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Derek Oct 2, 2008 2:40 AM

Good news for Horton Plaza! Westfield seems to actually go through with thier projects, so we might actually see this one happen! :ack:

Marina_Guy Oct 2, 2008 4:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derek (Post 3834450)
Good news for Horton Plaza! Westfield seems to actually go through with thier projects, so we might actually see this one happen! :ack:

What no comments on the design... I am pleased that HP will be getting some sort of a makeover. And if it has a home furnishing bent that is good too. It is badly needed.

But come on... this is the best design they can do? This looks like the building in South Coast Plaza. It does not appear to have any relationship to the existing mall (maybe a good thing or?) It looks like a corporate architect did it. Looks like there could be a parking lot in front of it. This is an urban area.

This building does not embrace the Park. That park has been around for over 100+ years. Couldn't the architecture reflect any of the history? if you look closely none of the space appears to touch the park. In fact, it looks like they have a larger staircase than is what is there now. How about putting a coffee shop on the ground level or a really good restaurant with outdoor seating that would clearly energize the park? Looks like all the public spaces/restaurants are terraced above the street level...

I am happy that Westfield is finally doing something with Horton Plaza...but they could do much better. I guess these days you should be happy with what they give you... but....

HurricaneHugo Oct 2, 2008 7:25 AM

yea that's true they can do better, and hopefully this isn't the final design, but it's a step forward!

btw, whatever happened to the office tower on the northeast side and the hotel on the south side?

im sure both projects are dead...

IconRPCV Oct 2, 2008 6:07 PM

Well how about some good news. Over in the east village the site for the new Tomas Jefferson Lae School is being preped for demolition, and the site for the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge is getting preped as well.

sandiegodweller Oct 3, 2008 2:58 AM

Developer rushes to finalize loan before land sale

Simplon hopes to fend off creditor, keep downtown site

By Mike Freeman
STAFF WRITER

October 2, 2008

Developers of a proposed 39-story hotel/condo tower just outside Petco Park are scrambling to finalize a heavy-handed bridge loan before Monday, when the full-block site downtown is scheduled for sale at a foreclosure auction.

San Diego-based Simplon Ballpark LLC received bankruptcy court approval yesterday to pursue the $33 million loan for Cosmopolitan Square. The sleek high-rise is planned at J Street and Seventh, Eighth and Island avenues in the East Village.

While approving the additional debt, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Meyers did not postpone Monday's scheduled foreclosure.

Over the past seven months, Meyers has delayed foreclosure several times as Simplon toiled unsuccessfully to refinance to project. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in March.

Simplon needs to complete the new loan before Monday to fend off its largest creditor, SDG-Left Field. SDG says it is owed more than $20 million. Other creditors say they are owed an additional $19 million.

Tom Nelson, Simplon's bankruptcy lawyer, was optimistic that the loan would fund – despite the current crisis roiling the credit markets.
“We believe there is a very high probability we'll be able to pull this off and get the loan finalized by Friday,” Nelson said.

Simplon has been working on details of the loan with National Investors Mortgage of Valley Center for about three weeks. The 11th-hour scramble by Simplon to refinance the project highlights the struggles developers are having in San Diego and across the country in getting money given today's tight credit markets.

With credit so tight, the terms of the proposed bridge loan are severe. They include 12 percent in upfront points and fees to lenders, which would be financed from the loan proceeds.

The one-year loan also carries a 15 percent annual interest rate and personal guarantees from developers should they default.

SDG-Left Field is controlled by Steve Black of Cisterra Development, a major San Diego office building company. Its projects include DiamondView Tower, an 15-story high-rise just outside of Petco Park.

Real estate experts speculate that Black is more interested in acquiring the prime downtown site through foreclosure than getting his loan paid off.

Jeffry Davis, a lawyer for SDG-Left Field, declined to comment.

Simplon developed the Radisson Bay View, a 334-room hotel in San Diego, as well as a Radisson Hotel in National City and a housing project in Rancho Santa Fe.

In 2005, Simplon paid $25.5 million for the full block site. It got land-use approval for a $140 million, 334-unit condominium project, which included a new city fire station.

As the housing market tumbled, Simplon shifted gears. It now proposes a 210-room hotel under the upscale Mondrian brand name, as well as 113 “very high-end” condos, according to court records.

Simplon fell behind on debt used to buy the block. With SDG-Left Field threatening foreclosure, Simplon filed for bankruptcy to buy time.

For months, Simplon had been working with Providence Funding of South Bend, Ind., on a proposed loan that would pay off SDG-Left Field.

The deal fell apart about three weeks ago. Providence contends the deal died because Simplon failed to provide requested documents during the underwriting process.

Nelson, Simplon's lawyer, said Providence's requests for documents were “extraordinary and unwarranted.”

Even if the National Investors Mortgage bridge loan funds, Simplon has work to do over the next year. It's negotiating a construction loan from ailing Corus Bank of Chicago. It also must finalize negotiations with Morgans Hotel Group, the operator of Mondrian Hotels.

kpexpress Oct 3, 2008 5:19 AM

Did anyone see the debates at Stingaree?

bmfarley Oct 3, 2008 6:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandiegodweller (Post 3836724)
Developer rushes to finalize loan before land sale

Simplon hopes to fend off creditor, keep downtown site

Sounds like a Hail Mary Pass. Reminds me of McCain's effort to postpone his campaign to rush back to DC to work on the rescue!

I'd like to see the project move forward, but it seems foolish for any lender to get involved in this project.... with the housing market way day and such. Unless they anticipate a bailout from the Feds!

kpexpress Oct 4, 2008 1:10 AM

While getting on the 5 this afternoon I saw that they started putting the crane up on the corner of 11 ave and B street. This is great news! I can't wait for this area to become more manhattanized.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/n...ss42/photo.jpg

laguna Oct 4, 2008 1:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmfarley (Post 3837054)
Sounds like a Hail Mary Pass. Reminds me of McCain's effort to postpone his campaign to rush back to DC to work on the rescue!

I'd like to see the project move forward, but it seems foolish for any lender to get involved in this project.... with the housing market way day and such. Unless they anticipate a bailout from the Feds!

Maybe Obama could ask Tony Resko to help with the project before he goes to jail, the same way he helped Obama get his house in Chicago.

bmfarley Oct 4, 2008 3:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laguna (Post 3838544)
Maybe Obama could ask Tony Resko to help with the project before he goes to jail, the same way he helped Obama get his house in Chicago.

Huh?

malsponger Oct 4, 2008 4:30 AM

Too bad about Cosmo Square. I have to say that woulda been one of my favorite buildings downtown. I absolutely love the design. Hopefully someone will pick back up where Simplon left off since everything was approved and could be picked up at a premium.

keg92101 Oct 4, 2008 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by malsponger (Post 3838775)
Too bad about Cosmo Square. I have to say that woulda been one of my favorite buildings downtown. I absolutely love the design. Hopefully someone will pick back up where Simplon left off since everything was approved and could be picked up at a premium.

I would actually like to see Cisterra get their hands on it. Something tells me that there is a market for more larger floor plate office in that area, with DVT now at 100%. Of course, this would be a few years off, untill the credit market comes back, but I'm all for another office tower over a condo hotel, even if it does mean that we lose cosmo square.

Marina_Guy Oct 5, 2008 1:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg92101 (Post 3839672)
I would actually like to see Cisterra get their hands on it. Something tells me that there is a market for more larger floor plate office in that area, with DVT now at 100%. Of course, this would be a few years off, untill the credit market comes back, but I'm all for another office tower over a condo hotel, even if it does mean that we lose cosmo square.

Agree. We need more jobs downtown... Why doesn't the Downtown Partnership start courting Cardinal Health... Move those professional jobs downtown... How about Qualcomm, can't they move some jobs downtown too? There is room in the towers... and more can be built...

====
Cardinal says it will spin off tech business, base it in S.D.



By Terri Somers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

September 30, 2008

Bringing a glint of sunshine to an otherwise gloomy day for the economy, Cardinal Health announced yesterday that it will spin off its medical technology business as a separate company based in San Diego.

Cardinal, the country's No. 2 drug-distribution company, said the new publicly traded company may create up to 1,000 additional jobs in the next several years. Most of those jobs, in professional positions such as finance, human resources and information technology, will be based in San Diego, it said.

The move will create a medical-equipment company focused on research and development of new devices, Chief Executive R. Kerry Clark told analysts.

“This is good news and we need some of that right now,” said Alan Gin, an economist at the University of San Diego. “Even in this economic downturn, research and development jobs, especially in the biotech sector, have been a bright spot.”

Cardinal Vice Chairman David Schlotterbeck, 61, will become chief executive of the new public company, which has not yet been named. Schlotterbeck was formerly chief executive of Alaris Medical Systems, a San Diego medical-device company that was acquired by Cardinal for $2 billion in 2004.

Alaris' technology includes infusion pumps, which are small computers that control the flow of intravenous drugs to help prevent mistakes that can lead to overdosing.

The new company will also include the technology of Pyxis, a San Diego medical-technology company that developed computerized prescription drug dispensing systems and was acquired by Cardinal for $920 million in 1996. Ventilators and infection-prevention products will also become part of the new company.

Of Dublin, Ohio-based Cardinal's estimated 50,000 employees worldwide, about 10,000 will work for the newly created company, including 2,000 already in San Diego. The spinoff is expected to be completed by the middle of next year. It will have revenue of more than $4 billion, the company said.

When it comes to income, the products sold by the spinoff are among the fastest growing in the world, Schlotterbeck said.

“We will be the largest pure play medical-technology company that is focused on medical management and infection prevention in the world,” Schlotterbeck said. “I'm just very excited about having the opportunity to do this.”

With the Pyxis acquisition, Cardinal started a phase of expansion in which it targeted promising products that could be sold to its existing customers. But integrating the acquired companies was difficult, said George Barrett, who has headed Cardinal's health care supply line services and will become Cardinal's CEO after the spinoff.

Cardinal has also recently struggled with declining revenue growth in its wholesale drug business due to increased pricing power of large U.S. drugstore chains.

Analysts said the spinoff should help attract a higher stock valuation for the new company.

“The clinical-technology side is really the crown jewel,” said Jeff Jonas, portfolio manager at Gabelli Health and Wellness Trust Mutual Fund. “So that would presumably get a much higher multiple in the market as a stand-alone company.”

He predicted the two entities would have a combined valuation of $60 a share. Cardinal shares closed down $1.16 yesterday at $48.54.

Cardinal did not specify how stock in the new company will be allocated to its shareholders.

Biotechnology continues to weather the financial storm because technologies like those that came out of Alaris and Pyxis help the health care system save money, said Joseph Panetta, who heads Biocom, the industry trade group in Southern California. Interest in these technologies will continue to grow as budgets tighten, Panetta said.

San Diego's biotechnology cluster is well positioned to benefit from this growth, as evidenced by Cardinal's announcement and the news last week that pharmaceutical powerhouse Eli Lilly would open an office here to house SGX Pharmaceuticals and AME, two local companies that it acquired, Panetta said.

It helps that San Diego has a thriving cluster of biotechnology companies and research institutes, because it provides a pool of trained employees, Gin said.

Some of the logistics that make San Diego difficult for other industries, such as manufacturing, don't affect biotech so dramatically, he said. The products of research and development don't have to be shipped by sea or land, for instance; they can be transported over the Internet, he said.

SDCAL Oct 5, 2008 9:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laguna (Post 3838544)
Maybe Obama could ask Tony Resko to help with the project before he goes to jail, the same way he helped Obama get his house in Chicago.

development in San Diego, please stay on topic, take your right-wing BS back to Orange County where it belongs

staplesla Oct 6, 2008 6:31 PM

The design for San Diego's downtown waterfront makeover is in, and it incorporates jacaranda trees, towering date palms, whimsical light poles and sea gull-inspired restroom art.

The city and the San Diego Unified Port District recently green-lighted a concept for the $28.5 million first phase of what's known as the North Embarcadero Visionary Plan.

Rows of 35-foot medjool date palms will line Broadway. Between them will be light poles reminiscent of dancing figures. Four groves of purple-flowered jacaranda trees will flank the base of Broadway.

Taken as a whole, the design is supposed to make a grand statement at the foot of Broadway, where downtown meets San Diego Bay.

“It's creating a major new corridor,” said Centre City Development Corp. Chairman Fred Maas, a member of the special authority formed to oversee the project. “The introduction of public art and the trees, jacarandas and palms – it's all going to make a significant contribution.”

One person who has seen the concept is not terribly impressed. “I'm underwhelmed with what we've seen so far,” said Don Wood, a longtime activist on bay issues. “I didn't see anything in there that told me this was San Diego, this was the waterfront.”
One attention-grabber in the plans is the dramatic restroom and shade pavilions designed by Los Angeles artist Pae White, who won a $125,000 contract to provide designs for the project's first phase.

White's idea was influenced by the popular 1970 novel “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” by Richard Bach. A slide from White's recent presentation asks, “Can a bathroom be a poem?”

Her drawings show a jumble of words covering the restroom building and the pavilion roofs. Some would be translucent, so light can reflect through and project letters below. The words chosen would be inspired by Bach's book about a sea gull who wanted to be special.

San Diego's bayfront spruce-up plan has been a long time in the making.

The basic idea of widening the pedestrian promenade along the water was approved in 2005. It sat on a shelf before it was jump-started in 2007.

Harbor Drive is slated to become narrower to make way for a promenade that would gain flowers, grass and more places to sit. The idea is to shift most traffic one block east to Pacific Highway.

The whole project encompasses a mile and a half of Harbor Drive from Laurel to G streets. Price tag: at least $228 million, to be shared by the city and the Port District.

The first phase is from Navy Pier to B Street Pier and includes about a block of West Broadway. The city's downtown redevelopment agency will provide about $18.6 million, and the port will pay $10 million.

Officials hope to start moving dirt next fall.

Separately, the Port District is poised to build a $28 million cruise-ship terminal on the Broadway Pier. The proposal is controversial, as it was originally billed as a temporary measure but morphed into a permanent structure that critics said would wreck views down Broadway.

The latest design is fronted by a piece of public art made from acrylic and glass panels in sea-foam green. Artistic lighting will cast reflections that look like dancing water. About $10 million of the cost will be covered by a loan from Carnival cruise line. The port is looking for a donor who would get naming rights.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...1m6design.html

SDCAL Oct 6, 2008 7:23 PM

Some renderings that acomony the UT article above
 
http://photos.signonsandiego.com/alb...ayatHarbor.jpg

http://photos.signonsandiego.com/alb...o/restroom.jpg

http://photos.signonsandiego.com/alb...randagrove.jpg

http://photos.signonsandiego.com/alb...dero/NEVP1.jpg

http://photos.signonsandiego.com/alb...r_terminal.jpg

http://photos.signonsandiego.com/alb...dero/kiosk.jpg

http://photos.signonsandiego.com/alb...erview_001.jpg

http://photos.signonsandiego.com/alb...o/overview.jpg


I actually like the bathroom design, with the text-art concept, pretty creative for a restroom

I also like the palms and trees to add a park-like feel, but the terminal building looks very bland and ugly :/

staplesla Oct 6, 2008 8:55 PM

Navy Broadway Complex
 
SAN DIEGO – The third and final meeting considering environmental aspects of the implementation of the City of San Diego’s development agreement with the Navy for the Broadway Complex is set for Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 10 a.m. in Building 12 at the Complex.

“This is the final meeting in a series of three gatherings where the public can weigh in with their thoughts and comments about environmental aspects of the Navy Broadway Complex redevelopment. Comments may be submitted in writing by email, letter, or on the website through Oct. 18,” said Capt. Matt Brown, a spokesperson for Navy Region Southwest.

The final meeting will follow the same format as the previous meetings including a two hour open house with information on various aspects of the current 2008 draft environmental analysis, followed by a two hour period where the public may make statements.

“Because so few people have had the opportunity to visit the Navy Broadway Complex in the past this meeting is an excellent way to get a better understanding of the site and the conditions that currently exist on this piece of federal property. We’re hoping people will take advantage of this meeting to come out and see a bit of the complex,” said Brown.

Parking is available adjacent to the meeting site at the Navy Complex with additional parking available on Pacific Hwy.


http://www.navycompass.com/content/view/845/322/

spoonman Oct 7, 2008 5:08 AM

I think I just threw up a little in my mouth...the Jacarandas look great but those metal twirly looking things in the road median are aweful...why bother putting anything at all:dead:

Yes, yes...it inspires that nautical sense...stupid bastards...I'm tired of paying for crap

SDCAL Oct 7, 2008 5:43 AM

Does anyone have any info on Lane Field?

CCDC just updated on Oct 2nd saying the project will START construction in 2011!?!?!?!?!

I thought this was one that was ready to go and was supposed to ground break this year.

Guess we get even more "quality" time with the lovely parking lots on our bay

HurricaneHugo Oct 7, 2008 8:35 AM

http://photos.signonsandiego.com/alb...o/overview.jpg

I hate the Irvine Tower even more than Lane Field.


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