San Diego economic development officials’ efforts to establish the region as a center for clean technology — as an oversimplification, innovation that combats global warming – will require cash to nurture entrepreneurs. Into that breach steps CONNECT, which two decades ago caused the world to take notice with its success with the region’s biotech industry. The reconfigured development program is accepting applications until April 11 from individuals and companies with ideas for clean technologies. The five finalists that survive a vetting process will be invited to showcase themselves on May 7 in the Clean Technology Venture Roundtable being held in partnership with CleanTECH San Diego. Between 30 and 40 capital providers from around the country are expected to attend. Information is at connect.org.

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Seeking to gain some weekend business from riders of North County’s new Sprinter train, Escondido’s Downtown Business Association is launching free Saturday limo service from the station to its downtown. Starting April 5, the service loop will take 30 minutes and run until 7 p.m. Gift bags are included.

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Tough act to follow: Friends of Downtown raised $18,000 for City College students at last year's scholarship breakfast alone. The next scholarship breakfast is 7:30 a.m. May 15 at Seaport Village's Harbor House. RSVP to friendsofdowntown@yahoo.com.

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Tracy Lynn

Watching in horror as October’s wildfires destroyed thousands of homes, Tracy Lynn and the staff at Style On a Shoestring decided to use their expertise to help people get their lives back together. The interior design firm would, for free, help those who lost their homes or suffered severe smoke damage with choosing new paint colors, picking out window treatments and creating design plans for furniture arrangement. One hitch: No takers. While Lynn describes a frustrating struggle to get the word out, she hasn’t given up. “I truly believe that Style on a Shoestring could be a valuable resource for some of these families in need,” she says. “The offer of free assistance is still available and will continue to be so as long as there are people in our county who can use our services.” Call Lynn at (858) 335-7033 or visit styleonashoestring.com for more.

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Embracing the electric car, Bosa Development is preparing to offer six electric charging stations in its new Bayside at the Embarcadero tower set to open next year. “Bayside is the first of its kind in the area to provide this renewable energy for electric cars,” says Nat Bosa, company CEO and founder. “It all started with one Bayside owner who needed a place to charge the battery of his electric car. Going green is the way of the future and we thought it was a brilliant idea to incorporate several charging stations for prospective eco-minded owners.” While Bosa has eight other towers in Downtown and plans others, it has not decided if future towers will feature the stations.

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An eminent domain expert, Dave Allsbrook has been recognized by the San Diego City Council for three decades of service to the Centre City Development Corp. Nary a site has been cleared Downtown without him.

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Ivy Hotel Downtown will begin offering weekend breakfasts at its rooftop Eden restaurant beginning April 5. ‘It’s the kind of dining experience that could make a morning person out of anyone,’ says Jessica Martinez, the marketing director. The casual breakfast hours will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays and will come with panoramic views of the city.

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Sherm Harmer of Urban Housing Partners has been chosen president of the Building Industry Association of San Diego for 2008. Andrew Murphy of American Property Enterprises is v.p. and Bob Cummings of Barratt American is treasurer/secretary.

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The median price of a resale condo Downtown was $562,500 for the 30-day period ended March 19, up $13,500 from last month and up $20,000 from the same period in March 2007 ($542,500), reports Realtor Lew Breeze of sdcondo.com. The number of condos pending sale during the past 30 days was 60, compared to 50 from the same 30-day period last month. The number of condos closing sale during the 30 days prior to March 19 was 29, compared to 29 from the same 30-day period last month.

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Jon Lash has been promoted to executive v.p. and COO for Pardee Homes. Replacing Hal Struck who is retiring after 31 years, Lash was formerly senior v.p. responsible for acquisition and disposition of land assets.

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Sanford “Sandy” Goodkin, the godfather of the local real estate consulting industry and an internationally respected visionary, has received the Crystal Globe Award from the San Diego chapter of Lambda Alpha International, the world’s largest land use planning organization. In other Lambda news, new president Mark Steele has a passel of new members to work with. They include Laurie Black, San Diego Port commissioner; Paul Borden, president of Home Federal Corp.; Gina Champion-Cain, president of American National Investments; William Dumka, senior v.p. of Black Mountain Ranch LLC; Gary Halbert, Santee deputy city manager; Ted Kimball, founder of Kimball Tirey and St. John; Molly Lipsher, senior associate with Economics Research Associates; Theresa McAteer, owner of McAteer and McAteer; Norm Miller, professor of real estate at the USD Burnham Moores Center for Real Estate Institute; Robert Mosher of Robert Mosher FAIA Architect; James Reynolds, senior v.p. and principal at OliverMcMillan; James Schmid, CEO of Chelsea Investment Corp.; Barry Schultz, CEO of San Diego Capital Collaborative; Richard Snyder, CEO of RA Snyder Management; Tom Sudberry, CEO of Sudberry Properties Inc.; and James Tanner, president of Tanner Hecht Architecture.

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Following a $90 million, 300,000-square-foot makeover and expansion, including a new wing, Westfield Plaza Bonita is re-establishing itself as a leading South County retailer. A 14-screen AMC Theater opens May 16 and a Target on July 27. Opening dates of other tenants will be announced later.

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Morrow Development has selected Weston/Mason Marketing to handle the marketing needs, from advertising to Internet, for the 2,350-acre Villages of La Costa master-planned development. Of the four communities, the first, the 500-home La Costa Valley, was completed about six years ago. La Costa Oaks, the second phase of the 1,032-home community, is expected to open next year. La Costa Ridge has been open for more than a year with 136 of its homes sold. The fourth community, the 858-home La Costa Greens, has been open for more than two years and has two neighborhoods nearing sellout and two others recently opened. Another neighborhood will open next spring. More on the project is at lacostagreens.com.

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Entrepreneur Lee Stein has packed many careers into his lifetime, including serving as a financial adviser to rock ‘n’ roll stars, president and part owner of Seaport Village and founder of a company that sought to secure financial transactions over the Internet. Now Stein, founder and chair of Prize Capital, is working with the X Prize Foundation to create a $10 million prize for an inventor who can create a biofuels system. “Current biofuels technology is not fully sustainable, competes with food crops and doesn’t work on a decentralized small scale for local communities,” says Stein. “Instead, the Biofuels Prize will spur the creation of new small-scale production systems that can be placed in villages and towns anywhere in the world where non-food crops can be grown and converted to biofuels.” More info is at prizecapital.net.

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Awarepoint Corp. specializes in knowing where things are, so it was hardly surprising the company moved recently from Carmel Valley to Downtown, after it found all of its employees were living south of Route 52 with a number of key staffers residing in the 92101 ZIP code. CEO Jason Howe’s firm, now housed in the NBC building, has landed a key patent for its RFID asset management tracking technology. Aimed at hospitals, the wireless technology can identify the location of a piece of equipment in real time, by both room and floor level. Further patents are anticipated.