Daily Business Report: Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023
Will controversial California housing law become permanent?
By Ben Christopher | CalMatters
In 2017, California lawmakers passed one of the state’s most controversial and consequential housing laws, but they included an expiration date — 2025 — to see how things panned out.
Sen. Scott Wiener, the San Francisco Democrat who authored the bill, is pleased with the results so far. Monday, he introduced a bill to make the law a permanent fixture — with a slight tweak that could kick off another union-on-union spat in the state Capitol.
Modeled in part on a civil rights law from Massachusetts, Wiener’s five-year-old law presented an ultimatum for local governments hostile to new development: Either start permitting enough new homes to meet the state’s housing goals — or start fast-tracking new apartments, so long as they meet a set of basic qualifications.
There’s been a lot of fast-tracking since the law passed.
According to data compiled by researchers at UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation, developers have used the law to speed up approval for nearly 12,000 new units. While that’s a lot of new homes, it’s far short of the 2.5 million that Gov. Gavin Newsom has
pledged to bring online by the end of his gubernatorial tenure.
Top photo: Construction workers build multifamily housing in San Diego on Jan. 13, 2023. (Photo by Mike Blake, Reuters, via CalMatters)
New migration data: 28 percent of San Diego
apartment hunters looking to move away
Apartment List has published its latest Renter Migration Report, providing new data on where renters across the country are looking to move. At a time when housing affordability has transformed from a localized issue to a national crisis, these migration flows help explain why certain markets are booming.
Key local insights from the report include:
• 28 percent of San Diego apartment hunters looked for homes outside the metro area in 2022. The most popular destinations were Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Francisco.
• In the other direction, 40 percent of renters looking for apartments in San Diego are searching from out-of-town. Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Francisco provided the most inbound search interest last year.
• The data show that long-distance movers — those looking for apartments in a new metro or new state — typically offer higher budgets than local renters, signaling how recent migration patterns have put upward pressure on rents.
Check out the full report for more detailed data and to explore trends for major metro areas around the country.
General Atomics and Hindustan Aeronautics
announce collaboration on MQ-9B drones
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) have jointly announced that turbo-propeller engines, which power GA-ASI’s state-of-art MQ-9B Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS), will be supported by the HAL Engine Division at Bengaluru for the Indian market.
“GA-ASI is proud to collaborate with HAL on this prestigious project,” said Dr. Vivek Lall, chief executive at General Atomics Global Corporation. “HAL is the foremost Indian public sector Aerospace and Defence agency, and its vast experience in the domain of aero-engine technology makes it our natural partner in India.”
Though the turboprop engine fitted onboard the MQ-9B RPAS looks similar to other commercial engines in its category, it is unique in its configuration and operation, requiring special training and equipment to maintain, repair and overhaul.
Escondido Union School District chief
named Superintendent of the year
Luis Rankins-Ibarra, superintendent of the K-8 Escondido Union School District, has been named the 2023 Superintendent of the Year by the Association of California School Administrators Region 18, which encompasses San Diego and Imperial counties.
In an education career spanning more than 30 years, Rankins-Ibarra has served as a bilingual elementary teacher, principal, director, and assistant superintendent in both human resources and business services. He joined EUSD as superintendent in 2014, and since then, he has nurtured the district’s role as a leading pioneer in the use of educational technology, while cultivating a safe, productive, and innovative environment for learning and working. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Rankins-Ibarra led the district with thoughtful collaboration and meticulous planning, never losing sight of the guiding principle of ensuring the health and safety of students and employees. Under his leadership, employees from every corner of the district worked to close the gaps that EUSD families were experiencing by ensuring ready access to food, technology, internet access, instructional materials, and other resources.
Tijuana’s Tortas Washmobile to take up
residency at NOVO Brazil Brewing Company
NOVO Brazil Brewing Company has partnered with Tortas WashMobile to bring the renowned Tijuana eatery to its Lane Avenue taproom in Chula Vista once a week, alternating Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning this Thursday, Feb. 16. Operating hours are from 4-8 p.m.
The family-owned torta shop, which is in its 60th year of business, brings Chef Pedro Fuentes (nephew of WashMobile founder Manuel Hernandez) to the pop-up stand at NOVO to serve the famous Mexican sandwich. WashMobile uses brisket for the carne asada, panela for the cheese, which is best for grilling, and a soft roll that comes from a private baking company in Tijuana.
This is WashMobile’s first pop-up for the general public anywhere in San Diego. Nearly 500 tortas were sold in four hours at the partnership’s pilot event at the end of January. Torta WashMobile is known as Tijuana’s first and longest-running torta stand, which was named for its location in front of an old car wash
Easy Ice acquires ice machine
division of San Diego Ice Company
SAN DIEGO – Easy Ice, the only national provider of full-service ice machine subscription solutions, has acquired the ice machine division of San Diego Ice Company, a family-owned business since its creation in 1983. This marks the first acquisition of the year for Easy Ice and an expansion of the company’s footprint in the San Diego area, following their acquisition of Cube Aire late last year.
With their ice machine sales, leasing, and service accounts now in the hands of Easy Ice, San Diego Ice Company will focus exclusively on ice manufacturing and delivery, merchandising, and carving. Because this is a partial acquisition, affected SDIC employees and customers can expect a smooth transition to Easy Ice as the two companies cooperate toward that shared goal.
Disguise announces multi-year contract renewal
with Microsoft for Minecraft brand
POWAY — Disguise Inc., the costume division of leading toy and consumer products manufacturer JAKKS Pacific Inc., announced its partnership renewal with Microsoft, making it the only costume partner for the world’s most popular and No. 1 downloaded game, Minecraft. Disguise will retain worldwide rights to continue to design, market, manufacture and distribute Halloween costumes and Halloween costume accessories for the Minecraft brand commencing in 2023. Disguise has plans to grow the business even more internationally, bringing additional styles and versions to retail all over the world.
Avidity Biosciences receives
FDA Orphan Drug designation
SAN DIEGO — Avidity Biosciences Inc., a biopharmaceutical company committed to delivering a new class of RNA therapeutics called Antibody Oligonucleotide Conjugates (AOCs), announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Orphan Drug designation to AOC 1020 for the treatment of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). FSHD is a serious, rare, hereditary muscle-weakening condition marked by life-long, progressive loss of muscle function that causes significant pain, fatigue, and disability.
Jimmy Peters joins Galley Solutions
as first chief revenue officer
SAN DIEGO — Galley Solutions strengthens its business-to-business strategy by hiring Jimmy Peters as the first chief revenue officer (CRO). He joins the company on Feb. 21 to lead the strategy and performance of revenue growth and the overall continued development of the business. As a vital member of the executive team, Peters will manage the integration and alignment between all revenue-related channels. Peters joins Galley Solutions after successful tenures at several high-growth companies, including Leaf Trade, Ordermark and Fooda.
Eurofins Discovery collaborating
with Invasight on cancer therapies
SAN DIEGO — Eurofins Discovery, the leading provider of products and services to the drug discovery industry, announced its collaboration with Invasight, a Switzerland-based biotech developing cancer therapies. The collaboration focuses on advancing first-in-class, small molecule, protein-protein interaction antagonists (PPIAs) against a protein that causes cancer cell invasion. Invasight is teaming with Eurofins Discovery’s DiscoveryOne, an integrated drug discovery platform that provides expert comprehensive support to progress programs from concept to preclinical development and beyond.
Poseida Therapeutics CEO to present at H.C.
Wainwright Cell Therapy Virtual Conference
SAN DIEGO — Poseida Therapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage cell and gene therapy company advancing a new class of treatments for patients with cancer and rare diseases, announced that Chief Executive Officer Mark Gergen will participate in a fireside chat at the H.C. Wainwright Cell Therapy Virtual Conference on Feb. 28 at 11 a.m. ET. A webcast of the presentation will be available on the Investors & Media Section of Poseida’s website, www.poseida.com. A replay of the webcast will be available for approximately 90 days following the presentation.
Advisor Group concludes 16th annual
W Forum Conference in San Diego
SAN DIEGO — Advisor Group, one of the nation’s largest networks of independent wealth management firms, announced the successful conclusion of its 16th annual W Forum conference for the firm’s women advisers and office associates. This year’s hybrid conference attracted more than 350 in-person financial professional attendees to San Diego as part of a total hybrid audience of 900. Held from Feb. 6-8, W Forum provided attendees with education, training and peer-to-peer learning opportunities geared to helping them grow their businesses.
Biocom appoints Neil Bench to its board of governors
SAN DIEGO — Biocom California, the association representing the California life science industry, has appointed Neil Bence, vice president and head of oncology discovery at Bristol Myers Squibb, to its board of governors. Bence serves as the vice president and head of oncology discovery in research and early development at Bristol Myers Squibb, where he oversees an oncology discovery team at the Oncogenesis Thematic Research Center and serves as site head for the company’s San Diego location.
General Micro Systems launches Domin ATR 3U
Open VPX Chassis to support U.S. military
SAN DIEGO – General Micro Systems, a leading technology-independent supplier of computing engines in boxes, boards and servers, has launched its 8-slot DominATR 3U Open VPX chassis to support U.S military and commercial applications. As part of the GMS X9 Venom product family, this chassis’ revolutionary architecture and lightweight materials offer improved performance, reliability and operating ranges designed to address the growing compute and networking needs of the future battlefield.
Ryne Biotechnology awarded $4 million from
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
SAN DIEGO — Ryne Biotechnology Inc., a therapeutics company leveraging induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology to discover and develop a platform of off-the-shelf neuron replacement therapies for neurological disorders,announced that the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has awarded the company a $4 million Clinical Stage Research Program grant. This funding will enable the company to advance its lead candidate RNDP-001, an iPSC-derived dopamine neuron progenitor for the treatment of both inherited and idiopathic forms of Parkinson’s disease, through submission of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application within the next 12 months.
Ivy Fertility acquires Fertility
Associates of Memphis
SAN DIEGO — Ivy Fertility, a nationally and internationally recognized innovator in the field of advanced reproductive technologies, in-vitro fertilization (IVF), and third-party reproduction, has acquired Fertility Associates of Memphis.Founded in 2003, Fertility Associates of Memphis is a Tennessee-based reproductive health, infertility, and IVF practice led by world-renowned expert on recurrent miscarriage, William Kutteh, M.D., with Paul Brezina, M.D., Raymond Ke, M.D. and Amelia Bailey, M.D. Fertility Associates of Memphis has provided fertility services for thousands of patients struggling with infertility, recurrent pregnancy loss, and reproductive disorders.
