Twenty years after revving up the Hillcrest dining scene, the Corvette Diner will be doing the same for Liberty Station at the old Naval Training Center. The energetic American diner, which has been the pace car for San Diego’s Cohn Restaurant Group since 1987, will be the first restaurant to adapt one of Liberty Station’s north side structures off Historic Gate 1. The lease is being worked out. The move likely would be next year. “We’re trying to negotiate longer term leases to build the community,” says Greg Block with Corky McMillin Cos., Liberty Station’s master developer.
***
Sandy Shapery is adding a long-vacant South Park firehouse and two adjacent warehouses to his eclectic portfolio. The principal in Shapery Enterprises expects to close escrow within 60 days on the nearly 15,000-square-foot total space. “We will restore them and then look at putting them up for lease,” says Shapery. “I think the fire station would make a great restaurant.” Total cost for the structures, which are in the 2200 block of Fern Street, is about $1.7 million. Historic renovation is not new to Shapery: a building at 12th and A streets was his last conquest. “We love the investment tax credits that come from them,” he says.
***
As the Wii video game system remains white hot, Rockstar San Diego, a leading video game developer, is planning to release later this year for the Wii its Table Tennis game which already is a big hit on the XBOX 360 system.
***
The median price of a resale condo Downtown was $559,000 in the first 20 days of July, up $10,000 from June but down 7.75 percent ($47,000) from $606,000 in July 2006, reports Realtor Lew Breeze of sdcondo.com. The number of condos pending sale during the past 30 days was 40, compared to 33 from the same period last year. The number of condos closing sale during the 30 days prior to July 20 was 36, compared to 35 from this same period last year.
***
Garry Bonelli, the long-time stellar spokesman for Sandag and longer-time Navy SEAL (he joined in 1968, then joined the Reserves and was frequently called back to active duty) has retired from the agency and is again back on active duty, only this time with more stars. His promotion to rear admiral was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 28.
***
   The Electra building at Kettner Boulevard and Broadway
|
Electra, the tallest residential building Downtown at 450 feet (43 stories), has topped out and is heading toward a December completion date. All 248 residences were sold within the first three months of being placed on the market at prices from $375,000 to $2.4 million. “The unusual building process that has gone into preserving the site’s history will truly make this high-rise a landmark in design excellence,” says Nat Bosa, founder and CEO of Bosa Development. The building is at the southwest corner of Kettner Boulevard and Broadway.
Originally two buildings were built by John D. Spreckels in 1911 to house the boilers and turbines for his new San Diego Electric Railway Co. In 1921 San Diego Gas & Electric purchased the property and expanded the facility. Bosa took over the historic site in 2003 and construction began on Electra in August 2004. Bosa donated commercial space along Broadway to get the SDSU Art Department to install an art gallery.
***
Proximetry, a wireless broadband company in San Diego, has been named to the 2007 FierceBroadbandWireless Fierce 15 list. It is the only local firm to make the respected tech publication’s ranking. Proximetry’s software does something very business-like: Make sure everyone gets paid what they are owed when a wireless broadband feature is used.
***
 Fred Lewis
|
The City Council plans to declare Sept. 18 as “Fred Lewis Day in San Diego” at a 9:30 a.m. ceremony in Council Chambers in honor of the legendary broadcast journalist whose “Heart of San Diego” TV series included 653 programs, all interviews with mostly prominent San Diegans, instead of elected officials. The final interview will debut at 5 p.m. Aug. 12 on ITV, Channel 16, but reruns will continue. Now ailing from prostate cancer, Lewis moved to San Diego in 1961 and eventually served as news director at four local radio stations, covered for Harold Keen at Channel 8, was the first voice heard broadcasting from the Sports Arena, announced the Ali-Norton fight in ’73 and continued to host the Acura Tennis Classic until recently. While the genre is now a broadcast staple, he created the nation’s first long-running infomercial in 1982, based on his “Conversation with Fred Lewis” format. Says Judith Morgan, “Neither elected politicians nor headline-grabbing zillionaires have had such positive impact on this crazy city.” More on Fred Lewis’ career is available at sandiegometro.com.
Brent Altomare’s Groovy Like a Movie is bringing the Hollywood production experience this summer to students at Monarch School, the Downtown-based innovative educational sanctuary for homeless teens. From Aug. 6-10, Groovy’s production staff will teach the students about news packages, taping public service announcements, editing and shooting and doing demos with makeup artists and special effects experts. More about the school is at monarchschools.org and more about Altomare’s business is at groovylikeamovie.com.
***
 Where tuna boats once dropped their catch, the Port of San Diego soon will net megayachts. Just north of the Maritime Museum and the B Street Cruise Ship Terminal, the Port will modify the old tuna fleet docks to accommodate luxury yachts 100 feet and longer. The Port is negotiating with San Diego Mooring on the job, which would align four to eight megayachts ‘Med Moor’ style — where vessels can drop anchor or moor alongside in the style favored by top Mediterranean marinas. The project cost will be under $250,000, says Mark Taylor, Port marine terminals operations manager. The industry says megayacht port calls sink an average of $1,000 a day into the local economy. ‘It’s clear to me that as much as the cruise ship industry is growing, the megayacht industry is growing even faster,’ says Port Commissioner Mike Bixler.
|
***
Providing a series of short humorous videos about the world of venture capital is none other than the San Diego Venture Group. The video, available at veoh.com/channels/SDVG and sdvg.org, features some bad, but funny, acting by industry professionals. Among the funniest is Bill Eigner, a partner with Procopio, who plays a distracted VC lawyer who can’t stop glancing at his Blackberry — at one point he tells the client while Eigner is not looking at him, not to worry, he is listening — and acknowledges the irony of requiring a minimum $10,000 down payment to discuss financing needs.
***
To boost its share of the suburban market, Irving Hughes has hired Zach Millrood as a v.p. Focusing exclusively on tenant representation, Millrood brings to the position six years of corporate and local commercial real estate experience. Most recently he served as manager for the San Diego branch of Equis. “Zach’s local experience and close connection with the San Diego market gives him firsthand knowledge of landlords, market trends and the best methods of creating competition for his clients’ tenancy,” says Jason Hughes, principal of Irving Hughes.
***
Jimsair Charter and Management has promoted Carrie Telitz to manager of charter operations. Telitz moves to her new post from being manager of sales and marketing. Richard Cloward, the former charter operations manager, has (yet again) retired, but will serve as a consultant to the company. Meanwhile, Jimsair has accepted, on behalf of a client, delivery of an Eclipse 500A that will be based at the company’s Lindbergh Field operation.
***
A lot more whole wheat is sprouting from Scott’s Gourmet Sandwiches in Downtown. In September, the 12-year-old, two-location breakfast and lunch mainstay will become the first San Diego location for Organic To Go, the nation’s first casual café chain to be certified as an organic retailer. Organic To Go has grown from Seattle with new cafés and grab-and-go kiosks also opening in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Scott’s founder, Darin Loesch, becomes Organic To Go’s senior director of San Diego operations. His 14 employees will be kept. Catering and delivery will continue with more soups, salads and entrees. “Downtown has grown tremendously in 12 years and the type of people who live in condos like to eat out,” Loesch says. “Sixth Avenue is an ideal location.” Less than 3 years old, the publicly traded Organic To Go posted sales of $9.66 million and a profit of $4.79 million last year.
***
 With the yachting industry turned topside from the doldrums of four to six years ago, the eighth annual YachtFest San Diego at the Shelter Island Marina and Island Palms Hotel is primed to set an attendance record Sept. 13 to 16. More than 30 swanky, lavish yachts, available for charter or purchase, will be open for ogling and touring. The event includes workshops and meeting with builders, brokers, captains and crew. Tickets start at $32. For more, visit yachtfest.com.
|
***
Before he died in 2004, Victor Diaz would drive all over the region with wife Martha tuning his radio and using a device to measure signal strengths. That’s how he discovered the availability of 104.9 FM and began the process of petitioning the FCC in Washington, D.C., and the Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes in Mexico City to move the frequency of his XLNC1 classical music station from 90.7, where he’d broadcast since 2000 at a low 1,000 watts in order to minimize conflict with KPFK out of Los Angeles. XLNC1 is the only 24/7 classical music station in San Diego or Baja, but residents north of Interstate 8 have difficulty hearing it.
Not for long. By this fall, Martha Diaz says she’ll be broadcasting Chula Vista-based XLNC1 with 7,500 watts from the new frequency and with a new Tecate tower at a much higher elevation, offering classical music through-out the region, because Mexico’s Conmisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones finally issued the permit.
Station manager Lisette Atala is thrilled, and already working on a new fundraising campaign for the non-profit organization. “We need to buy new equipment for the new frequency; we cannot use anything from 90.7 FM. It's a new station.”
In the meantime, music lovers in distant Rancho Santa Fe or Madrid can always tune in to xlnc1.org. It’s the world’s only English/Spanish classical music broadcast.
***
Folks with large power lines near their homes don’t like them and the idea of building new ones in a neighborhood sends people into a frenzy. So when SDG&E in San Diego was looking to complete a 52-mile long loop for electric transmission among new and planned local power stations, it started going underground. In mid-July, the $210 million loop, which contains two new 230,000 volt lines, was dedicated. And 10 miles of it is underground. The rest is along existing corridors.
***
|
***
The J. Craig Venter Institute, which specializes in advanced genomics, is expanding from Maryland (Rickville) to San Diego, using property leased from UCSD. The project will include 45,000 square feet of lab and administrative space for 125 scientists and support staff.
***
Groundbreaking plans are in the works for Bluwater Crossing, a transit-oriented development in Carlsbad that will have 78 residential units, including 15 two-story townhomes and 51 lofts featuring ground-level workspace for home-based business and small offices. Also included will be 21,600 square feet of retail/commercial space and parking facilities. The project is located at Avenida Encinas and Embarcadero Lane, adjacent to the Poinsettia Coaster station linking North County with Downtown San Diego. The units are designed to accommodate small business owners and professionals in search of a way to eliminate commutes by working from home.
***
Developer Jay Paul Co. expects to break ground this month on the first phase of what will eventually be a 105-acre mixed-use development offering 3.2 million square feet of R&D, office and industrial space in 11 towers and two amenities buildings in Rancho Bernardo. The project is called The Summit Rancho Bernardo. Jay Paul assembled the land with its purchase last year of a 30-acre parcel from Sony Electronics and its purchase in January of a neighboring 75 acres — for a total cost of $145 million. The first phase will include the construction of two Class A office towers and a 40,000-square-foot amenities building. The five-story and six-story towers will contain 407,000 square feet.
***
Doug Paul of The Paul Co. has been elected president of the board of the South County EDC. Dan Biggs, CEO of Designed Internet Solutions, was elected first v.p. Bill Tunstall and Norma Hernandez were elected second v.p.’s and Rosa Gonzalez Lopez of Union Bank was elected treasurer. Ed Lopez of SDG&E was elected secretary. Jim Janney is outgoing president.
 An interest list is forming for Intracorp’s Serenata, a 45-unit townhome development in the College Grove area. The list can be accessed at liveserenata.com. The three-bedroom, two-bath homes are priced from the low $400,000s.
|
***
***
The California State University Board of Trustees again is preparing to consider the SDSU Adobe Falls faculty and staff affordable housing project proposed for 32 acres of undeveloped university land off Adobe Falls Road south of Del Cerro. The public comment period on the new draft EIR has closed. City and neighbor concerns over parking, traffic and density of the proposed complex and the university’s financial obligations to mitigate those effects led trustees to decertify the original report. The new SDSU campus master plan reduces the number of homes in Adobe Falls from the original 348 to 172 — if no new alternate access is developed. The revised plan also calls for developing new housing on campus for 3,000 students. By 2025, SDSU anticipates owning or managing housing for nearly 10,000 students on or within walking distance of campus. The board meets Sept. 18-19.
***
Downtown Movies at the Park returns Aug. 11 with a showing of “Bad News Bears.” “Shrek” screens on Sept. 8. Gates to the park behind Petco Park open at 6 p.m. with the films starting at 7 p.m. You can bring a blanket and snacks, but no booze or chairs. Organizers are collecting canned good to support the San Diego Rescue Mission and St. Vincent de Paul Village.
***
ArtWalk on the Bay returns to Embarcadero Marina Park North by Seaport Village for its second year Sept. 8 and 9. The open-air gallery includes painting, sculpture and photography along with music, dance and kids’ activities. The adjacent Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel sponsors the free event, open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more, visit artwalkonthebay.org.
***
The pipeline turns to pupline Aug. 18 when Loews Coronado Bay Resort presents the second annual Surf Dog Small Wave Competition off Carnation Avenue at the north end of Imperial Beach. The “dog boarding” begins with surfing lessons for neophyte fidos at 9 a.m. Scored heats begin at 11 for solo dogs and human-canine pairs. Viewing is free. Entry fees start at $50. Proceeds benefit Loews Hotels’ Good Neighbor Program. Partners include Modest Needs and PAWS of Coronado. For more, visit loewssurfdog.blogspot.com.
No comments on record for this story.
This is a public form for the free exchange of comments. Foul language, threats and anything overtly mean or nasty will be removed.