The Diegan Hotel, Downtown’s “other” condo hotel (besides the Hard Rock), is in negotiations with a “huge globally known five-star operator,” says a source familiar with the proceedings. The operator is to be announced soon. The condo hotel, which is scheduled to open in December, offers 161 luxury rooms and suites and 24 penthouses. It will be home to Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce nightclub, which has sister locations in Hollywood and Las Vegas. The hotel is being built atop the House of Blues and is being developed by 5th Avenue Partners.

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The median resale price for a Downtown condo rose to $595,000 in January, up from $565,000 a year earlier, reports the San Diego Association of Realtors. The number of Downtown resale condos in January was 41, down from 48 sold a year earlier.

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While San Diego (No. 3) is among the nation’s Top 5 leisure markets, it is out of its league when it comes to marketing dollars to compete against No. 1 Orlando. The Florida playground will spend $68 million over the next two years, more than triple the $20 million it spent in 2005-06. The money will fund national television network spots. San Diego ConVis CEO David Peckinpaugh can only dream of such marketing support. “Our total media buy in 2007 will be approximately $2.6 million, focused primarily on cable TV,” Peckinpaugh says. “As you can see, we are at a huge competitive disadvantage. If (the Tourism Improvement District) passes then we should have expanded resources, but our media buy would still only be in the $5 million to $6 million range, most likely.”

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It’s always the first $450 million that’s hardest to assemble. That’s the volume of assets upon which Vince Siciliano will be sitting as CEO of the merged 1st Pacific Bank and Landmark National. Pending regulatory approvals, 1st Pacific is acquiring Landmark for about $24.6 million in cash and stock. Landmark acquired Legacy Bank about two years ago. At some point, theoretically, North City and North County will stop being overbanked. The Local Lender$ are on Page 50; Financial Notes are on Page 51.

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Former state Sen. Steve Peace says the Port District’s recent approval of a conceptual plan for redeveloping Lane Field does not jeopardize the sweeping bayfront vision Peace and Supervisor Ron Roberts unveiled just two weeks before the vote. Roberts and Peace envision cruise ship operations moving south to 10th Avenue or north nearer the airport. “These conceptual plans are just that, conceptual, and fairly easily adapted into the larger vision,” says Peace. “Obviously, a larger cruise ship capacity could be accommodated at 10th Avenue and in turn we would open the north to more active waterfront-oriented businesses and people-intensive retail and entertainment, etc. But, with or without cruise ships at B Street, our plan does not lower density at the Lane Field site. It merely realigns the development to face Pacific Highway and integrates the development into a consistent plan improving public access and preserving the bay as part of the Downtown landscape.”

The Port’s support goes to Lankford & Associates, Hardage Suite Hotels, C.W. Clark and Phelps Development, a partnership operating as Lane Field Developers. Their proposal includes a 550-room hotel on the southern side of Lane Field to be operated by InterContinental with about 37,000 square feet of retail and restaurants outside the hotel. A 250-room hotel operated by Woodfin Suites Hotels would operate on the north side of the property, bounded by Broadway, Harbor Drive, B Street and Pacific Highway. Local government officials have spent more than a decade planning the property. As part of the project, Harbor Drive will be moved 70 feet east to allow the creation of a 100-foot-wide esplanade along the waterfront.

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Barnhart Inc. was awarded the contract to provide lease/leaseback construction services for Del Norte High School for the Poway Unified School District. The new high school in the 4S Ranch area of Rancho Bernardo is scheduled to open in August 2009 with 500 freshman students. The school is planned to eventually accommodate 2,200 students. The school, designed by NTDStichler, will total 196,110 square feet on a 62-acre site.

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CCDC reports that in 2006, 15 residential projects were completed Downtown, adding 600 condominiums and 452 apartments to the residential mix. Also in 2006, 120,000 square feet of retail space was completed along with 123,000 square feet of office space. Since 2001, 99 residential projects have been completed Downtown, adding 8,518 new homes.

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The landscape of future residential real estate projects in San Diego County is rapidly and permanently changing, with the once-dominant single-family home being steadily replaced by high-density, mixed-use infill projects, says Guy Asaro, senior v.p. of land development for The Corky McMillin Cos. Speaking at the 11th annual Burnham-Moores Real Estate Conference at USD, Asaro described McMillin’s Eastern Urban Center, a 200-acre parcel within the 23,000-acre Otay Ranch community in Chula Vista, as characteristic of future San Diego development projects. “At build-out, it will incorporate 3,000 residential units and more than 3 million square feet of nonresidential uses,” said Asaro. “That’s retail, that’s office, that’s mixed-use, that’s civic uses. It is density that’s unparalleled in the region. We simply haven’t seen it.”

As developable land becomes scarce, Asaro expects in 10 years less than 1,000 single-family detached homes will be completed each year in San Diego County. “The real story of San Diego and Southern California real estate is the loss of the single-family home,” Asaro said. “We simply aren’t making them anymore. And that’s not because we don’t have buyers. It’s because we simply can’t do it. We’re out to our boundaries. The single-family home is a thing of the past. In essence, our market, when you think about it residentially, is going to be one of infill.”

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Drawn by robust tourism-related sales, as well as above-average household incomes, national retailers continue to expand into San Diego, reports Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Co. However, the analysis of 42 markets published in the company’s 2007 National Retail Report, shows that San Diego has fallen from No. 1 last year to No. 6 in terms of its prospects over the next 12 months. New York City moved up three spots to No. 1. The Marcus & Millichap analysts aren’t worrying, though. “Even though a slowdown in home refinancing activity will crimp retail sales growth, it should be partially offset by heightened convention activity and tourism,” says Kent Williams, regional manager of the firm’s San Diego office. “Strong tenant demand has resulted in elevated construction activity, which will produce a slight increase in the metro’s vacancy rate this year.” Retail asking rents are expected to increase 5.6 percent to $28.68 per square foot, while effective rents are forecast to gain 5.4 percent to $26.24 per square foot. The rising rents are spurring increased construction, with 2.5 million square feet of retail space coming online this year, nearly double 2006’s total.

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Look for controversy to grow as environmental, planning and government officials tussle over a proposal by the owners of the undeveloped 21,000-acre Rancho Guejito to have the property annexed to the city of Escondido. The move would nearly double the size of Escondido, where some officials envision the project doing for that city what Otay Ranch did for Chula Vista, boosting median household income and serving as a lure to trophy commercial, recreational and perhaps even university uses.

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Continuing to rock San Diego’s commercial world, The Irvine Co. is adding 17 more office buildings to its large real estate holdings in the county. The Newport Beach-based company is buying the San Diego portfolio of office properties recently acquired by an affiliate of The Blackstone Group from Equity Office Properties. Properties involved include The Plaza at La Jolla Village, Northern Trust Tower, Pacifica Tower and Smith Barney Tower. “We believe in San Diego’s economic future, and this is another long-term investment by our company in a thriving area where we have built and owned office properties for more than 25 years,” says Val Wheeler, Irvine president.

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When digital telephones first hit the market in San Diego, way back in 1996, Cox Communications and Sprint were in a joint venture offering CDMA phones and a low-rate pioneer program that required no contracts. Cox soon got out of the phone business. Now, a decade later it has teamed with Sprint to launch Mobile Access, a wireless venture that will integrate Cox digital telephone, Cox digital cable, and Cox high-speed Internet with Sprint wireless service. Customers will have access to national television programming and local programming from Channel 4 San Diego.

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Ten San Diegans will be honored by LEAD San Diego as recipients of its 2007 Visionary Awards at 5:30 p.m. on March 27 at the San Diego Marriott & Marina Hotel. The event kicks off the celebration of LEAD’s 25 years of service. Tickets are $125. For more information, call (619) 280-5323. The recipients are Ronald Kendrick, retired from Union Bank of California, receiving the 2007 Morgan Award; Ernest Rady, chair of American Assets Inc., receiving the Quality of Life Award; Jerri-Ann and Gary Jacobs, Jacobs Investment Co., the Community Collaboration Award; Molly Cartmill, director of community relations and corporate events for Sempra Energy, the Graduate of the Year Award; Ernest Wright, founder and chairman of Pro Kids Golf Academy, the Diversity Award; Richard Ledford, president and CEO of Ledford Enterprises, the Regional Stewardship Award; Hector Lutteroth Camou, founder and president of Grupo AFAL, the Nathanson Award for cross-border region building; and Mark and Tori Baird, founders of HirePatriots.com, the Economic Opportunity Award.

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The San Diego Port Tenants Association holds its annual general membership meeting at 5:30 p.m. March 15 aboard the Lord Hornblower Yacht. Sylvia Rios, the new Port Commission chair, is the scheduled speaker. Edward F. Plant is the association’s new chair following his stint as chair of the Working Waterfront Group. “From that, we learned to get everyone in and involved for a better balance,” says Plant, who operates San Diego Refrigerated Services and San Diego Cold Storage. “My agenda is to have a balanced port between maritime and commercial.” The meeting includes appetizers, hosted wine bar, raffle and silent auction. Tickets are $45. To reserve, go to sdpta.com or call (619) 226-6546.

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Rick Sparks

After more than 35 years with CB Richard Ellis, Rick Sparks has become managing director in San Diego. Sparks, who was executive v.p. of brokerage services for the San Diego region, is based in La Jolla. He replaces Craig Shute, who left last August to become managing director of the firm’s Las Vegas operation. Sparks’ career has included more than $4 billion in transactions involving more than 21 million square feet and 2,500 acres.

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Philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps has been selected for induction into the San Diego County Women’s Hall of Fame. An induction ceremony will be at 5 p.m. March 24 at the Price Center at UCSD. La Jolla Historical Society’s historian, Carol Olten, and archivist Kara West submitted the nomination. “We hold Ellen Browning Scripps to be one of the greatest women of her time,” says West. “The philanthropy she demonstrated to La Jolla, to San Diego, and even beyond those geographic borders is remarkable.” Scripps died at 95 in La Jolla in 1932. Her legacy includes the La Jolla Woman’s Club, the La Jolla Public Library, (from which the La Jolla Historical Society was founded), Scripps Memorial Hospital and Clinic, the Bishop’s School, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and financial aid in building churches in La Jolla. She also gave to the Natural History Museum and the Zoological Garden in Balboa Park.

The Women’s Hall of Fame is a project organized by the Women’s History Museum, the San Diego Commission on the Status of Women, the UCSD Women’s Center and the Department of Women’s Studies at SDSU. Scripps also will be honored in a permanent display at the Women’s History Museum.

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Gloria Steinem is coming to town to help the Center for Community Solutions raise funds and awareness for its sexual assault and domestic violence prevention and intervention services. An internationally known feminist activist, organizer, writer and lecturer, Steinem will keynote the nonprofit’s eighth annual “Tea by the Sea” benefit set for March 14, 2-4 p.m., at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina. Sponsored by Nordstrom and Home Depot Supply, the event raises community awareness while honoring volunteers and local businesses. Tickets are $75 per person or $750 for a table of 10. For more information, click on ccssd.org or call (858) 272-5777, Ext. 120.

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Active Ride Shop, a company that sells footwear, apparel, skate goods and accessories, signed a 10-year lease to become the first retail tenant in The Legend, the 23-story condominium tower under construction fronting the Park at the Park and overlooking left field at Petco Park. The ground floor space lease is valued at $2.87 million. The shop is to move into the space after the building’s fall completion.

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Downtown’s newly built Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego turns to a local artist with expertise in the building trades for a new exhibit May 20 to July 7. Encinitas sculptor and conceptual artist William Feeney is the museum’s 2007 stART Up Award winner. The museum program spotlights up and coming artistic talent in the region to encourage private collecting. Feeney will receive a purchase prize of $10,000 to bring one or more of his works into the museum’s permanent collection.

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The San Diego County Taxpayers Association is seeking nominations for the 12th annual Golden Watchdog and Golden Fleece Awards, which recognize the very best and worst of local government efficiency, spending and decision making in 2006. Winners will be announced on May 31 at SDCTA’s annual awards dinner at the Town and Country Hotel in Mission Valley. The nomination deadline is March 9. Nomination forms are available by calling (619) 234-6423. The forms are free; the opportunity to attend the event and witness County CFO Walt Ekard singing while in a dog costume, priceless.