Daily Business Report: Friday, Feb. 18, 2022
Construction underway for a $400 million, 37-story office
and luxury apartment tower in Downtown San Diego
Holland Partner Group, North America Sekisui House and Lowe are underway with the development of a $400 million, 37-story, mixed-use project at 1011 Union St. in Downtown San Diego — the first multi-mixed-use tower in the city. Called West Downtown San Diego, the building will feature 270,000 square feet of office space, 19,000 square feet of retail space and 431 luxury apartments. Completion of West is planned for the first quarter of 2024
Designed by Carrier Johnson + CULTURE, with Holland Construction serving as the general contractor, West features a seamless flow of connection and community from the lobby and retail space, to the office floors and amenity level, up to the luxury apartments.
The office spaces are state-of-the-art, with 39,000-square-foot floor plates, floor-to-ceiling glass and outdoor balconies offering expansive views.
The first floor is modeled after a contemporary hotel lobby, offering indoor/outdoor dining for tenants, a modern lounge, meeting room and a variety of gathering areas; specialty ground floor restaurants and retail shops; direct access to building parking; and tenant community engagement programs by on-site property manager Hospitality at Work.
The 9th floor and roof decks provide panoramic views of San Diego and the Pacific Ocean, offer indoor/outdoor meeting spaces; green roof space with outdoor seating and entertainment areas, private workspaces; conference rooms; flexible spaces to accommodate a variety of events; state-of-the-art indoor/outdoor fitness; and a dog run with specialty pet turf, seating, shade and dog wash. West will be a WELL Certified project and has been designed to optimize health and wellbeing for residents, tenants and visitors.
Leading the office leasing efforts at West Downtown San Diego are JLL’s Tony Russell and Richard Gonor.
Top Photo: Rendering of the ninth floor of West. Lower Photo: Street view of West.
Investors are buying a record share of homes in the U.S.
Homeownership continues to be a popular investment, especially for investor groups.
Real estate investors bought a record 18.4 percent of the homes that were sold in the U.S. during the fourth quarter of 2021, according to a new report from real estate brokerage Redfin. That’s up from 12.6 percent a year earlier and a revised rate of 17.4 percent in the third quarter.
Although investor market share hit a record in the fourth quarter, the number of homes bought by investors declined 9.1 percent from the third-quarter peak—but it’s up significantly from pre-pandemic levels.
Investors bought 80,293 homes in the fourth quarter, up 43.9 percent from a year earlier. The housing-supply crunch constrained home sales for all homebuyers, including investors. The drop from the third quarter is also due partly to seasonality.
My, how you’ve grown: New species
of bacteria is a shapeshifter extraordinaire
By Sarah White
For decades, Hollywood has been gripping moviegoers with stories about viruses and bacteria spreading through the air and bitey zombies. But now San Diego State University researchers may be breathing life into these Tinseltown tropes with their discovery of a new shapeshifting bacteria, the Bordetella atropi.
The SDSU team of biologists discovered that the B. atropi invades multiple cells within a living organism. The researchers named it after the Greek Fate Atropos who was known for cutting the threads of life.
The study, published this week in Nature Communications, describes how this new species of bacteria invades its roundworm host. The bacteria changes its shape into a long thread, growing up to 100 times the usual size of one bacterium within 30 hours without dividing.
By altering the genes of B. atropi, the research team identified that this invasive threading relies on the same genes and molecules that other bacteria use when they are in a nutrient-rich environment. However, these other bacteria only use this pathway to make subtly larger cells, whereas the B. atropi bacteria grows continuously.
UC San Diego professor wins prestigious
international prize for research
A well-known neuroscientist and professor at UC San Diego has received a prestigious award recognizing his achievements in the study of the human brain. The Olav Thon Foundation in Norway announced that Anders M. Dale, professor of neurosciences, radiology, psychiatry, cognitive science, and data science at UC San Diego, is the recipient of its 2022 international research prize within the natural sciences and medicine, worth $5 million Norwegian kroner (approximately $580,000 USD).
“This is a great honor and privilege,” Dale said. “I appreciate the support from the community at UC San Diego that allows me to do this important work, which this award will help me to continue.”
Born in Norway, Dale is internationally known for his research into the functions of the human brain, the effects of aging on the brain and significant contributions to advances in the fields of neuroimaging, neurobiology, and data science. He is the founding director of the Center for Multimodal Imaging and Genetics) and Center for Translational Imaging and Precision Medicine at UC San Diego.
Immunicom appoints Dr. Annette Marleau
as chief technology officer
Immunicom Inc., a San Diego clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering subtractive therapies to treat unmet medical needs in cancer and other terminal diseases, announced that Annette Marleau is assuming the role of chief technology officer. She is the first person to hold the title at the company. She will lead global strategic and technical R&D initiatives developing a pipeline of Immunopheresis therapies.
Marleau is a highly respected immunologist with abundant experience instituting and managing R&D programs that advance therapeutic candidates for immune-related diseases. She has a successful track record building R&D programs that have led to clinical translation of therapeutic candidates.
Before joining Immunicom, Marleau held leadership positions in private and public biotech companies, where she spearheaded R&D programs for drug and medical device candidates in oncology, regenerative medicine, and infectious diseases. She has received four NIH awards directed toward advancing new extracorporeal devices and liquid biopsy technologies for cancer.
Executive management veteran Michael McHale
named president and CEO of St. Paul Senior Services
Michael McHale, a 22-year executive management veteran, has been named president and chief executive officer of St. Paul’s Senior Services in San Diego. McHale, who begins his new job on April 11, will replace Cheryl Wilson, who retired on Feb. 5.
McHale comes to St. Paul’s after time at TRU Community Care (2017 to present) in Boulder, Colo. and Rainbow Hospice and Palliative Care (2015-2017) in Mt. Prospect, Ill., serving as president and CEO at both institutions.
At TRU, McHale launched TRU Tele-Care Services to “better support those living with advanced illness through bio-metric monitoring and the use of Artificial Intelligence to better support care at home during the COVID-19 pandemic,” a program which has expanded beyond its initial use during the pandemic.
Prior to his tenure in Colorado and Illinois, McHale also served as chief operating officer and CEO at Hospice of the Chesapeake Inc. in Maryland; vice president of business development and sales at The Washington Home and Community Hospices in Wash. D.C.; corporate director of marketing and access services at Hospice of Michigan; and director of access services at the San Diego Hospice & Palliative Care Inc.
SeaWorld conservation partnerships raise
awareness of marine animals in need
SeaWorld announced partnerships with two leading conservation groups to raise awareness of marine animals in need related to the themes of two of the most anticipated coasters this year:
• SeaWorld San Diego’s conservation partnership with Penguin International will support worldwide species conservation in homage to the Emperor coaster, the tallest, fastest and longest dive coaster in all of California opening March 12.
• SeaWorld Orlando’s partnership with the Alaska SeaLife Center will help raise awareness of Alaskan marine animals in need in keeping with the Arctic-inspired coaster Ice Breaker, the steepest beyond vertical drop coaster in Florida, opening Feb. 18.
“SeaWorld fans come to our parks to experience some of the fastest, tallest and steepest rides in the world and in doing so, they can also feel the thrill of knowing that each ticket, each visit and each experience at our parks helps fund conservation of marine animals and their habitats,” said Marc Swanson, CEO of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Inc. “With the launch of two of our newest and most exciting thrill rides, we are proud to partner with Alaska SeaLife Center and Penguins International to help advance their important programs protecting marine wildlife from the North to the South Pole.”
Manish Bansal joins Wiliot as chief product officer
Wiliot, a San Diego company, has named Manish Bansal chief product officer. Bansal joins the company after a successful 15-year career with Amazon, and will be responsible for developing and scaling Wiliot’s breakthrough IoT platform that brings benefits to both profits and the planet.
Prior to joining Wiliot, Bansal served as Amazon’s director and general manager in Supply Chain Optimization Technology organization, leading Amazon’s EDI platform, dropship business, and inbound supply chain product and technology teams. He managed over 450 employees across 10 countries and was directly responsible for the planning and execution of Amazon’s best-in-class global supply chain solutions.
“The IoT industry is on the verge of explosive innovation and growth, evolving from connecting billions of expensive things to trillions of everyday things,” said Wiliot CEO Tal Tamir. “A new IoT enabling universal connectivity has arrived. It will connect almost everything to the internet – big and small – food, crates, apparel, medicine, and more; trillions of objects communicating critical data about their location, handling, and environment.”
Chaplain-educator to receive 2022 Doris A. Howard
Award for advancing palliative care
For the first time in the award’s six-year history, a hospital chaplain, spiritual care educator, researcher, and leader has been named the 2022 recipient of the CSU Shiley Haynes Institute for Palliative Care Doris A. Howell M.D. Award for advancing palliative care.
Allison Kestenbaum, is the supervisor of spiritual care and clinical pastoral education at UC San Diego Health. She holds advanced certification as a hospice and palliative care chaplain and works with the Doris A. Howell Palliative Care Service at UCSDH.
Allison conducts research about spiritual palliative care education and was the first chaplain to receive a Cambia Health Foundation Sojourns Scholars Palliative Care Leadership Award (2018). She earned her MA in Judaic Studies and MPA in Non-Profit Management and Public Policy from New York University. Allison is a Board Certified Chaplainand a Certified Pastoral Educator.
According to her nomination, Allison has “brought her prodigious palliative care skills not only to the bedside but as importantly has used these and her organizational and teamwork skills to enhance the understanding . . . of not only palliative care but also of the importance of spiritual care.”
EQM launches Rare Earths & Critical Materials Index
San Diego-based index development firm EQM Indexes LLC is launching a new index, the EQM Rare Earths & Critical Materials Index, providing exposure to global public companies generating significant revenues from rare earth metals or critical materials mining, production, recycling, processing or refining.
Rare Earth Metals and Critical Materials play a strategically vital role globally, used in everything from smartphones to wind turbines, with important defense and aeronautic applications that also make them essential from a national security standpoint.
FICO to provide free online financial
education event for San Diego consumers
Leading analytics software firm FICO will host a free online financial education event with national and local nonprofit partners for San Diego-area consumers on Feb. 22. Congressman Juan Vargas (CA-51) will provide remarks on the importance of financial education.
The event is part of FICO’s “Score A Better Future” program, which focuses on helping consumers improve their understanding of their credit and overall financial health.
Consumers will learn from credit experts what the key ingredients are that make up the FICO Score, and the myths and facts about FICO Scores, which are used by 90 percent of the top U.S. lenders.
“I am thrilled that FICO chose San Diego to be the next stop for their ‘Score a Better Future’ program,” said Vargas. “For many in my district and across the country, strong credit scores serve as the door to a first home, needed transportation, and ultimately taking charge of one’s financial wellbeing. It is crucial that my constituents seek financial education opportunities to better understand their credit scores.”
