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January 9, 2001 Sales activity for San Diego County apartment complexes continues its record pace, with 276 transactions involving 5,686 units recorded during the third quarter of 2000, reports Burnham Real Estate Services. “This represents a 33 percent increase over the same last year when 207 projects involving 4,283 units were sold,” says George Carlson, a v.p. and multifamily properties specialist with Burnham. “It is also the highest number of projects sold since the second quarter of 1990, when 283 projects changed hands, and the highest number of units sold since the first quarter of 1989 when 6,781 units were transferred. “Once again contributing to these strong sales figures were transactions involving projects with 100 or more units,” he says. “During the third quarter alone, San Diego County witnessed the sale of 13 projects involving 2,380 units in this category. However, unlike prior quarters, only one of these transactions was a true ‘mega-deal’ in which the average price per unit exceeded $100,000.” This “mega” transaction involved the 464-unit The Missions at Rio Vista in Mission Valley, which sold for $76 million, or $163,793 per unit with a 7.33 percent cap rate. The remaining 12 projects in the 100-unit-plus category sold for an average of $64,592 per unit with an 8.51 percent capitalization rate (based upon a combined total of 1,916 units). These projects included:
Burnham reports that, for the first time, East San Diego (ZIP 92105) is leading San Diego County in apartment sales. During the third quarter, the area witnessed the sale of 50 complexes involving 606 units, accounting for nearly half of the area’s 104 year-to-date transactions. The average sales price per unit was $39,927, up 15 percent from $34,675 as of Dec. 31, 1999. “East San Diego’s lower property values and sales prices are attracting the attention of some investors who may feel other markets are close to topping out,” Carlson says. “Many of the properties in this area are in need of improvement. Investors who buy now and implement market-appropriate rehabs stand to realize appreciation while improving the neighborhoods at the same time.” North Park (ZIP 92104), which historically enjoys higher sales activity than most markets in the study, recorded just 19 transactions during the third quarter with a total of 80 transactions reported year-to-date. The average sales price per unit of $63,130 is up 30 percent from $48,467 as of year-end 1999. Other strong market areas in the third quarter included the Inland North region with 24 transactions involving 856 units; the Coastal North region with 23 sales involving 671 units; and Normal Heights-Kensington-University Heights which had 26 apartment sales involving 248 units. The Burnham Real Estate Services’ study reports that year-to-date permits for 3,687 new units have been approved, on track with the 3,677 units approved during the first nine months of 1999. The 686 condominium permits issued during the third quarter of 2000 compares to 894 units approved during the same time last year, a 23.3 percent decrease. “During the third quarter there was a notable decline in the number of apartment and condominium permits issued,” Carlson says. “There is no apparent reason for the decline that we see and, in looking at historical studies, quarterly variations like this are not uncommon. With apartment permit activity on track with last year’s 12-year high, we do not believe the decline in third quarter activity signals a long-term trend.” Click on www.burnhamrealestate.com for more information. *** Science Applications International Corp. earned a profit of $144.7 million on revenue of $1.5 billion for the third quarter ended Oct. 31, up from $67.5 million on $1.37 billion in the same period a year earlier. For the nine months, SAIC reports profit of $2.8 billion on revenue of $4.3 billion, up from $579 million on $4 billion in the same period a year earlier. "SAIC's continued growth has been fueled by the company’s expansion in both the government and commercial markets," says J. Robert Beyster, SAIC chairman and CEO. "Much of SAIC's success during the quarter resulted from new business in information technology (IT) outsourcing, telecommunications and the energy sector. And, after the quarter ended, the SAIC and Bechtel National team won a $3.1 billion contract to support the Department of Energy's civilian radioactive waste management program at Yucca Mountain in Nevada." During the third quarter, SAIC and BP signed a major agreement in which an SAIC-led team will support BP's North American application and host services. SAIC is supporting the maintenance of BP's software applications for its finance, procurement, investor relations, marketing, and exploration and production operations in North America. The agreement is valued at $250 million over a five-year period. Telcordia Technologies Inc., SAIC's telecommunications subsidiary formed a strategic global business alliance with Daleen Technologies Inc. to deliver e-business solutions. This integrated effort will help to integrate customer management and billing solutions with operations support systems for service providers. In addition, the company announced that its Telcordia Call Agent product has been enhanced making it the most advanced Class 5 softswitch in production supporting primary line Voice over Internet Protocol service. Shortly after the beginning of the third quarter, ANXeBusiness Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of SAIC, announced its first major extranet service on the ANX(r) network. The newly launched ANX Portal enables subscribers to store and forward CAD/CAM engineering files and to access Web-based tools and applications providing effective communication, collaboration and innovation. Numerous large federal government contracts also were awarded to SAIC during the third quarter:
In the commercial business arena, SAIC forged new alliances in health care and law enforcement during the quarter. The company formed a strategic technology alliance to assist eHealthContract implement the world's first Internet exchange for health care contracting. SAIC also signed an alliance agreement with Ultra-Scan Corp. of Amherst, N.Y., in which SAIC will offer Ultra-Scan's automated personal identification systems for live scan (inkless) fingerprint applications. The technology is capable of examining a single fingerprint and rapidly searching it against large databases. Headquartered in San Diego, SAIC is the nation's largest employee-owned research and engineering company, providing information technology, systems integration and e-business products and services to commercial and government customers. With annual revenues exceeding $5.5 billion, SAIC and its subsidiaries, including Telcordia Technologies, have more than 41,000 employees at offices in more than 150 cities worldwide. *** Thomas W. Turner Jr. is the new managing partner of the Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch office in San Diego. He replaces Steve Untiedt. Turner will serve as Procopio's chief executive and chair of the firm's management committee. For seven years, Turner has been contributing his legal talents to mold the firm into what it is today — one of San Diego’s leading locally based law firms. "As usual, Tom has risen to the top by developing an admirable reputation both inside and outside the firm. I am confident he will continue to use his charisma and considerable talents to keep Procopio at the top of its game," says Untiedt. "He understands that the success of the firm is built on a foundation of competence, reliability and results. It is those attributes that have allowed us to meet the needs of our clients and deliver on promises for 55 years." Turner steps into some big shoes. Untiedt lead Procopio into the most dynamic period of its history. Under his direction, the firm more than double its revenue since 1995 and added 24 new attorneys in last two years. Former president of both the San Diego League and Home Start, a child abuse prevention and family support agency, Turner currently serves as president of the San Diego County taxpayers Association, an organization that promotes efficiency in local government. *** Physicians with the UCSD Blood and Marrow Transplant Program are evaluating an experimental type of stem cell transplant for its effectiveness against advanced kidney cancer, a disease known to be highly resistant to conventional therapy and usually fatal. This approach, called a nonmyeloablative allogeneic peripheral-blood stem-cell transplant, has shown promise in a small research study recently conducted at the National Institutes of Health. In that study of 19 patients, 53 percent had either complete or partial regression of their disease. Some patients have remained completely free of disease more than two years after treatment. "The NIH study was small, but the results were so dramatic we believe they represent a tremendous advance against this disease," says the study's principal investigator Dr. Asad Bashey. Bashey is a member of UCSD Cancer Center and assistant professor of medicine at UCSD School of Medicine. "These early results are particularly exciting when you consider that we’ve had precious little to offer patients who were not helped by conventional therapy," he says. The UCSD clinical trial is open to patients with a sibling who can donate stem cells for the transplant. The cells are collected from the bloodstream through a simple outpatient process known as pheresis. Patients receive relatively low doses of chemotherapy, followed by the transplant of donor cells. The process requires a three-to-four week hospitalization, and participants in the study will be followed on an outpatient basis for three years. Call the UCSD Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at (858) 657-6840 for more information. *** Invitrogen Corp. and Corning Inc. have entered into a supply and license agreement under which San Diego-based Invitrogen will supply New York-based Corning with amplified gene sequences from its proprietary libraries of human, mouse and rat cDNA clones. The agreement provides Corning with a license to use these gene sequences for the manufacture and sale of microarrays. Financial terms were not disclosed. Under terms of this non-exclusive agreement, Corning is the first commercial microarray manufacturer to utilize the MyArray DNA service that Invitrogen launched through its Research Genetics subsidiary in September of last year. Corning will be able to access Invitrogen’s gene sequence database utilizing Invitrogen’s cMiner bioinformatics software, choosing from more than 7,000,000 cDNA clones available for printing microarrays. Invitrogen will manufacture the amplified gene sequences (also known as Polymerase Chain Reaction or PCR products) and deliver them to Corning their specifications reports. "Through our acquisition of Research Genetics in February we acquired one of the world’s largest collections of sequence-verified clones,” says Lyle Turner, chair and CEO of Invitrogen. “When we acquired Life Technologies in September we obtained the ownership of a patented enzyme called Superscript, which is the leading enzyme used in cDNA synthesis around the world. Patents covering this enzyme also provide Invitrogen with rights to cDNA clones that are produced using the enzyme. By combining these two very important technologies, Invitrogen is in a strong position to become one of the leading providers of gene sequences for the microarray industry." Corning announced earlier this fall that it was entering the fast-growing market for tools to accelerate genomic research by utilizing a proprietary, high-volume process to manufacture microarrays, which are used by scientists to simultaneously analyze thousands of genes. *** National Dispatch Center Inc., the leading provider of operator dispatch messaging services, has introduced Corporate MessageYes!, a new service that allows companies to easily send text messages to any individual, or group of individuals, within their organization regardless of wireless device or wireless service carrier. With Corporate MessageYes!, individuals will no longer have to visit multiple Web sites, worry about pager or PIN numbers, or know the device and carrier information of each employee to send text messages to wireless devices. All that is needed to send a wireless message is the employee's or group's name. "We’ve made text messaging to wireless devices via the Internet simple," says Mark Wooster, v.p. and COO of NDC's wireless messaging division. “With Corporate MessageYes!, you no longer need to know an individual's paging, cellular or PCS carrier, device number or pin number to send a message. We’ve brought together all the information corporations need to effectively message via the web." In addition to simplified messaging, Corporate MessageYes! also has these valuable features:
Information about Corporate MessageYes! can be found online at www.MessageYes.WirelessWeb.com. *** Leap Wireless International Inc. ended calendar 2000 with more than 190,000 Cricket customers in 10 markets stretching from Salt Lake City to Charlotte, N.C. During the company’s fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2000, Leap added more than 127,500 new customers to the 62,500 subscribers reported as of Sept. 30, 2000. "We exceeded our year-end 2000 goals and analyst forecasts by more than tripling our customer base during the fourth quarter," says Harvey P. White, Leap's chairman and CEO. "These results are consistent with our belief that consumers in both current and future Cricket markets want and will adopt a wireless service that is simple, affordable and worry-free. We believe our performance validates the strong demand for Cricket service among consumers in our markets across the United States, many of whom are completely new to wireless." During the fourth quarter, Leap also met its previously announced plans to launch its innovative Cricket Comfortable Wireless service in eight new markets across the country. "We are pleased with the popularity of our Cricket service, especially in light of the extremely adverse weather conditions we overcame in a number of markets to launch on time," says Susan G. Swenson, Leap's president and COO. "Demand for Cricket service has been strong in each of our markets across the country. We remain comfortable with the guidance we previously announced at the end of the third quarter concerning our expectations for the operational and financial performance of Cricket markets, and we continue to expect to reach approximately one million subscribers by the end of 2001." *** San Diego-based SVI has named veteran retail technology executive, Thomas Dorosewicz, as CEO effective Jan. 10. Dorosewicz will guide overall corporate vision and strategy as well as lead its subsidiary, SVI Retail, a leading global provider of multi-channel software solutions for the retail industry. Dorosewicz brings over two decades of retail and operational management experience to the SVI team, including more than 14 years providing solutions to retailers and their supply chain. Prior to joining SVI, Dorosewicz was the president of ecVision Inc., a provider of XML-based technology used to automate the merchandise supply chain via the Internet. In his first year with ecVision, he was instrumental in securing agreements with a number of major retailers including Dillard's, JCPenney, Saks and Abercrombie & Fitch. He also has held executive management positions at leading retail technology companies such as Fujitsu, Symbol “SVI has established themselves as a major player in the industry," Dorosewicz says. "With the rapid changes in retail brought on by advancements in technology, the Internet and evolving customer expectations, there is a real opportunity for a company with vision to take a market leadership position. I’m excited about working with the strong SVI team to take the company to the next level." It also was announced that Mark Wulff, CEO of SVI Retail, will be leaving SVI. There are currently no plans to replace him. Dorosewicz will actively manage the subsidiary and Wulff will be working with Dorosewicz on a consulting basis to ensure a seamless transition. *** Pan Pacific Retail Properties Inc. of San Diego has purchased 1 million shares of its common stock from Revenue Properties (U.S.) Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Revenue Properties Co. Limited. Pan Pacific purchased the stock at a price of $20.85 per share. The transaction was financed through a draw under the company’s unsecured line of credit. As of Jan. 4, 2001, the closing price of Pan Pacific's common stock was $22.5625. Revenue Properties also sold, in another transaction, 1.8 million shares of its Pan Pacific stock to a U.S. institutional investor. "We are pleased to complete the purchase from Revenue Properties," says Stuart Tanz, president and CEO of Pan Pacific. "We expect the transaction will be accretive to our earnings. The shares were purchased at what we believe is a discount to our net asset value. This transaction, together with Revenue's sale of an additional 1.8 million shares, further diversifies our shareholder base and reduces Revenue's ownership of Pan Pacific down to approximately 26 percent." *** EPIcyte Pharmaceutical Inc., the developer of the Plantibodies technology for manufacturing pharmaceutical-grade human antibodies in plants, has appointed Christopher G. Clement as CEO. Clement brings 20 years of operational and product development experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, says Mich Hein, president of San Diego-based EPIcyte. "Mr. Clement's expertise in leading product development and new business development functions will be invaluable as EPIcyte continues to pursue collaborations and expand the commercial applications of its Plantibody technology," Hein says. "Chris has a proven track record in the planning and introduction of pharmaceutical and biotechnology products which will be key as EPIcyte further develops its internal pipeline in the initial areas of infectious disease & sexual health and in broader corporate licensing arrangements of the Plantibody technology." Most recently, Clement served as senior v.p. and chief marketing officer of Ares-Serono Group, where he oversaw corporate marketing operations for the company in multiple therapeutic areas. Prior to that assignment, as executive v.p. of Ares-Serono Group, Clement maintained full responsibility for the U.S. women's health business and led the introduction of biotechnology products to the infertility market, achieving first year post-launch sales in excess of $100 million. Clement also held various management positions of increasing responsibility at Searle Pharmaceuticals, Ciba-Geigy and Merck and Co. Clement's extensive experience includes product planning, business development, operations and marketing. *** San Diego-based Kintera Inc., the leader in online fund-raising solutions for nonprofit organizations, has hired Michael Rahman as v.p. and chief patent officer. “The profound technological inventions owned by Kintera have enormous value,” Rahman says. “I look forward to playing an integral role on the Kintera team by protecting and capitalizing on these assets.” “Michael’s history with the filing and prosecution of patents is impeccable,” says Harry Gruber, CEO of Kintera. “He will be incredibly important in protecting Kintera’s core inventions and joins just at the right time to propel our strategic patent plan.” Rahman, the former patent counsel of Akamai Inc., is an attorney specializing in intellectual property law. His work primarily involves the drafting and prosecution of patents, litigation involving patents, and trademarks. He has been involved in the preparation, filing and prosecution of more than 80 patents and has represented a wide range of high-tech, Fortune 100 companies with respect to their patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and other related matters. Rahman will be managing all aspects of Kintera’s intellectual property law including drafting, prosecution, litigation, and licensing of patents and trademarks. Kintera also has hired Larry Smarr. Appointed to the advisory board, Smarr is former head of the university research center that spawned NCSA Mosaic, the base technology for both Netscape and Internet Explorer. “Kintera’s deep understanding of how to use advanced technology to enable nonprofits and charities is what intrigued me,” he says. “I look forward to becoming part of their organization.” Ephraim Feig, Kintera’s chief technical officer, shares the same viewpoint. “Dr. Smarr’s revolutionary vision of the future of technology dovetails closely with my vision for our organization.” *** Click Below to View Previous Daily Business Reports |
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