Last fall’s contentious negotiations over the $1.2 billion Ballpark Village project led to City Council approval of a project that included the city’s first Community Benefits Agreement. The developers, JMI Realty and Lennar, were given a short time line to come back with an affordable housing element, likely in partnership with Father Joe’s Villages. Late last month they succeeded when CCDC recommended approval of a development permit for a mixed-use affordable housing project on the northwest corner of 16th and Market streets. The 12-story project will feature 136 rental apartments with price restrictions to serve households earning 30-65 percent of the area median income, as well as 4,700 square feet of retail space and 114 parking spaces. Expect the council, acting as the redevelopment agency, to give a thumbs-up this month.
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Watt Lofts is switching its 84-unit Broadway Lofts project at the corner of Broadway and Sixth Avenue from apartments to condominiums. The move was costly. The developer originally paid $1.5 million for the rundown building that had been donated to the city. It will have to kick in $4 million more to sell the project, which lacks parking, as condos. The property is best known as the historic First National Bank building, built in 1909 and considered Downtown’s first high rise.
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CCDC is preparing in May to go to the bond market with two issues, a $35 million bond mostly for affordable housing and a $79 million issue that will be used to fund a portion of the Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge, land acquisition and development of two new Downtown fire stations and parks, improvements for the Park-to-Bay Link and other public-infrastructure projects.
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Jim Jessop, probably the most trusted name in precious gems in San Diego, says a scandal at the New York lab of the Carlsbad-based Gemological Institute of America “is not going to happen again... The jewelry industry depends on the GIA for grading of diamonds. They set the standards for grading in 1953 and have maintained the standards for the world ever since.” Nonetheless, some New York gemologists were accused of wrongly upgrading stones. “The GIA has taken bold steps over the past months to make certain safeguards are in place,” says Jessop.
He should know. The proprietor of George Carter Jessop Jeweler is on the board of governors of the American Gem Society’s grading lab and is himself a certified gemologist appraiser with the AGS and a graduate gemologist of the GIA. AGS is the more exclusive organization. “Confidence in the GIA will be regained and the jewelry industry is going to be improved because of this incident,” he says.
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 Kieran Sweeney, still with hair.
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On St. Patrick’s Day, Kieran Sweeney, CEO of Align General Insurance Agency will be among a group of men and women who will shave their heads at Tower 23 Hotel in Pacific Beach to raise money to cure children’s cancer. The event started in 2000 when a group of friends decided to do something to give back. The money goes to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. The idea for the fanciful St. Baldrick was born of St. Patrick’s Day. Participants get sponsors and the first event raised more than $100,000. In the five years since $12 million has been collected. More info is at stbaldricks.org.
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Vista-based UltraStar Cinemas, which in 2002 introduced the first generation of digital film by installing six digital projectors in San Diego, has recorded another milestone. The company released Walt Disney’s “Eight Below” digitally in 12 of its 13 theaters — the first time a theater circuit has released a digital film in more than 90 percent of its locations. UltraStar, which operates 102 screens at 13 locations in Southern California, teamed with Access Integrated Technologies Inc. and Christie Digital Systems to become the first theater company in the U.S. to be fully equipped with Pure Digital Cinema powered by DLP Cinema technology in all its locations.
“We have always been on the forefront of digital technology and are pleased to be the first theater circuit in the world to have digital capability on 100 percent of our screens,” says Alan Grossberg, an UltraStar Cinemas co-owner with John Ellison. “Where other theater chains may have limited screenings of ‘Eight Below’ in digital, we’re thrilled that everyone who comes to see it at UltraStar will get to see it in Pure Digital Cinema.”
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The March 23-24 Global Pet Expo at the San Diego Convention Center has sold out of booth space. The expo has attracted 690 exhibiting companies that will set up booths across 214,000 square feet of exhibition space. The expo, presented by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association and Pet Industry Distributors Association, is geared to independent retailers, distributors, mass-market buyers and other professionals in the pet industry. It is not open to the public. Last year’s expo attracted 630 exhibiting companies and 4,400 pet product buyers from around the world. Next year’s show is in Orlando, Fla. For more information, visit globalpetexpo.org.
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 The Corky McMillin Cos. have three new home neighborhoods set to open this summer in its Lomas Verdes development in the Otay Ranch area of Chula Vista. The two-story homes of three to five bedrooms range from 1,590 to 2,800 square feet in multiple floor plans and architectural styles. Prices have not yet been set. For more, visit mcmillin.com.
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Bids will be opened April 5 to see which of 11 pre-qualified general contractors will win the contract for the $13.6 million rehab of the historic Balboa Theatre on Fourth Avenue adjacent to Horton Plaza. Still being accepted are bids from 33 subcontractor trades on the prevailing-wage project. The following contractors have pre-qualified: C.E. Wylie; C.W. Driver; Douglas E. Barnhart; Erickson-Hall, Jaynes Corp.; McCarthy Building Cos. Inc.; PCL Construction Services Inc.; Riha Construction Co.; Soltek Pacific; Straub Construction Co.; and T.B. Penick & Sons. Gary Boss — (619) 533-7163 — is CCDC’s senior project manager.
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KB Home, a major home builder in San Diego County, was ranked by Fortune magazine as the No. 1 home builder in a list of America’s Most Admired Companies. The company’s nine active projects in San Diego include three in Oceanside, Buckingham, which just went on sale as KB’s first high-end home community in the region, Montelena and Hartford; Shady Grove in Fallbrook; Campo Hills in Campo; Capria in Eastlake; Montage, coming soon, in San Diego; and two soon to open in La Costa, Avellino and Dolcetto.
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Proposals are due March 14 to CCDC from developers interested in building a 12-story, low-income rental housing project on a 25,000-square-foot site at Ninth Avenue and Broadway. Dale Royal, CCDC’s senior project manager — (619) 533-7108, royal@ccdc.com — has details.
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Mayor Sanders travels to New York this month (March 27-28) to meet with institutional investors and the financial press, and to Washington, D.C., on March 29-31 to meet with Homeland Security and political press as well as attend an event for the visitor industry.
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 Surf’s up at the San Diego Maritime Museum March 11 when it opens ‘Taming the Pacific Swell.’ The new exhibit, in partnership with the California Surf Museum in Oceanside, details Southern California’s place as the international center of surf culture since Charles Wright and Faye Baird Fraser posed with this gnarly longboard in December 1926 at Mission Beach. (photo/San Diego Historical Society)
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Ivor Royston, co-founder of Forward Ventures and a nationally recognized researcher in cancer immunology, is being named Scientist of the Year by Achievement Rewards for College Students. The honor will be presented at an April 6 dinner at the Marriott Hotel & Marina in support of the ARCS Foundation. The foundation provides scholarships to U.S. students in science, medicine and engineering. This year, the San Diego chapter will award more than $350,000 in financial assistance to 50 scholars from SDSU, Scripps Research Institute, UCSD and USD. For more event information, visit arcsfoundation.org/sandiego.
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The fourth annual SDSU Month celebration in March honoring SDSU’s “Minds that Move the World” will emphasize the university’s growing international impact through the efforts of students, faculty and alumni studying, researching or working abroad. “Since 1999, more than 450 faculty members have received international program development grants to establish academic and research programs in dozens of countries,” says Provost Nancy Marlin. Several of SDSU’s students, faculty and alumni who are working or studying abroad will be featured in “Aztec Dispatches,” a Web log site at sdsumonth.com in which they will provide regular updates to their online journals.
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The San Diego chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties will host a Downtown/South County bus tour of Liberty Station, DiamondView Tower, One America Plaza, Broadway 655 and Otay Mesa properties and vacant land on March 16 from noon to 4 p.m. Darren Mullins of Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial, Nelson Ackerly of The Irvine Co. and Shane Harmon, Brett Gossett and Stacy Meronoff of CB Richard Ellis will lead the tour. Members of NAIOP pay $40 in advance. Nonmembers pay $60 in advance. Attendees may pay online at acteva.com/go/naiop. Tickets must be purchased in advance through March 14. For more information, call Karen Burges at (858) 509-4110.
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The San Diego World Trade Center, Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana and San Diego Hispanic Chamber of Commerce take a two-day business and leisure tour of Ensenada March 10-11. Along with meals, receptions and visits with Baja business and political leaders, the trip includes tours of the Ensenada port and dj Orthopedics’ maquiladora and a Sempra Energy briefing on Ensenada’s liquefied natural gas utility. Tour cost is $395 for WTC members and $495 for nonmembers. For more, call the center at (619) 615-0868.
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Beware this newly revamped business scam: Greg Smith, the county assessor, recorder and clerk, reports out-of-county companies offering to file or renew fictitious business name statements in San Diego for $100. The real cost of the simple filing with the county is $20 for one name. (After filing, you also can cheaply and easily fulfill the required publication of the statement for $12 through the legally adjudicated, twice-weekly San Diego Metropolitan Uptown Examiner. Call 619-398-8927 for details.)
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Liberty Station’s first major fund-raising event will be the American Lung Association’s “Taste the Decade — Fabulous 40s” on the NTC Promenade from 4 to 7 p.m. April 9. The event includes food sampling from many top-notch San Diego restaurants along with suitable accompaniments from the region’s best-known wineries and breweries and the Moonlight Serenade Orchestra. Tickets are $125. Visit tastethedecade.com or call (619) 683-3460.
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 During the first few weeks of boot camp, Navy recruits were indoctrinated at Ingram Plaza at the former Naval Training Center in Point Loma. Ingram Plaza will be returned to its original condition by The Corky McMillin Cos. to serve as a gathering point between the future NTC Park and NTC Promenade, both under construction at what is now Liberty Station.
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San Diego Opera general director Ian Campbell believes local audiences handled Handel’s little known “Ariodante” so well in its production four years ago that they’re ready for another work by the pre-Mozart baroque master. Handel’s “Julius Caesar in Egypt” will be sung April 15, 18, 21 and 23 (matinee) in the Civic Theatre, Downtown. But first comes Bizet’s “Carmen” March 25, 28 and 31 and April 2 (matinee) and 5. For tickets, visit sdopera.com or call (619) 533-7000.
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New officers elected by the Old Globe board are Kathryn Hattox, chair; Anthony S. Thornley, vice chair, development; Sandra Redman, vice chair, nominating; and Deni S. Carpenter, secretary. New board members elected are Julie H. Sullivan, Debra Turner and Daniel Sullivan.
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Emerging San Diego singer Miz Mandy — no relation to Barry Manilow’s “Mandy” — lets out her debut CD “Mandatory” at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach from 7 to 10 p.m. March 6. Mixing measures of techno, funk and vanilla hip hop, Miz Mandy could be dandy indy candy.
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Daniel Goldman, psychologist and author of the best-seller “Emotional Intelligence,” and ABC correspondent Cokie Roberts are keynote speakers at the Society for Human Resource Management’s 37th annual Employment Management Association Conference and Exposition March 30-April 1 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego. The closing session will end with speaker and author Simon T. Bailey. Conference details are at shrm.org.
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Pardee Homes has won a 2006 Hearthstone Builder Humanitarian Award for a history of philanthropy that dates back to founder George Pardee’s support of the Boy Scouts of America. Pardee is the first company to be honored in the program’s history. All previous winners have been individuals within a company. Judges cited a strong corporate culture of employee volunteerism at Pardee. The company recorded 2,863 sales closings in 2005 and anticipates 35 new home neighborhood openings this year.
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The North County division of the Building Industry Association has set a goal of $50,000 to award to high school seniors intending to pursue careers in the building industry. Scholarships will range from $500 to $3,000. Applications must be submitted by April 10 to Tom Blessant, North County BIA scholarship committee chair, at Hunsaker & Associates, 10179 Huennekens St., San Diego, CA 92121. Applications and information can be obtained at biasandiego.org or by calling Kristie Chambers at (858) 558-4500.
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Entries are now being accepted for the fourth annual Metropolitan Transit System and Coca-Cola scholarship. Twenty-eight high school seniors will win a laptop computer for writing an essay about “120 Years of Public Transit in San Diego.” Applications, due by April 14, are available online on the MTS Web site at sdcommute.com, the San Diego County Office of Education Web site at sdcoe.k12.ca.us, The Transit Store at First Avenue and Broadway in Downtown San Diego or at high school career centers.
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CityMark Development holds a grand opening release March 11 for its Aperture condo development at Beech and Union streets in Little Italy. To participate, home shoppers can call or visit the CityMark Sales Studio at J Street and 11th Avenue. Aperture will have 30 floor plans ranging from 775 square feet to 2,217 square feet, 10-foot ceilings, stainless steel appliances, underground parking and 4,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.
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The Del Mar-Leucadia branch of the American Association of University Women presents its 10th annual “Through Garden Gates” to benefit women’s education, April 22 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Five gardens have been chosen: a coastal test garden, a Del Mar hillside garden, a drought-tolerant slope and a perennial garden. Owners of the antique shop “From Tuscany to Provence” have created a four-acre estate that offers a European feel with koi ponds, fountains, flower and vegetable gardens surrounding a home built of Red Mountain Stone. Order-by-mail tickets for the self-guided tour cost $20 and may be obtained by calling (760) 782-9082. For general information, call (760) 943-1774 or (858) 509-9822.
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Believe in magic? You will if you see San Diego Magic News, a newsletter and Web site — sandieomagicnews.com. Both are efforts of magician Michael E. Johnson. Both list magic events throughout the county, all open to the public, many of them free.
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Volunteers are needed to help make the annual ArtWalk festival April 29-30 in Downtown’s Little Italy a friendly forum for independent artists to showcase and sell their work. Sandi Cottrell, managing director of ArtWalk, says all 2006 volunteers must be at least 18 years old. First-time participants are asked to attend a one-hour orientation session. For more information, visit artwalkinfo.com or call (619) 615-1090.
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Montbleau & Associates Inc. gets a four-page story and the cover of Wood & Wood Products, a trade publication. The San Diego-based architectural woodworking company did about $15 million in business last year, according to CEO Ron Montbleau, who expects $18 million of work this year and $20 million next. This is his 27th year in business.
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Nice to see a haberdasher back on the ground floor of the Centre City Building on A Street at Third Avenue. How’s Ron Stuart Men’s Clothing doing since moving from Fifth and C? “We’re down a little bit since we moved, maybe 10 percent down,” says owner Ron Ford. “But when you move, it takes a while. We gave up size for parking and better visibility. The parking is much better.”
So what’s the latest?
“One of the problems with the men’s business, there isn’t often one strong fashion trend. I’d say suits and sport coats with double vents have been going well. Instead of center vents or no vents, double vents seems to be a trend. There really isn’t any advantage. Well, there is one advantage: You can put your hands easily in both pockets at the same time. I don’t know if many people do that.”
Spouses, perhaps, if you’re lucky.
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