Daily Business Report: Friday, Nov. 5, 2021
UC San Diego breaks ground on a multi-phase,
multi-billion-dollar redevelopment
of Hillcrest Medical Campus
Construction began this week on a 10-acre site on the Hillcrest campus. It marks the first phase of a multi-phase plan to redevelop the full medical campus, providing new facilities, new technology, increased capacity, expanded are offerings and other community services and amenities.
The first phase of redevelopment includes a 250,000-square-foot outpatient pavilion anticipated to open in 2025, which will house specialty clinical programs including oncology, neurosurgery and orthopedics, as well as ambulatory surgery operating rooms, gastroenterology procedure rooms, advanced imaging, infusion and radiation oncology.
This phase also includes a 1,850-space parking structure anticipated to open in at the end of 2023, which will allow for the demolition of the existing Bachman and Arbor parking structures, consolidating patient and employee parking for improved patient and caregiver access and experience.
TOP PHOTO: Rendering: The first phase of redevelopment includes a 250,000-square-foot outpatient pavilion and a 1,850-space parking structure.
Construction to begin on $102 million, 200-unit
Columba apartment project in Chula Vista
Groundbreaking ceremonies were held Wednesday for the $102 million Columba project, the third affordable apartment neighborhood by Chelsea Investment Corporation in Millenia, a 210-acre urban village being developed in Chula Vista.
Located at the northeast corner of Optima Street and Solstice Avenue on a 3+-acre site, Columba will feature 200 rent-restricted apartments for low-income families with incomes between 30 percent and 60 percent of the San Diego County Area Median Income (AMI). Apartments are projected to open by year-end 2023, according to Jim Schmid, CEO of Chelsea Investment Corporation, the project developer.
The development will feature two residential buildings with four and five stories, and a two-story parking structure for 321 vehicles. Apartments will range from 585 to 1,027 square feet with one to three bedrooms and one to two baths.
Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas and several councilmembers joined Chelsea Investment Corporation, Meridian Development, financing partners and development team members to celebrate the groundbreaking of Coluāba.
Biden named third judicial nominee
for San Diego federal bench
President Joe Biden on Wednesday named his third judicial nominee to fill one of seven vacancies on the San Diego federal bench: a Latina who already serves as a magistrate judge in El Centro. Ruth Montenegro has deep roots in the Imperial Valley, where she grew up and later established her career.
She has served as a magistrate judge for the Southern District of California — which encompasses San Diego and Imperial counties — since 2018. Before that she served on the Imperial County Superior Court as a judge and a family support commissioner.
Montenegro has worked as a legal advisor and attorney representing the Imperial County government and also managed human resources programs at El Centro Elementary School and the Imperial Community College District.
Families take their 5- to 11-year-old to
get the COVID-19 vaccine
CalMatters
Families across California took their 5- to 11-year-olds to get the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, the result of public health experts from California, Washington, Oregon and Nevada signing off on federal authorization of the low-dose Pfizer shots.
But questions remain for many parents: When and where will doses be available, and how can I make an appointment for my child? How effective are the shots, and will there be side effects?
If the risk of severe COVID is lower in children, do they need the vaccine? Could they get myocarditis? Do they need the vaccine in order to go to school?
Luckily, CalMatters health reporter Ana Ibarra answers all of these questions in a comprehensive FAQ.
National City to join San Diego Community Power
The City Council of National City voted to become the newest member of San Diego Community Power (SDCP), a not-for-profit community choiceaggregation program providing municipalities, businesses, and residents with clean, renewable energy at competitive rates.
National City’s vote will add over 19,000 new customer accounts to SDCP’s service area, which already includes the cities of Chula Vista, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, La Mesa, San Diego and the unincorporated communities of San Diego County, which will total nearly one million customer accounts.
SDCP currently serves municipal, commercial, and industrial customers in its five founding member cities, with residential service set to launch early next year. Service tiers include PowerOn, offering 50 percent renewable energy, and Power100, offering 100 percent renewable energy. Per California law, customers are automatically enrolled with SDCP when service begins in their region.
Scripps Clinic using novel balloon
implants for rotator cuff tears
Patients with rotator cuff injuries now have a new treatment option that can replace the need for complex tendon repair surgeries to restore shoulder function, as Scripps Clinic recently became among the first in the region to offer a minimally invasive approach using a novel balloon spacer device.
The new arthroscopic procedure involves inserting a small balloon implant into an area of the patient’s shoulder called the subacromial space, which is located between the upper shoulder bone and the ball-and-socket joint underneath. Once inserted into place, the balloon is filled with saline solution and serves as a cushion that keeps the shoulder bones from painfully rubbing together during movement, which can occur as a result of a rotator cuff tear.
Danny Gumm promoted to Concrete
Division manager at Sundt Construction
Danny Gumm has been promoted to Concrete Division manager at Sundt Construction Inc. In his new role, he will oversee one of the construction industry’s largest concrete workforces, which annually performs millions of hours of structural, architectural and industrial concrete work for Sundt’s wide-ranging projects.
Gumm started in the field as an apprentice carpenter through the Arizona Builders Alliance.
During his 28-year career with Sundt, Gumm has served in various capacities in the Concrete Division.
He has been a field engineer, estimator, concrete superintendent, project manager, pre-construction project manager and most recently, the Concrete Division operations manager.
His notable project experience includes the replacement of the Denver Veterans Affairs Hospital, the 7th Street Bridge in Fort Worth, Texas and Arizona State University’s Interdisciplinary Science & Technology Building, as well as numerous wastewater treatment plants.
Gumm is a member of the Arizona Builders Alliance and American Concrete Institute (ACI).
San Diego County moves to energize
grid, battery storage projects
Looking to energize solar electricity projects in unincorporated areas, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Wednesday to shorten the approval process for battery storage projects located in industrial areas.
Battery storage projects can help pave the way for San Diego County’ s electrical distribution grid to take on more renewable electricity, like from solar electricity generated by solar panels on homes and businesses during daylight hours.
The Board voted to direct County staff to draft and bring back Zoning Ordinance changes for it to consider that would ease permitting and shorten approval time by two to four months for battery storage projects. The changes would apply to battery projects located in areas that fall within two of the County’s industrial zone classifications, where they would be situated with other industrial/commercial businesses
Cloudbeds raises $150 million in funding
to support rapid company growth
San Diego-based Cloudbeds, a hospitality industry technology provider, announced it has raised a $150 million Series D round from new and existing investors as it continues growing its team, accelerating customer acquisition, expanding its product offerings, and investing heavily in delivering best-in-class technology to the industry.
The funding was led by new investor SoftBank Vision Fund 2, joined by Echo Street, Walleye Capital, and returning investors Viking Global Investors, PeakSpan Capital, and Counterpart Ventures. The Series D round brings the company’s total venture funding to $253 million.
The additional financing will support Cloudbeds’ ongoing research and development efforts and its growth strategy.
Micronoma wins fourth innovation award
Micronoma, a San Diego cancer detection biotech company, added the Health Tech Challengers award in the diagnostics category to the list of accolades it has earned for its groundbreaking work this year. Health Tech Challengers identifies and brings together top global digital health tech startups that are innovators in one of six tracks fostering the digital health revolution. The award marks the fourth Micronoma has achieved this year.
One of the company’s past awards was the Bio-IT World Innovative Practices Award Grand Prize, received in July 2021. This elite awards program highlights outstanding examples of how technology innovations and strategic initiatives can advance life sciences research, from basic biomedical research to drug development and beyond.
San Diego Rotary Club honors National Conflict
Resolution Center with annual Peace Award
The San Diego Rotary Club 33 has chosen the National Conflict Resolution Center (NCRC), as the recipient of the 2021 Peace Award. NCRC received this honor for its outstanding work over the last three decades in bringing together differing factions to communicate and collaborate. The Rotary Club also donated $1,000 to NCRC, which will directly benefit the nonprofit’s various programs.
Recipients of the Peace Award are selected each year by the San Diego Rotary Peace Committee whose members include Ned Silver, Tom Cohen, Bink Cook, Roger Haines, Jr., Ann Hill, Divya Kakaiya, Walter Lam, Sabrina Lopez, Deirdre Maloney, Dave Oates, Jenni Prisk, Ray Uzeta, and Tasreen Khamisa.
The annual Peace Award is designed to honor organizations or individuals in San Diego County who have made a significant difference in bringing differing communities together and has demonstrated commitment to the foregoing, and actions taken to bring about the change “to help build goodwill and peace in the world,” according to the Rotary’s Mission Statement.
Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group in top
10 percent of medical groups in California
Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group achieved “Top 10 percent Recognition for Clinical Quality” for measurement year 2020 as part of the Integrated Healthcare Association’s (IHA) Align. Measure. Perform. (AMP) program.
The IHA, a statewide leadership group that promotes quality improvement, accountability and affordability of health care, awarded Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group the distinction at its 2021 Stakeholders’ Conference on Nov. 3, 2021.
Clinical quality is measured by the percentage of patients who received preventive care, such as childhood immunizations and screening mammograms, according to nationally recognized preventive care guidelines.
