King of the Downtown apartment scene, OliverMcMillan has purchased two lots at the corner of 15th Street and Island Avenue for building another loft project. The company paid $6.75 million to Escondido Property Managers for the 0.76 acre. The trio of Dene Oliver, Jim McMillan and Paul Buss have now developed six Downtown projects featuring a mix of residential units and retail space including the 160-unit Aloft on Cortez Hill condominiums, the 148-unit The Lofts at 677 Seventh, the 207-unit The Lofts at 707 Tenth Avenue, the 97-unit The Lofts at 655 Sixth Avenue and Horton Fourth Avenue over the entrance to the Horton Plaza parking garage, its oldest but still perhaps coolest one-bedroom community in San Diego.

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When Tina Fey accepted one of her three Emmy Awards for the television program “30 Rock,” she took a moment to praise New York for waiving show production fees. Taking note in San Diego was local Film Commission leader Cathy Anderson. Anderson is pressing Gov. Schwarzenegger to develop tax-neutral film incentives. She notes California is one of only eight states with no such inducements. One idea would allow CHP officers to work in their off hours directly for film crews at $40 an hour, rather than the $82 an hour, four-hour minimum, the state bills.

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San Diego’s Navy Mayor Rear Adm. Len Hering, for pushing forward the redevelopment of the Navy Broadway Complex and a thousand other things he does, was named the 2008 Dealmaker of the Year by PLNU’s Fermanian School of Business. The San Diego Renewable Energy Society won the corporate Dealmaker award, and Kilroy Realty Corp. won the Deal of the Year for its Scripps Clinic project in Rancho Bernardo.

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The Lincoln Club has reserved the Grand Del Mar Dec. 5 for its 25th anniversary gala.

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The median price of a resale condo Downtown was $582,000 for the 30-day period ended Sept. 17, up $8,000 from last month, and $10,000 higher from the same period in September 2007 ($572,000), reports Realtor Lew Breeze of sdcondo.com. The number of condos pending sale during the past 30 days was 86, compared to 33 from the same period last year. The average price per square foot of units pending sale was $448, compared to $518 from the same period last year. The number of condos closing sale during the 30 days prior to September 17 was 36, compared to 24 from the same period last year. The average price per square foot of units sold was $455, compared to $563 from the same period last year. There were 322 resale condos for sale Downtown, down from 362 last month, and down from 508 condos from the same period September 2007.

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Four new specialty restaurants will add their tastes and textures to Downtown’s mix of eating houses later this year with flavors of Italy, the Mediterranean, Mexico and Great Britain. They’ll open in three different locales — The Legend, the Schiefer Building and DiamondView Tower.

Wine Steals & Proper Pub, a wine bar and adjoining British gastropub-style restaurant, has a 10-year, $2.7 million lease at The Legend at 325 Seventh Ave. El Vitral, a Mexican restaurant and tequila bar, obtained a 10-year, $2.7 million lease for ground floor retail space at the historic Schiefer Building, 815 J St. Primavera, an Italian restaurant, has a 10-year, $1.48 million lease for retail space in DiamondView Tower, 350 Tenth Ave. Mediterranean cuisine will be offered by Acqua E Terra, also in DiamondView Tower under a 10-year, $616,420 lease. It is sister restaurant to Acqua al 2 in the Gaslamp.

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An L.A. refugee who honed her gardening skills as a stay-at-home mom tending 3.5 acres near the Oregon coast, Karen Contreras moved to quaintly urban North Park a year ago but never lost her hankering for vine-fresh produce. From the new seed-grown vegetable garden Contreras planted, she also reaped an idea for Urban Plantations, her new business that shows city slickers how their back — and front — yards can become attractive and productive gardens. “I really enjoy teaching people how to grow their own food,” Contreras says. She even harvests their crops if needed. For all her services, visit urbanplantations.com.