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August 23, 2000 In the largest private land acquisition in the Ballpark District so far, JMIR Downtown Acquisition LLC, an affiliate of JMI Realty Inc., has spent $24.3 million to buy from SDG&E eight city blocks in the East Village area.
The property, which totals 500,000 square feet, was purchased on behalf of the San Diego Padres and JMI Realty, master-developer of the 26-block Ballpark Redevelopment District.
About a third of the land involved is designated for the ballpark and adjacent Park Boulevard and 10th Avenue rights of way and a portion of Padres Tailgate Park. The remaining parcels will be the site of several private developments including Campus @ the Park, a 426,000-square-foot high technology office park, and One Park Boulevard, a proposed 34-story office tower.
“This acquisition marks another crucial milestone in the development of the ballpark and surrounding redevelopment area,” says Dennis Cruzan, JMI Realty’s managing director. “SDG&E and their parent, Sempra Energy, have been great team players throughout the sales process. We also appreciate San Diego National Bank’s commitment for the acquisition loan. We, along with the Padres, are now one giant step closer to transforming this underutilized area into a vibrant 24-hour live, work and play neighborhood.”
The eight-block area is bounded by K Street on the north, MTDB Rail Yard on the south, 13th Avenue on the east and 9th Avenue on the west. Demolition, remediation and construction work has already begun on some of the ballpark sites acquired.
“Outside investor and tenant interest and tenant interest in the Ballpark District has been very strong,” says Cruzan. “In addition to our planned developments, which exceed our original commitment to the city by $300 million, there is a substantial amount of planned and proposed development in the East Village.”
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San Diego-based Newgen Results Corp., a company expert and software systems that help car dealers and other retailers maintain closer relationships with customers, has been acquired by Denver-based TeleTech (Nasdaq: TTEC) in a $200 million stock swap.
Newgen shareholders will receive a fixed value of $18 a share as long at TeleTech's stock trades between $22 and $37 a share.
"Our ability to improve customer loyalty shows the value of managing indirect customer relationships," says Jerry Benowitz, Newgen's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Joining forces with TeleTech will allow us to create an infrastructure that enables global enterprises to extend their organization to any member of a business partner network. We believe this is an incredible opportunity for our clients, shareholders and employees."
Newgen will operate as an independent entity within TeleTech Companies Group, led by Michael Foss, chief financial officer and president, TeleTech Companies Group. Benowitz and his management will continue operating Newgen.
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CollegeClub.com, a high-profile San Diego e-business that has struggled with cash flow as of late, is being acquired by Boston-based Student Advantage Inc., a leading offline and online portal to the higher education community.
"We expect to bolster considerably the business potential of CollegeClub.com by utilizing Student Advantage’s proprietary content and commerce offerings to generate significant additional revenue from CollegeClub’s extensive user and member base,” says Raymond V. Sozzi Jr., chair and CEO of Student Advantage.
Under the terms of the deal, Student Advantage will acquire substantially all of the assets, such as the CollegeClub.com Web site and other intellectual properties, and assume certain of the company’s revenue contracts, which include a strategic alliance with General Motors. Other assets of CollegeClub.com Inc., such as Versity.com and Izio, are not being acquired by Student Advantage. The purchase price consists of $7 million in cash, subject to adjustment, and 1.5 million shares of Student Advantage common stock, representing less than 4.5 percent of Student Advantage’s outstanding common stock.
The agreement also provides for an additional cash payment of up to $5 million to CollegeClub.com if certain Web site revenue performance goals are met during 2001.
Completion of the purchase is subject to, among other things, approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Diego where CollegeClub.com Inc., the Web site’s owner, and certain of its subsidiaries each filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the federal Bankruptcy Code on Monday.
In addition, Student Advantage purchased the assets of another CollegeClub.com, Inc. subsidiary, eStudentLoan LLC, for about $1 million of cash on July 28. The assets of eStudentLoan purchased by Student Advantage are currently subject to a repurchase option by CollegeClub.com.
In a related development, Student Advantage announced it had secured a $10 million financing commitment from FleetBoston Bank, NA, which the company said it would use to help finance the deal.
A spokeswoman for Student Advantage says CollegeClub.com will remain in San Diego.
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The Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce today will bring city officials together with over 300 business, community and civic leaders to review the city's activities of the past-year and plans for 2001.
During the 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. session at Four Seasons Resort Aviara, Mayor Bud Lewis will present a video progress report, produced by Daniels CableVision, after which city staffers will host three separate breakout sessions.
These sessions include:
• New Development Projects — Planning Director Michael Holzmiller and principal planners Adrienne Landers and Chris DeCerbo will discuss development trends in the city, including major pending projects and ordinance amendments.
• Traffic Issues — Deputy City Engineer Robert Johnson will touch on traffic projects that affect the business community, including the opening of new roadway segments.
• Technology Infrastructure — Risk Manager Erin Letsch, Deputy City Attorney Damien Brower and Public Works Manager Dick Cook will discuss city plans for technology infrastructure.
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San Diego-based RosArt Multimedia Inc. has joined with the New York-based Citiscape Shapes LTD. to produce content for business-card sized CD-ROMs. The joint venture will be doing business under the name of Bizcard-CD.
RosArt will produce the content of the CD-ROM business cards based on information given by the client. It then provides completed content to Citiscape Shapes, which burns the cards in whatever amount is requested.
Potential clients can order their cards on the Internet at www.bizcard-cd.com, where they are presented with package choices based on amount of information and including set numbers of cards, as well as the ability to have a more complex presentation done in a custom manner.
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