Daily Business Report-Nov. 23, 2020
Rendering of Simone, 36-story high-rise planned for Downtown. (Courtesy of Trammell Crow Residential)
36-story luxury residential
high-rise going up in Little Italy
Groundbreaking for apartments, penhouses, affordable units
The Southern California division of Trammell Crow Residential (TCR) is breaking ground on construction of Simone, a luxury, 36-story high-rise in San Diego’s Little Italy consisting of 358 market-rate apartments, five penthouses, 32 subsidized apartments for low-income residents, 32,000 square feet of resort-style amenity spaces and ample parking.
Located at 1401 Union St., at the intersection of Ash Street, Simone offers panoramic views of San Diego Bay. The 0.6-acre site is bounded by Union, Ash and Front streets and occupies half a city block.
The 612,000-square-foot community, which was designed for LEED Gold certification, is scheduled for completion in 2023. The residential tower, with 30 floors of apartments, will sit atop a six-story podium with three levels of underground parking and four levels of above ground parking. Simone is a joint venture between TCR, Pacific Life Insurance Company and AAA Management.
The community features a landscaped rooftop pool, spa and entertainment space; a Sky Club with panoramic city views, demonstration kitchen and indoor-outdoor lounges and dining spaces; a 4,000-square-foot indoor-outdoor, fitness center; a 10,000-square-foot outdoor lounge with a movie projector screen; dog park, pet lounge and spa; Amazon lockers; a bike repair shop with storage; a co-working business center and more.
Apartments will range from 577-square-foot studios to 1,097-square-foot two-bedroom units. There are also five 1,500-square-foot penthouses on the 35th and 36th levels.
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Board of Supervisors approves
Otay Ranch Village 13 project
San Diego County supervisors approved a project Wednesday that could build nearly 1,900 “zero-net-energy” solar-powered homes, condos, commercial space, parks, trails, open space, a school site, a fire/sheriff’s station and a hotel in South County between the City of Chula Vista and Jamul.
The Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to approve the Otay Ranch Resort Village 13 project. The project has long been anticipated under the Otay Ranch Plan the Board adopted in 1993.
Supervisors Greg Cox, Dianne Jacob, Kristin Gaspar and Jim Desmond voted to approve the project. Supervisor Nathan Fletcher voted to oppose the project.
The project is located on 1,938 acres in the unincorporated county 2.5 miles east of State Route 125 and Interstate 805, just east of the City of Chula Vista and 12 miles southeast of Jamul. The project plans to build 1,881 all-electric, solar-powered homes, 57 multi-family units, 20,000 square feet of commercial space in a village core, 25 acres of public and private parks, nine miles of community trails and pathways and 860 acres of open space.
Also included would be a 10-acre school site, a 6.1 acre homeowners association facility, a 2.5 acre joint use fire station and sheriff’s storefront and a 16 acre, 200-room resort hotel with outdoor plazas and retail space. County officials said the project expects to be built in phases over the next 8 to 10 years, depending upon market conditions.
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EDC study: San Diego ‘creative economy’
generates $11 billion a year
Musicians, actors, graphic artists, and other members of San Diego’s “creative economy” generate $11.1 billion in annual economic impact for the region, according to a joint report developed by EDC and the City of San Diego. EDC’s Mark Cafferty notes that with a 23 percent decline in jobs during the pandemic, it is imperative to work with arts and cultural leaders to create a more diverse and resilient arts industry to weather future economic downturns—for the sake of the vibrancy of San Diego’s communities and culture.
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Alaska Airlines launches flights to Cancún and
Fort Lauderdale from San Diego International Airport
Alaska Airlines launched its first flight to Cancún, Mexico via Cancún International Airport from San Diego International Airport on Friday. The winter seasonal service to Cancún marks the first time the airport has had nonstop service to this popular destination in over a decade. The airline has begun nonstop service to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. via Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport. This is the first time Alaska Airlines will offer nonstop service from San Diego to Fort Lauderdale.
New flights to Cancún operate four times weekly until April 12, 2021 providing the region’s leisure travelers a convenient way to get to the popular vacation destination without having to connect or fly from regional hubs. Flights to Fort Lauderdale operate three times weekly. For available flight days and times, please visit alaskaair.com.
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How Bank of America helped fuel
California’s unemployment meltdown
By Lauren Hepler and Stephen Council | CalMatters
For a brief moment this summer, Stephanie Moore thought she might finally see a glimmer of hope at the end of the coronavirus recession. Unemployment benefits provided a lifeline for the 38-year-old Los Angeles housekeeper to leave a bad relationship and rent an Airbnb while she looked for a job. But in early October, her state-issued Bank of America debit card balance plummeted from around $400 to negative $1,100 after a credit for fraudulent charges from months earlier was reversed without warning.
So began her unofficial full-time job trying to get the money back.
“It’s kind of like a nightmare,” Moore said. “Every day I’m wondering what’s more important. Do I get on the phone with the bank and try again so I have a place to sleep tomorrow, or do I just accept that I’m going to be on the street and focus on my job search? Because you can’t do both.”
For months, California’s Employment Development Department has attracted the ire of jobless workers and state lawmakers for a backlog of unpaid unemployment claims that peaked at 1.6 million. Now, Moore is among those entangled by potential security lapses and payment errors involving Bank of America, which since 2010 has had an exclusive contract to deliver state unemployment benefits through prepaid debit cards.
It’s a breakdown of the state’s job safety net that raises questions about the best way to get money into the hands of workers who desperately need it, since California is one of only three U.S. states that does not offer a direct deposit option, according to a CalMatters review of public documents. To this day, it’s not clear how much Bank of America has made from handling the bulk of the unprecedented $109 billion California has paid out in benefits since March. Lawmakers are examining the bank’s role in payment issues that began during a two-week identity-verification update, and whether the bank has provided adequate security for unemployment insurance money in the face of rampant fraud.
Bank of America, whose contract is up next July, declined to answer detailed questions about how many unemployed Californians are still unable to use their debit cards, how much money has been withdrawn from accounts flagged for potential fraud, when and how claimants may be paid back or how much the bank has made in fees on the cards. The state told CalMatters that some 377,500 debit cards were frozen this fall and as of Thursday, around 350,000 accounts remain impacted, meaning progress has been slow.
“Unfortunately, there has been billions of dollars of fraud during this pandemic in state unemployment programs, including California,” Bank of America said in a statement to CalMatters, urging those impacted to contact the bank. “We are working with the state and law enforcement to identify and take action against fraudulent applicants, protect taxpayer money and ensure that legitimate applicants can access their benefits.”
For San Francisco Assemblymember David Chiu, a progressive Democrat who authored a 2019 public banking bill and has pushed to reduce state reliance on Wall Street, the confusion marks “another failure” by the state and its corporate vendors. The employment agency hinted it was the bank’s fault, insisting in an Oct. 29 statementthat it “has no direct access to debit funds on any accounts” and that those impacted by card issues should contact Bank of America.
“They’re playing the blame game. Someone needs to take responsibility for this,” Chiu said. “I think we’re going to have to revisit that contract if BofA can’t provide the services it promised.”
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Trust & Will raises $15 million
for estate planning software
San Diego estate planning startup Trust & Will recently raised a $15 million Series B round, bringing the company’s total funding to more than $23 million. The company has seen 160,000 users sign up to create wills and legal trusts since its launch in mid-2018.
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San Diego Bay Parade of Lights cancelled
The 2020 San Diego Bay Parade of Lights has been cancelled due to restrictions related to Covid-19.
“Our number one priority is safety and this year large crowds associated with the San Diego Bay Parade of Lights are not advisable due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Parade Chairman Larry Baumann. “We know how much our residents and visitors love the parade and this was a very difficult decision. But in consulting with Port, City, County and State experts, cancelling the parade was the right decision.”
The San Diego Bay Parade of Lights brings more than 100,000 San Diego residents and visitors together on the San Diego Bay waterfront each year. The procession of about 80 lavishly decorated boats has become one of our region’s most iconic holiday events and has been voted as one of the top holiday parades in the country for the last three years, as reported by USA Today.
The event is expected to return for the holidays in 2021.
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‘The Right Stuff’ TV series to start
filming in San Diego next March
“The Right Stuff” is coming to San Diego. The popular Disney+ series, which explores the origin and growth of the U.S. space program in the 1960s, has announced it is moving filming of its second season to San Diego. The show is based on the 1983 Academy Award winning film, “The Right Stuff,” which starred Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris and Dennis Quaid.
The hit series is scheduled to shoot for 88 days, starting in March 2021. Locations for shooting have yet to be determined.
The San Diego Film Office – a division of the City of San Diego’s Special Events & Filming Department – offers a streamlined permitting system and staff to assist productions. This, coupled with incentives through the California Film and TV Tax Credit Program 3.0, administered by the California Film Commission, is an attractive draw for productions like “The Right Stuff.”
“It’s great to see the state’s tax credit program bring high-quality jobs and significant production spending to San Diego,” said California Film Commission Executive Director Colleen Bell. “The City has a rich history of film and TV production and this exciting news is a big win for the local economy.”
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Sharp Health Plan named one of Best
Insurance Companies for Medicare Advantage
Sharp Health Plan, a not-for-profit, San Diego-based health plan, has been named to the 2021 U.S. News and World Report list of Best Insurance Companies for Medicare Advantage in California. The “Best Of” list is based on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) star rating system, which assigns a one- to five-star score to plans annually to help consumers compare Medicare Advantage plans.
Sharp Health Plan earned an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars by Medicare for the second year in a row. It also achieved a 5-star score for ratings of the health plan, health care quality, drug plan and care coordination.1 This places Sharp Health Plan within the top 100 Medicare Advantage plans in the nation.
“When you couple our clinical excellence in delivering high-quality care with unparalleled patient and member experience, you can see why Sharp Health Plan continues to earn high marks,” says Melissa Hayden Cook, president and chief executive officer of Sharp Health Plan. “Recognitions like these make it clear why more and more San Diegans are choosing Sharp Health Plan.”
Medicare Advantage open enrollment for 2021 runs now through Dec. 7, 2020.
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USO San Diego expands food
programs to support military families
Thanks in part to a $100,000 grant, USO San Diego has expanded several food and nutrition programs to support military families countywide who have been impacted by the pandemic. These programs include “grab and go” bags of non-perishable items, a Thanksgiving meal kit giveaway, mobile farmers markets, virtual food nutrition workshops and healthy breakfast options for military kids participating in distance learning.
The grant was provided by The San Diego Foundation COVID-19 Community Response Fund — in large part due to funding support from San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E). To date, SDG&E has donated $2.5 million to the fund and plans to contribute an additional $500,000 in early 2021. With the grant, military families can be confident that the resources they depend upon will remain readily available during these challenging times.
“Even without factoring in the impacts of the pandemic, military families face many stressors related to deployment and make great sacrifices to serve our country,” said Eugene “Mitch” Mitchell, SDG&E’s vice president of state governmental and external affairs. “Food insecurity is the last thing they should have to fear and we are happy to help address this situation.”
