Applied Micro Circuits Corp., one of San Diego’s largest companies with 1,117 employees and a market capitalization of about $7 billion, has purchased 31.66 acres in Poway for a future manufacturing site. The project would open in three phases, with the first phase ready in about two years at the earliest. It will not replace AMCC’s Sorrento Mesa headquarters. “We felt it was a good time to make a move on the land,” says Bill Berridge, director of communications for AMCC.

Selling the property for $17.1 million was Tech Business Center LLC. Ted Cuthbret, Brent Wright and Rick Sparks of CB Richard Ellis represented the seller. Dave Marino of The Irving Hughes Group represented AMCC.

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With the Port Commission’s assent to include the so-called Spinnaker Hotel in the environmental impact report due to return for action April 17, developers Art Engel and Ray Carpenter, dba Fifth Avenue Landing, expect Coastal Commission approval in August. “We could be open 30 months after approval in August,” says development manager Perry Dealy. The team is negotiating with four luxury hotel operators, three of which are not now active in Downtown San Diego, says Dealy, declining to identify them. Pleasing port commissioners, the developers added a bridge to the San Diego Convention Center and docks to accommodate ferries, water taxis and charters. The site is next to the Rowing Club Chart House. The $66 million hotel would include 250 to 300 rooms, 14,000 square feet of meeting space, and a 150-seat restaurant and lounge. The Tidelands is here.

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Office Depot will not open the 16,000-square-foot store it created within the Marston Building at the corner of Fifth Avenue and C Street Downtown. Instead, the company has enlisted Staubach Co. broker Amy Nott to find a new tenant. In fall of 1999, Office Depot signed a $2.5 million, 10-year lease for the site that occupies the former Paradise Bakery space and a basement below. A second quarter 2000 opening was projected.

Veteran Downtown leasing broker Jason Hughes is not surprised by the move. “It was an oddball place with no parking,” he says. “I didn’t understand it.” But Hughes doesn’t expect the space to remain empty long. “It is a great entertainment retail location because of what is happening nearby with the House of Blues and Walker-Scott Building.” To highlight all the improvements about to take place on that now-ugly stretch of Fifth Avenue between Broadway and C Street where the empty office store sits, the Centre City Development Corp. will hold a block party on May 17.

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Thella Bowens and Frank Urtasun did the podium honors, but Rita Vandergaw, Pat McQuater and Dennis Bouey served as the less visible ringleaders of San Diego’s two-year campaign to persuade British Airways to establish daily nonstop service between Lindbergh Field and London’s Gatwick Airport. That done, Urtasun and Bouey flew the inaugural Boeing 777 into Lindbergh, met with Erik Lindbergh, grandson of the daring aviator, who unveiled his wood sculpture resembling the Spirit of St. Louis to commemorate the occasion. British Airways’ new 777 was christened the Spirit of San Diego.

Unofficially, at least, at the inaugural ceremonies, Leap Wireless Chairman Harvey White represented the hundreds of business people who joined the conspiracy by writing letters and otherwise urging BA executives to make the commitment. Time will tell. BA’s 747 service, which ended with the advent of the 777, attracted only a third of the former San Diego-Phoenix-London passenger count, with Arizonans comprising two-thirds. The new service takes 10 hours and 20 minutes one way, about five hours less than the next-fastest service out of San Diego to London, presuming good connections. Phoenix got its own new nonstop 777, too.

Exports from San Diego to the U.K. totaled $449 million in 1999, up nearly 200 percent since 1993, says Kathy Ward, president of the San Diego World Trade Center.

David Erich, senior v.p. of British Airways, credited Nancy Morgan, Bill Noonan, Peter Heller, Sophie Ward, Pat Flynn, Kathy Wolf and Mike Slater, among others, for making the nonstop flight a reality. At the end of April, BA will open its new Terraces lounge at Lindbergh’s Terminal 2.

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Interviews with Cathy Anderson, Carol Wallace, Jim Laslavic and June Moeser are all new this month to the Heart of San Diego, the Fred Lewis hosted television show that airs in prime time on ITV. The full schedule is on Page 56.

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Hughes Network Systems’ Sorrento Mesa operation is completing tests for an overseas satellite phone network that is scheduled to begin operations this month, reports Jim Gandolfi, v.p. and g.m. of the division. HNS engineers in San Diego developed a satellite phone handset on behalf of Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Co., based in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. HNS is under contract to deliver more than 200,000 satellite phones to Thuraya in 2001. The phones, which are being manufactured in Tijuana and Bern, Switzerland, will offer voice, fax, data, messaging and location determination through a regional coverage area spanning Europe, North and Central Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Thuraya’s regional satellite network, designed to serve 1.8 billion people in 100 countries, will utilize the Thuraya-1, a high-powered geosynchronous satellite launched last fall. The satellite was developed by Boeing Satellite Systems Inc., formerly Hughes Space and Communications Co.

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Buyer interest in the CityFront Terrace condominiums remains strong. As of March 27, the Downtown project was reporting $80 million in sales with nearly 60 percent of the units sold.

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Discovery at Cortez Hill is reopening sales and announces it is 60 percent presold, with 122 of its 199 condominiums spoken for. The sales office has moved to 1452 Seventh Ave. The development is located at 850 Beech St., between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, one block from the El Cortez apartment tower.

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Export sales in San Diego rose 4.3 percent to total $8.96 billion in 1999, the San Diego Regional Chamber reports in its Economic Bulletin. The increase was the lowest percentage gain in the last six years. Still, San Diego ranks as the nation’s 15th largest market in terms of exports and the gain was the seventh largest in the country. Exports have more than doubled in the last six years. In 1999 they represented 9 percent of the gross regional product, compared to 3.2 percent in 1997. In terms of jobs, every $1 billion in export trade brings 19,000 positions to the region. That means exports in 1999 supported 170,000 local jobs, one tenth of the payroll employment.

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He doesn’t draw a salary, but Peter Q. Davis is as familiar with CCDC’s workings as any of its employees. On March 19, Davis again was elected president of the CCDC board; it’s his eighth tour and 16th year. It’s his third term as a board member; he was appointed last summer by Mayor Golding, following his third-place finish in the mayoral primary. (He immediately threw his support to now-Mayor Murphy.) Davis was first appointed by Mayor Wilson in 1977, reappointed by Mayor Hedgecock and then brought back for the first time in 1992 by Mayor Golding.

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Construction is complete on two 1,500-square-foot Thomas Kinkade Galleries at Horton Plaza and Fashion Valley. Architectural Concepts Inc. of San Diego designed the storefront and tenant improvements. Good and Roberts of San Diego was the general contractor on both projects, which are owned by John and Diane Vitale. The Fashion Valley gallery (pictured) features rust-toned slate in a neoclassical style. The Horton Plaza gallery has a custom wood facade in a Greek revival design.

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In a uniquely structured deal, Borrego Springs Bank on June 29 will turn its two branches in the Imperial Valley communities of Calipatria and West Shores over to Government Agencies Federal Credit Union. BSB has been seeking to exit the communities for some time. “We have not closed the branches in the past because we did not want to leave the communities without financial services,” says Michelle D. Whelehan, bank CFO. “And we were concerned about the jobs of our employees. We ended up being contacted by GAFCU and this is just a complete win for everyone.” The two lenders originally discussed a sale, but the complexities involved with getting that through their separate — banking and credit union — regulators were an impediment. Instead, the $85 million BSB will shutter its two branches on Friday, June 29, leaving GAFCU, a $145 million institution, to open two branches of its credit union in those locations on Monday, July 2, with the same employees in place. Representatives from GAFCU will be on site in the weeks leading up the transition. “As far as we know this is a first of a kind,” says Beverly Dawson, president and CEO of GAFCU. “Credit unions and banks do not normally work together to assist each other.”

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As of April 20, Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. will stop faxing press releases. E-mail, or checks of www.ligand.com, are the alternatives.

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Of the nearly 15,000 acres of designated employment land in San Diego County that is vacant, only 1,420 acres is available for immediate development, Sandag reports in its “2000 Employment Lands Inventory and Market Analysis.” Most of the property lacks roads or other infrastructure. Of the acreage, about 75 percent is located north of I-8 with most of the rest in Otay Mesa. Land parcels 9 acres or smaller account for 76 percent of the immediately available supply and only one parcel larger than 50 acres is ready to develop. “This could be a challenge to the growth of high-wage industries in the region,” Sandag says. Between 1995 and 2000, 3,196 acres of employment land were absorbed while only 1,040 acres were added. The report urges local officials assemble parcels for large high-tech parks. “We must continue our efforts to keep our residents gainfully employed within the region and we must continue to attract employers to the region,” says Ramona Finnila, chair of Sandag. “At the same time we need to work with our elected officials to convert usable land to industrial use and locate appropriate businesses close to existing residential communities that are accessible by transit.” A copy of the full report is $50. Call (619) 595-5347 for details.

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David Bell has been recognized as Acción’s entrepreneur of the year. With only $50 and using a makeshift workspace in his garage, Bell started a handyman repair business. Demand required he grow his business and with an initial loan of $3,000 from Acción, he was able to expand. The result is ABBA Construction Concepts, a full service maintenance outfit.

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The Council on Competitiveness convenes more than 150 leaders in business, academe, labor and government at UCSD April 5-6 for its second National Innovation Summit. The goal is to set a national innovation agenda to drive economic growth and support a higher standard of living for all Americans. Key speakers include Donald Evans, secretary of commerce; Rod Paige, secretary of education; Michael Porter, Harvard Business School; Govs. Gray Davis and Tom Ridge (R-PA); James Hunt, former governor of North Carolina; Rep. Sherwood Boehler (R-NY), chair of the House Science Committee; Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX); Rep. Connie Morella (R-MD); and John Glenn, former senator (D-OH).

Following the summit the council will present a report and proposed innovation agenda to President Bush, the 107th Congress, and the nation’s governors.

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Local money may be the only way to improve how U.S. Customs and the Immigration and Naturalization Service run ports of entry at San Ysidro and Otay Mesa, reports San Diego Dialogue. The March report released by Dialogue says customer service is not a high priority at the border and that gates frequently are understaffed and wait times are increasing. To fix the problem, Dialogue says, the regions could bring in their own money for staffing, “but only with the assurance of high levels of service at all hours, seven days a week.” The money might come from the sales tax revenue generated by cross-border shoppers. “South County gets an extra million shopping trips a month from residents of Tijuana and the sales tax revenue is more than $120 million a year.” The payoff for reducing wait times is increased economic integration and investment in the border region.

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VoloNet, a San Diego in-building provider of broadband Internet access to business customers, has obtained $1 million in initial financing. The funding will accelerate VoloNet’s ongoing program of “lighting” buildings, with service now available in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

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A trio of investors has acquired 15 acres of property on Otay Mesa to develop Britannia Corporate Center, an industrial park with all-concrete yards and six divisible buildings ranging in size from 26,000 to 84,000 square feet. The site is located close to the Otay Mesa border crossing, which handles more than 7,000 trucks daily. Construction will begin in May with completion slated for the first quarter of 2002. Spending $15 million to buy the property was a partnership that features Master Development Corp., Buchanan Fund I and G.E. Capital Real Estate. The seller was CMK Corp., a Japanese circuit board manufacturer.

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Legacy Sabre Springs LLC has spent $11.95 million to buy 11.9 acres in San Diego from Pardee Construction Co. to build a three-building, 422,800-square-foot office complex at the intersection of Interstate 15 and State Route 56. Construction will begin this quarter on the first phase, which will consist of 280,000 square feet in two six-story buildings. Completion is slated for summer 2002. The developer is a partnership between Legacy Partners Commercial Inc., a real estate firm with more than 30 years’ experience, and Lend Lease Real Estate Investments, a large real estate investment manager.

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Legoland is opening a new roller coaster this month modeled after the Technic toy line. A life-size Lego vehicle, the ride will be in a new area of the park created for families with children ages 6 to 12. The park also is adding a new entertainment show based on the Lego toy product Life on Mars. The show includes red dust storms mixed with meteor showers followed by severe atmospheric changes. Martians and an astronaut complete the space adventure.

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Luce Forward represented ML Hightower Inc. in a merger that has created one of the largest full-service product engineering facilities in San Diego. Hightower, a manufacturer of electronic products, systems, components and software for communications, specialty industrial applications, cable television and biomedical equipment, merged with Product Design Group Inc., a company that specializes in electro-mechanical product development for the digital printing industry, to create PDG Hightower Inc. With Luce Forward helping speed the way, the merger was completed in one month.

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Since 1997, Poway-based Geoperception Inc. has designed information technology networks and developed customer software for an array of San Diego businesses. Now the company has been pre-qualified by the state of California to bid on state e-commerce projects valued at up to $750,000. “We are eager to introduce the state of California to the innovation and high quality services that we have been providing to the private sector for years,” says Errol Leighton, company president. The state might start by checking out the amazingly fast opening speed of pages on Geoperception’s Web site at www.geoperception.com.

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Still flush from the success of his Downtown launch in November of the On Broadway Event Center, Mike Viscuso is preparing a similar high-end project for The Pike, a 525,000 square foot entertainment and retail project scheduled to open next year in Long Beach. Viscuso is leasing 25,000-30,000 square feet in the center. “I’ll be opening up a venue similar to On Broadway Event Center,” says Viscuso. “It will be a corporate event center and high-energy nightclub, and will feature a fine dining establishment.”

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One of San Diego’s fastest growing law offices, Morrison & Foerster, has moved to larger quarters at 3811 Valley Centre Drive in Del Mar Heights. The opening of the “mofo” digs drew a crowd that included the firm’s chair, Keith Wetmore.

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The CPA firm of Calderon Jaham & Osborn has been accepted as a member of DFK International, a worldwide network of accounting firms. The 30-year-old firm, which has offices in San Diego and Imperial counties, is the only one in this region with the membership. “We are now better prepared to assist our clients with global interests, and can compete more effectively with international accounting firms,” says Thomas J. Saiz, partner at Calderon Jaham & Osborn.

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Escrow has closed and construction is expected to start this month on a $7 million housing development in Downtown’s Cortez Hill neighborhood. The CityMark Development project consists of 16 units located between Ninth and Tenth avenues and Beech and Cedar streets. Designed by McKinley & Associates, CityMark at Cortez Hill will feature townhouses priced from the high $300,000s.

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ArtWalk, an annual event, showcasing hundreds of visual and performing artists in Downtown San Diego, is in need of 300 volunteers for this year’s event on April 28 and 29. Volunteer shifts will be three hours and each volunteer is required to take on a minimum of two shifts. For more information or to sign up, please contact (619) 615-1090.

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Steven Jay Mueller has left San Diego Power & Cooling to open a Downtown office for Wilton InterPower, a 5-year-old company that specializes in the design, development and ownership of combined heat and power plants that typically use natural gas. The company is pursuing several plants in the 5-50 megawatt size in California and Mexico.

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Patti McKelvey of McMillin Realty has set another record for the real estate firm with $75.8 million in sales during 2000. Her record last year was $61.3 million. The figure represented a 24 percent increase in sales volume for the agent and included 172 listings and 241 sales.

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About 71 percent of San Diego households have access to a computer at home and 88 percent have access either at home or elsewhere, a recent survey reveals. In comparison, the U.S. Census Bureau reported in August that 51 percent of U.S. households and 57 percent of California households had access to a personal or laptop computer.

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The International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education board has recommended full accreditation for business and business-related degree programs at National University. The certificate will be presented this month.

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A recent merger in the reprographics industry has created Team Reprographics. Lou Penix of Bell Blueprint Inc. will serve as CEO-president; Rupert Knowles, founder of Escondido Reprographics, will serve as executive v.p. of finance and purchasing; and Paul Holt, founder of Classic and In & Out Reprographics, will serve as executive v.p. of marketing. Gordon Mapes, president of ESC Reprographics, will serve as executive v.p. of sales; Glen Berendt will serve as v.p. of production; and Robin Ray will be v.p. of operations. The company says this may represent the single largest equity merger in the reprographics industry.

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At the Renaissance condo job site Downtown last month, Roel Construction accomplished one of the largest continuous concrete pours this decade in San Diego. Beginning at 7 a.m., for about 12 hours the pour involved 6,100 cubic yards of concrete, or more than 650 loads, involving 117 trucks. When completed, the 449,000-square-foot structural concrete, 24-story, twin-tower development will include 218 condominiums and townhomes, 12,000 square feet of commercial space, and approximately 471 parking spaces. Renaissance is located on the block bounded by First Avenue and Front, Market and G streets.

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The Sandra Brue Fund of the San Diego Foundation has made available the Breast Cancer Guide. The resource publication is free and is intended for newly diagnosed women and their loved ones to help all parties involved gain the knowledge, confidence and peace of mind to make decisions related to each specific condition. The guide is available at Target stores.

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MyHomeKey is expanding into the San Diego market. Headquartered in San Francisco, the online home management resource company allows members to instantly schedule and confirm rated, referred and guaranteed local service providers, shop for brand name home products, complete home energy audits and store personal information about their homes. Members have access to more than 40,000 insured, professional service technicians throughout the country and more than 1,000 home-related products.

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MarketSpring Inc. has expanded to new and bigger headquarters in Del Mar at 1201 Camino Del Mar, Suite 201. The high-tech marketing firm also has a regional office in Sunnyvale.

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Susan E. Atkins & Associates is continuing its expansion with the opening of new office space and a growing list of clients and employees. The company took possession of a new 7,000-square-foot office in Scripps Ranch. It also added Egea Biosciences Inc. and Syrxx, in San Diego, and Geminix Biotechnologies Inc. of Canada to its clients list. Carin Canale was hired as senior account director. She previously worked for The Townsend Agency.

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J. Dewers, located for 20 years at 345 Market St. in the Gaslamp Quarter, has moved to 715 Eighth Ave. Owner Walter Drucker has framed famous works by artists such as Francis Bacon, Marc Chagall and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec.

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Loan Island in Oceanside will complete its fifth year in operation this month. San Diego mortgage brokers Nick Alameddin and Marc Gold started the firm with a staff of three. Now it has 42 employees and has opened a second location in New York. An online loan lender, loanisland.com offers various loans including new home, custom refinancing, debt consolidation, home improvement, FHA and VA, and commercial loans.

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Advertising Age’s Creativity publication has named matthews/mark, based here, as one of the country’s “Top 20 Agencies to Watch.” It was the only San Diego agency to make the list. The Creativity article, which appeared in the March issue, praises matthews/mark’s recent global work on Callaway golf balls and Odyssey putters, and local work for San Diego Food Drives (a pro bono project).

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Teens already know everything on the shelves at Hot Topic is scorching. Now, the Hot Topic team is introducing Torrid, a similar store that will stock those trendy goth and rock items for the size 12-plus market. Among the chain’s first stores will be one opening May 3 in Mission Valley Center. It will feature designs for junior women who desire cutting-edge fashion and seek it in sizes to fit their figures.

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Gafcon is serving as construction manager for the new $72 million, Class A office/retail redevelopment project on the 4.39-acre site at the corner of H Street and Third Avenue in Chula Vista. Gateway, Chula Vista LLC is the developer of the 347,000-square-foot project, with Coast Pacific Properties and Chula Vista Asset Management serving as principals of the partnership. Gateway, being constructed in three phases, will encompass two six-story buildings and one five-story building. Construction already is under way, with completion of the $24 million first phase targeted for January 2002. McCabe Harris is the architect, Facility Solutions is the space planner and interior designer. DPR Construction is the general contractor.

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A study by the Gartner Group reveals companies hired by the county of San Diego to upgrade and operate its computer and telephone systems are meeting service levels tougher than those demanded throughout the information technology industry. Figures compiled by the group show that most of the 14 critical service levels demanded by the county in its contract with the Pennant Alliance are higher than the industry average. For example, when a county employee’s PC malfunctions, the contract requires the problem be fixed within four hours 95 percent of the time, and within six hours 99 percent of the time. The alliance, led by El Segundo-based Computer Sciences Corp., began the high-tech overhaul just more than a year ago. All 14 critical service levels were met for the first time in January and February.

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The volunteer organization of the International Visitors Council of San Diego and volunteers of 97 sister organizations from 44 states across the United States were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. The award is presented in December by the Nobel Foundation in Sweden to reward champions of peace.

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Smith Consulting Architects is designing the Mission Brewery Plaza Phase II at 1795 Hancock in Middletown. Pacifica Cos. is the developer of the $11 million project. Construction will begin in July with completion scheduled for May 2002. The project consists of two two-story buildings over two levels of parking. The expansion will feature heavy textured plaster with copper detailing to remain compatible with the existing historic building and working brewery. Burkett & Wong is the structural engineer, ILA & Zammit Engineering Group is the electrical engineer, San Diego Land Surveying & Engineering is the civil engineer, and Ridge Landscape Architects is the landscape architect.

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Karen Lazarus has opened Southern California’s first Mephisto Concept Store in La Jolla. Mephisto is a leather leisure shoe created for comfort. Located at 1273 1/2 Prospect Street, the store stocks a full selection of dress, dress casual, casual, comfort walking, sandals, outdoor and golf shoes. Prices range from $250 to $300.

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The California Arts Council has chosen Kay Wagner, executive director of San Diego’s Children’s Museum, as one of 2001’s Outstanding Arts Educators. The only San Diegan to receive the award, Wagner was honored at a presentation luncheon at the Getty Center.

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Audrey Fagan-Miranda, executive v.p. at Mentus, was named one of BtoB magazine’s 25 e-champions. Nominees were chosen by BtoB’s editors and reporters and awarded to senior managers in a wide range of industries who are “movers and shakers, innovators and pioneers rewriting the rules of business on the Internet.” Fagan-Miranda was named for leading Mentus to a 48 percent increase in billings in 2000, in spite of the industry’s shaky economic conditions.

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SDSU’s Entrepreneurial Management Center will host the 12th annual international student business plan competition, Venture Challenge 2001. The event, which is April 10 to 13 at the Hilton San Diego Mission Valley, provides an opportunity for MBA students seeking venture capital to present their business plans and compete for a $15,000 grand prize.

Student teams from universities across the globe will showcase their business plans April 11. A 20-minute oral presentation will be given April 12 and finalists will compete April 13. The competition is open to all faculty-sponsored, full- and part-time graduate students enrolled in a university during the calendar year prior to the competition.

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Midway through May, culinary arts students at Grossmont College will be cooking with a flourish, serving up four-course gourmet meals sure to please the pickiest of gourmands. The 25 students, taught by Chef Joe Orate, plan each week’s menu, set the tables, prepare and display the food.

The dinners will be served on campus at Griffin Gate on April 19, May 3 and 17, with seatings at 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $7 per person and are available at the ROP office. Reservations will be held for only 24 hours without payment. Call (619) 644-7550 for information.

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The county’s Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board has moved from its Beech Street space to offices at 625 Broadway. Appointed by county supervisors, the panel receives and investigates citizen complaints against sheriff deputies and probation officers.

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Diversionary Theatre founder and former artistic director Tom Vegh has been cast in the San Francisco Shakespeare productions of “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and “King Lear.” Vegh’s play “Cafe Depresso” recently had a sell-out run in San Francisco, where Vegh now resides.

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Charlene Baldridge says “Cold Sassy Tree” was “magnificent, a masterpiece,” although she rarely speaks in sound bites.

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David Erich (left) of British Airways and Erik Lindbergh admire Lindbergh’s sculpture resembling the Spirit of St. Louis, which his grandfather flew out of San Diego on the way to his historic transatlantic flight. The sculpture was unveiled at the inauguration of the Spirit of San Diego flight to London.

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San Diego is among the “Top 10 Best Non-Mouse Cities,” reports Reckitt Benckiser Inc., the maker of d-CON rodenticides. The information, compiled using Nielsen Scantrack data found San Diego to be No. 9 in terms of the least amount of dollar sales of the rodenticides category in supermarkets nationwide.

This year’s results indicate that six cities remain at the top of the list from last year — Jacksonville, Orlando, Little Rock, Des Moines, Omaha and Milwaukee — with Albany and Syracuse, N.Y., San Diego, and Hartford/New Haven joining the list of top non-mouse cities.