Fitness boutique opens in Little Italy

 Body Fit Training (BFT), a global boutique fitness brand offering 50-55 minute group strength training classes in an inclusive, multi coach-led group environment, is holding its grand opening of its first studio in Little Italy on the weekend of May 3. Located at 2100 Kettner Blvd. Suite 1000, BFT fills a gap in the fitness industry, offering science-based group strength programming built for all fitness levels. BFT Little Italy is open Monday through Thursday 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday 5 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. The studio can be reached online at https://www.bodyfittraining.com/location/little-italy  by email at [email protected] or by phone at (619) 633-2154.

HOUSING & DEVELOPMENT

Home sales trend upwards again in March

Home sales in San Diego County improved in March, evidence of a warming spring selling season despite a dearth of inventory of homes on the market. Data on the current resale market is compiled by the Greater San Diego Association of Realtors.

Single-family home sales in March were more than 13% higher than February, and sales of attached properties (condominiums and townhomes) were up more than 5%. Year over year, however, sales of existing homes were down 11% for single-family and 7% for condos and townhomes.

 The median price of resale homes still shows no sign of leveling off. March single-family prices were up 3% in one month, and attached properties were up more than 2%. Year over year, prices have risen 8%. Today, the median price of a single-family home stands at $1,050,000, while the price of condos and townhomes is $670,000. Homes are closing escrow, on average, in about four weeks.

 The most expensive single-family property sold in March in San Diego County was a 5-bedroom, 5-bath home directly across from Coronado Beach on Ocean Boulevard. The 5,000-square-foot Nantucket-style home includes a front yard set up for oceanfront gatherings, and the indoor basement is an entertainment haven with a wine cellar. It sold on March 11 for $13,515,000.

'The Arte Building’ Downtown sells for $7.85 million

Marcus & Millichap, a leading commercial real estate brokerage firm specializing in investment sales, financing, research and advisory services, announced the sale of “The Arte Building,” a 70,602-square-foot mixed-use property located in San Diego. The asset sold for $7,850,000. The iconic Downtown building was built in 1913 and extensively renovated in 2017. It is located at 1111 Sixth Ave. on the corner of Sixth and C Street.

Office market worsens Downtown

Office vacancies increased this quarter for the third consecutive quarter. This was largely caused by US Bank and Union Bank merging so US Bank did not renew its leases in Eastgate/UTC. Life science companies also expanded into new headquarters in Del Mar Heights, leaving behind large vacant blocks of space. The total vacancy rate in offices is 13.3%, but is expected to go down as vacant offices are converted into labs or apartments.

The office market has been particularly low Downtown with owners offering generous tenent concessions to woo large block tenants. Asking rents declined by 4.4% year-over-year, according to the report from Pat Ashton, JLL Research Manager. The decline in rents is predominantly attributed to the Downtown submarket, where rents have decreased by 11.5% over the past 12 months. Suburban markets are faring better than the urban Downtown market.

Funding secured for LGBTQ+-youth shelter

Representative Scott Peters was joined by San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera, San Diego City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn, San Diego Housing Commission CEO Lisa Jones and Beth Davenport, COO of The San Diego LGBT Community Center, to celebrate $1.5 million in federal funding that Rep. Peters recently secured for a shelter for LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness. The funding will support the San Diego Housing Commission’s conversion of unused office space into a 44-bed shelter that will be operated by The Center in partnership with San Diego Youth Services and the YMCA of San Diego County. Scheduled to open later this year or early next year, it will be the first permanent LGBTQ+-affirming youth shelter in San Diego.

Rep. Peters secured the $1.5 million through the annual Community Projects Funding process, which allows members of Congress to request federal funding for select projects they feel will address the most significant needs facing the communities they represent.

“Too often a young person comes out of the closet only to be kicked out of the house,” said Councilmember Stephen Whitburn. “Thanks to Congressman Peters, these young people will have a place to go.”

Over-the-water park coming to Embarcadero

Sometime in early 2028, a 5.7-acre over-the-water park will be opened alongside the USS Midway Museum on the Downtown Embarcadero — a tribute to the San Diego region’s rich military history.

On its completion, Freedom Park will boast an array of features, including nature gardens, memorials and monuments, play elements, and concessionaires. Developed by the USS Midway Museum and the Port of San Diego, Freedom Park’s overall design will be handled by RICK, a San Diego company formerly called Rick Engineering Company.

RICK is the prime design consultant for the park and will be responsible for developing all civil engineering and landscape architecture. Sub-consultants involved on the engineering, landscape architecture team include BSE Engineering, Triton, Engineers, Ninyo & Moore, and Wimmer, Yamada & Caughey — all from San Diego, and Gallagher and Associates of Virginia Beach, Virginia.

“Visitors will enjoy the beautiful surroundings but have no idea about the complex engineering that made it all possible,” says Nick A. Dorner, RICK’s project manager for Freedom Park, responsible for the extensive coordination of the project.

“This is among California’s most structurally complex over-the-water parks,” Dorner said. “In a typical park, engineers have unlimited space below ground to position water, sewer, electrical, communications and storm drain systems. At Freedom Park, we have minimal space to contain all the infrastructure. Everything must fit together seamlessly.”

REGIONAL REPORTS

$1.6 billion in VC funding for life sciences

JLL’s new quarterly San Diego Life Science Report reveals a flurry of acquisitions took place in San Diego, boosting this quarter to the third highest VC funding amount ever. VC funding in San Diego life science companies reached $1.6 billion in Q1 2024, more than doubling Q4 2023’s $700 million and even exceeding the quarterly average during the COVID bull-run of $1.2 billion.

San Diego life science tenant demand at the end of the quarter was approximately 1.56 million square feet consistent with pre-COVID demand figures. Asking rents for San Diego life science space has now declined four straight quarters after an almost 10-year run of positive quarterly rent growth. Availability still outpaces leasing, so it is a tenants market. County-wide and core cluster San Diego life science vacancy is now 14.3% and 15.0%, a 190-basis point and 180-basis point increase from Q4, respectively.

Nutrition insecurity on the rise

The San Diego Hunger Coalition has released its latest issue brief, revealing concerning trends in nutrition insecurity within San Diego County. The report, based on data from September 2023, underscores the persistent challenges faced by residents in accessing adequate nutrition.

According to the brief, nutrition insecurity has risen to 25% in September 2023, up from 22% in the previous year. This means that one in four individuals in San Diego County struggle to afford three nutritious meals a day. The total number of nutrition-insecure individuals now stands at 832,000.

Report finds San Diego region has enough water to meet needs

Owing to consecutive wet winters, regional infrastructure investments and conservation efforts, San Diego County now has enough water to meet the region’s needs into the foreseeable future, according to a recently released report.

The California Department of Water Resources performed its fourth snowpack survey of the year on Tuesday, “confirming that the early winter’s “snow drought” gave way to a slightly above normal snowpack following a series of storms,” the report read.

The DWR’s early April survey marks the typical peak snowpack for the year in the Sierra Nevada, and the Colorado River Basin – the main source of water for San Diego County – also reports more snow than average for this time of year, according to a statement from the San Diego County Water Authority.

“Wet years are the right time to prepare for the inevitable dry years,” said Dan Denham, Water Authority general manager. “That’s why we’re working every day to explore creative deals that help us reduce water rate pressures for San Diegans, enhance our long-term water security, and help our neighbors meet their needs for drought-resilient water supplies.”

CITY INITIATIVES

Lifeguards needed at city pools

Summer is approaching and the City of San Diego’s 15 swimming pool facilities are working to staff up for the influx of seasonal visitors during warmer months when kids are out of school. The City’s Parks and Recreation Department is currently hiring seasonal and year-round pool guards – some positions that come with benefits. To view open positions at the City of San Diego, visit sandiego.gov/jobs.

Tree planting in Logan Heights

in honor of Arbor Day, the city launched a new program aimed at planting trees and expanding San Diego’s urban forests.  Trees for Communities is designed to support the City’s commitment to increasing the urban tree canopy and focuses on historically underserved communities. Arborists will select and plant appropriate tree species based on location and with community input, and the City will be responsible for watering and maintaining the new trees for the next three years. The program was launched at a tree planting event in Logan Heights.

Urban neighborhoods with mature trees can be up to 11 degrees cooler in the summer than neighborhoods without trees. Trees also clean the air we breathe by filtering dust and can help remove toxic pollutants from the atmosphere. A healthy, growing urban forest provides many long-term environmental, social and economic benefits and is a key component of the City’s climate action goals.

AIRPORT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Airport restarts performing arts program

Aeropuerto Internacional de San Diego (SAN) has resumed its Performing Arts Residency Program, which cultivates the local performing arts community by inviting artist groups to develop and perform new works in the terminals.  After a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, DrumatiX, a creative percussion company, was selected to develop, rehearse, and perform new percussion-based dances in the airport terminals that are inspired by sounds heard during the travelers’ airport journey.

Launched in 2016, the Performing Arts Residency Program has had nine performing artists or collectives participate in the program before DrumatiX. Each group chosen for the program was evaluated by a panel of regional and national performing arts professionals during a competitive application process.

Live performances in the terminals will run from April 29 through May 10.

Breeze Airways expands non-stop service from SAN

Breeze Airways celebrated its first nonstop flight from North Carolina via Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) to Aeropuerto Internacional de San Diego (SAN) at an inaugural welcome celebration at Gate 35 in Terminal 2 on April 30.  Breeze Airways is a new airline operating at SAN and the 17th airline to offer service from San Diego.

This inaugural flight marks the airline’s beginning nonstop service to five destinations across the country currently not serviced from San Diego. These destinations include Cincinnati, Jacksonville, Norfolk, Raleigh-Durham and Pittsburgh. Additionally, Breeze Airways will offer daily one-stop/no plane change flights to Providence and Hartford. Breeze Airways will be located in SAN’s Terminal 2.  Routes from San Diego will be operated with Airbus A220-300 aircraft.

With the addition of these new routes, SAN now provides nonstop service to 84 destinations.

British Airways begins twice-daily flights to London from San Diego

Thirteen years after San Diego International Airport began offering daily flights between San Diego and London on British Airways the route has become so popular that British Airways is increasing the frequency from one flight per day to two.

Since 2011, British Airways has served about 2 million passengers traveling between San Diego and Europe. The market for this flight has grown 50 percent from 2019 to 2023.

While London is the final destination for roughly 60% of the passengers flying this route, 40% connect to other cities, including Edinburgh, Dublin, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Cairo, Rome, and Mumbai.

“We are looking forward to giving passengers on both sides of the Atlantic more options to fly nonstop between San Diego and Europe, while providing the same comfort and convenience of the popular route with British Airways that we already offer,” said Kimberly Becker, President and CEO of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.

With this second daily flight, the current flights will be retimed, arriving in San Diego from London at 6:10 p.m. and departing San Diego for London at 8 p.m. The new second flight will arrive in San Diego at 3:25 p.m. and depart for London at 5:15 p.m.

The route will be served by the airline’s Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft.

Alaska Airlines expands presence in Southern California

Alaska Airlines is expanding service at two of its major hubs in Southern California with new routes and additional capacity to popular West Coast destinations as part of the carrier’s ongoing commitment to growth in the state. It will add its 39th nonstop destination from San Diego with service to Las Vegas.

ENTERTAINMENT

Petco Park is MLB’s most walkable stadium

Petco Park is the most walkable baseball stadium in America, according to Walk Score. Even in historically car-centric San Diego, the East Village area around the ballpark has developed into a pedestrian-friendly urban neighborhood like team officials pitched to voters in 1998. Petco Park is tied for the top spot among all 30 MLB stadiums, along with Boston’s Fenway Park and the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Traveling Smithsonian exhibit at California Western

California Western School of Law (CWSL) at 225 Cedar St. will host The Bias Inside Us from May 4, 2024 through June 2, 2024. The community engagement project from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) will raise awareness about the social science and psychology of implicit bias, the impact of this bias and what people can do about it.

Music Box highlights local fine artists

Downtown’s Music Box, a live music and private events venue, has partnered with ArtReach San Diego in 2024 to highlight local artists and their work. The year-long series that began this spring includes a wall gallery on the venue’s third floor, and the first featured artist is Josué Báltazar.

Báltazar, who is of Mexican-American heritage, has four paintings on display that he titles Heart in a Storm, Desert Heart, Corazon de San Diego, and Rebirth.

All paintings are available for purchase on canvas print. Proceeds from the sales of Báltazar’s work are donated to ArtReach, a non-profit organization with the mission of igniting youth creativity through visual arts expression and community connection.