $2.28 million to G8 Development, a San Diego-based real estate development firm.
The sale was comprised of two separate transactions of properties located at 1065 and 1067-1069 E. Bradley Ave., respectively. The nearly one-acre property at 1065 E. Bradley Ave was sold for $675,000 and was previously a single-family residence. The larger site, a nearly two-acre property that was previously an industrial lot, is located at 1067-69 E. Bradley and was sold for $1.6 million. The site is zoned for 15 units per acre.
Erik Anderson and John Newtonof CBRE represented the buyer in the transaction. The seller, a private local investor, was represented by an outside broker in a portion of the deal. The CBRE team also represented the seller in part of the deal.
________________________
Flavored tobacco will come
under legislative scrutiny again
by Ben Christopher | CALmatters
A push to ban flavored tobacco, courtesy of Sen. Jerry Hill, a Democrat from Silicon Valley, is back again in the Legislature at Gov. Gavin Newsom’s behest.
Last year, after efforts to ban tasty vapes and flavor-enhanced cigarettes stalled in the Legislature, Newsom asked lawmakers to send him a bill in 2020.
Newsom, in September: “I would like to sign a bill to eliminate the legal use of flavored e-cigarettes.”
Both Hill and Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, a Democrat from Sacramento, had introduced similar bans — both died. McCarty’s was nixed in a committee chaired by Assemblyman Adam Gray, a moderate Democrat from Merced. Hill pulled his version after it was watered down beyond his liking.
This time, Hill has 29 lawmakers on his side, as well as Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis. His Senate Bill 793 would ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, hookah products and flavored vapes.
Compare and contrast: At the beginning of the month, President Trump announced plans to temporarily ban certain flavored vaping products. But that ban does not apply to menthol-flavored products or to “open tank” e-cig systems of any kind.
________________________
New study finds rise in behind-the-scenes
employment of women in film industry
The percentages of women working in key behind-the-scenes roles on the top 100 and 250 grossing films reached historic highs in 2019, though women remained significantly outnumbered compared to their male counterparts according to the 22nd annual “Celluloid Ceiling” report released by Martha Lauzen, executive director of San Diego State University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film.
Women comprised 20 of all directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers working on the top 100 (domestic) grossing films of 2019, up from 16 percent in 2018. Women also accounted for 21 percent of individuals in these roles on the top 250 films, up slightly from 20 percent in 2018. Women held steady at 23 percent of individuals in key behind-the-scenes roles on the top 500 films.
“While the numbers moved in a positive direction this year, men continue to outnumber women four-to-one in key behind-the-scenes roles. It’s odd to talk about reaching historic highs when women remain so far from parity,” Lauzen said.
Women made up 12 percent of directors working on the top 100 grossing films in 2019, up from 4 percent in 2018 (and 8 percent in 2017), and 13 percent on the top 250 films, up from 8 percent in 2018 (and 11 percent in 2017). These figures represent historic highs, however, the percentage of women working as directors on the top 500 films declined slightly from 15 percent in 2018 to 14 percent in 2019.
________________________
Applications open Jan. 13 for tuition-free
San Diego Promise Program
Students interested in attending San Diego City, Mesa, or Miramar College next fall without having to pay tuition can sign up for the San Diego Promise program beginning January 13.
The San Diego Promise provides up to two years of free tuition and health fees, book grants for eligible students, sessions with peer mentors, and guidance from academic counselors to ensure educational and career goals are met. Promise participants must be a first-time college student and a California resident who will graduate from a California high school or earn the equivalent of a high school diploma in 2020, or who are San Diego Continuing Education students transitioning to City, Mesa, or Miramar. Undocumented immigrants also are eligible under Assembly Bill 540 guidelines.
Promise students are required to enroll in at least 12 units each semester while maintaining a 2.0 GPA.
Besides completing a Fall 2020 Promise application, students interested in the tuition-free program must complete a Fall 2020 admissions application for City, Mesa, or Miramar College; a 2020 FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form or Dream Act application; meet with an academic counselor; and attend an on-campus Promise orientation during the summer.
________________________
San Diego’s TorreyCove Capital Partners
to be acquired by Aksia LLC
TorreyCove Capital Partners LLC, an investments advisory and consulting firm based in San Diego, is being acquired by New York-based Aksia LLC. The transaction is espected to close in the first half of 2020. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The combination of Aksia and TorreyCove brings together two specialist investment research and advisory firms serving the needs of institutional investors in alternative investments. Aksia specializes in private credit and hedge fund strategies whereas TorreyCove specializes in private equity and real asset strategies.
The combined firm will advise on over $160 billion in alternative assets with more than 240 professionals globally, including over 150 professionals focused on investment research and risk management.
Following the transaction, Aksia will remain headquartered in New York, with offices in San Diego, London, Tokyo, Boston, Athens, and Hong Kong. TorreyCove’s five managing directors will be welcomed as partners of Aksia and assume senior management positions.
________________________
San Diego Continuing Education
Foundation receives $200,000 grant
San Diego Continuing Education’s Foundation (SDCEF) received a $200,000 grant award to support a learning community for homeless adult students ages 25 and older. The Lucky Duck Foundation awarded SDCEF the grant, which will provide case management style counseling, textbooks, food, transportation, healing workshops and paid internships.
At SDCE, students enroll in a course of study that lasts between 6 months and 3 years. Students complete high school equivalencies; study and improve basic skills such as English or math, or attend free career training classes that lead to certificates of completion in more than 70 industry areas including health care careers, welding and business. Many students facing housing insecurity need additional support to complete certificates successfully and on time.
________________________
‘Troubling’ audit reveals state failure
to test millions of babies for toxic lead
Calmatters
Millions of California toddlers who should have been tested for lead exposure have not received state and federally mandated blood tests, in part because the health hazard – a particular threat to poor children – has not been prioritized by state public health agencies, a state audit reported Tuesday.
In a searing review of a problem that has persisted for years nationally and in California, State Auditor Elaine Howle found some 1.4 million toddlers enrolled in Medi-Cal had gone untested for lead exposure between over the past decade, and another 740,000 missed one of two required screenings — a failure encompassing nearly three-quarters of the 3 million toddlers covered by the state’s publicly-funded health insurance program.
Federal and state laws require the state Department of Health Care Services to make sure blood lead level tests are administered to babies enrolled in Medicaid — known as Medi-Cal in California — when they reach the ages of 12 months and 24 months.
________________________
Retired U. S. Marine Corps colonel joins
Cognitive Medical Systems as CEO
Christina Murphy, a retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel, has joined Cognitive Medical Systems as its new CEO.
Murphy holds more than 25 years of experience in leading teams from five to 600 in financial and operational growth initiatives.
While serving on active duty for the Marine Corps, Murphy planned, coordinated, executed, and supervised a wide array of logistics functions, including supply, maintenance, transportation, general engineering, and health services in a variety of environments, including stints in Iraq and Afghanistan. She held positions of increasing scope and responsibility — from platoon commander through an aviation ground logistics squadron — throughout her 22-year career. Murphy’s promotion to colonel came one year ahead of her peers among a group of five from a field of 160 to achieve that rank.
Murphy received her bachelor’s of science degree from Eastern Michigan University and Certified Supply Chain Professional designation through APICS.
