Balboa Park news

New film on San Diego wilds at The Nat

An hour-long episode of PBS Nature, “San Diego: America’s Wildest City,” is being adapted into a 40-minute version for The Nat which will be one of the museum’s core film offerings for the next few years. The PBS show debuts on Nov. 6 and the giant screen museum version will go public on Nov. 22 with a conversation with the filmmakers. “Wild San Diego” will be shown alongside a selection of other rotating films at The Nat, like “T. rex.” The last flagship regional film at The Nat, “Ocean Oasis,” was produced in 2000 so the new film is a major update.

San Diego is the most biodiverse county in the contiguous United States. “Wild San Diego” unveils the hidden wonders of the country’s most biodiverse urban landscape, where humans and wildlife collide in spectacular fashion. (Photo courtesy Day’s Edge Productions)

Woman’s Museum of California to merge with San Diego History Center

The Women’s Museum of California is merging with the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park to become a program of the History Center. In late 2023, the Women’s Museum of California received a $300,000 grant from the Prebys Foundation. One of the purposes of this grant was to explore the possibility of becoming a History Center program. This fall, the boards of directors of both institutions signed a Memorandum of Understanding that shapes their evolving relationship. Under the MOU, the Women’s Museum of California staff become a part of the History Center, and work will begin to align operations, exhibitions and collections. Both organizations anticipate the completion of the merger by the end of 2025.

Lead Balboa Park group taps Symphony executive as its next chief executive

The 3-year-old nonprofit tasked with looking after Balboa Park has hired its second chief executive, this time picking a well-connected local versed in government affairs and complex civic projects to better San Diego’s famous landmark.

Forever Balboa Park announced the hiring of 62-year-old Katy McDonald as its next president and CEO.

McDonald, who will start her new role on Nov. 13, is currently the San Diego Symphony’s chief of staff and helped the organization bring to life its lauded Rady Shell outdoor performance venue overlooking San Diego Bay. Before the symphony, McDonald was the deputy director of external affairs at The San Diego Museum of Art and ran the museum’s development, marketing and communications efforts.

McDonald is replacing past CEO Elizabeth Babcock, who left the nonprofit in June to serve as the founding director of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum. Forever Balboa Park fielded more than 950 inquiries and received 250 applications for the highly sought position.

Safari Park reintroduces eight native bats

San Diego Zoo Safari Park, in partnership with San Diego Humane Society’s Project Wildlife program, found and rehabilitated eight native bats, then re-released the night dwellers back to the Safari Park. Some bats were re-released earlier this year, with the most recent one reintroduced on Oct. 16, marking 2024 as the first year to re-release bats at the park. The seven big brown bats and one Yuma myotis lived in the Safari Park and staff members found they needed veterinary care. The furry fliers spent the next few days or weeks in rehabilitation, which included treatment by Project Wildlife’s veterinary staff and home care by a bat team member. For the pups that were found, part of their rehab included attending flight school to help build their flight muscles, safely exercise, practice catching insects, and build stamina and maneuverability.

The Safari Park is an excellent habitat for about 17 native bat species and currently has 17 bat houses (seven currently occupied) dispersed throughout the Park, providing bats a safe place to roost.

Economic outlook

99-year ground lease for Bankers Hill property

Cushman & Wakefield announced the firm brokered a 99-year ground lease for a ±1.06-acre commercial site located at 411 Ivy St. plus an adjacent parking lot located in the Bankers Hill neighborhood of Uptown San Diego. The lessee is Raintree Partners, which plans to redevelop the longstanding office property as a new multifamily community.

The four-parcel property assemblage currently consists of an existing 14,911-sf office structure that served as the former headquarters of a financial services company along with the neighboring parking lot. The vacant office building will be demolished to pave way for the new residential project.

“Securing 2021 peak market pricing for a ground lease in 2024 is a significant achievement, especially given the current challenges in the multifamily development sector. While new developments can be considered particularly risky, the Bankers Hill submarket has seen projects developed to some of the highest rents in the County,” said Kevin Nolen, managing director.

The lessor at the time of lease execution was 4th & Ivy Creative House North, LLC and 4th and Ivy Creative House South, LLC. Cushman & Wakefield’s Kevin Nolen, Tim Winslow and Jason Kimmel represented the lessor in the transaction. Since the lease, the lessor sold the property to new ownership.

Specific details of Raintree’s plans for its new coastal multifamily redevelopment were not disclosed.

Telecommuting reduced traffic in San Diego?

De acuerdo a an analysis by Coworking Cafe, the number of people working from home in San Diego shot up 120% from 2019 to 2023, meaning that by 2023, 17.8% of the city’s workforce had jobs that allowed telecommuting. Perhaps as a result, traffic in San Diego dropped 12%, reaching a congestion level of 23% by 2023. State-wise, California has seen the largest drop in traffic volume in the West, with traffic going down 10% between 2019 and 2023.

Report: SD community colleges generated $5.8B

The San Diego Community College District (SDCCD), the largest provider of higher education and workforce training in the county, was responsible for generating $5.8 billion in added income to the regional economy during the 2023-24 fiscal year, according to the latest study by Lightcast, a leading provider of economic and labor market data.

The district’s $5.8 billion total impact is the equivalent of San Diego hosting the Comic-Con convention 35 times. It was enough to support 53,245 jobs or one out of every 43 jobs in the region.

The $485.5 million taxpayers invested in the SDCCD in 2023-24 brought a return of $963 million in added tax revenue via students’ higher lifetime earnings and resulting increased business output. A reduction in demand for government-funded services, meanwhile, saved taxpayers an additional $129.3 million.

City news

City planted 1,000th tree in initiative

Mayor Todd Gloria and the city forester were in San Ysidro on Oct. 25 to mark the 1,000th tree planted as part of the City of San Diego’s Trees for Communities. The initiative is focused on planting trees across the city amid an effort to expand San Diego’s urban forest, with a focus on underserved communities. The first tree planted as part of Trees for Communities was in Logan Heights on Arbor Day, back in April.

Under the initiative, arborists select and plant appropriate tree species based on location and with community input. The city is responsible for watering the new trees for the next three years and will provide ongoing maintenance. The Urban Forestry Program maintains over 250,000 street trees throughout the City and 600,000 trees in parks and open spaces.

Trees for Communities aligns with the City’s goal to reach 35% tree canopy cover by 2035. Trees create livable, walkable communities by cooling and shading streets, improving air quality, providing stormwater runoff mitigation and so much more. A healthy, growing urban forest provides long-term environmental, social and economic benefits and is a key component of the City’s climate action targets.

City expands Safe Sleeping Program

Amid hundreds of shelter beds expected to go offline, the City of San Diego expanded its Safe Sleeping Program. An additional 180 tent spaces have been created at the O Lot site, and 50 more are being built at the 20th and B location. The increase will bring the total Safe Sleeping program capacity to approximately 760 tents.

Safe Sleeping, launched by Mayor Gloria and Councilmember Stephen Whitburn to address the growing number of people living in unsafe street encampments, was implemented in June 2023 and enabled outreach teams to bring entire encampments off the streets. Each tent has space for up to two people, creating a new option for those who want to stay with a partner or caretaker.

City’s new climate dashboard

A new online dashboard makes it easy for everyone to track the City of San Diego’s progress on its ambitious environmental goals. The City of San Diego has unveiled its latest Climate Action Plan (CAP) annual report, along with the new Climate Dashboard. While the reduction of greenhouse gases detailed in the annual report is modest so far, it provides a needed overview of the City’s efforts to combat climate change and transition to a sustainable future.

In order to engage San Diegans in tracking that progress, the Climate Dashboard serves as a central platform for up-to-date data collection and distribution, enabling stakeholders to monitor key metrics and track progress on individual CAP actions. The dashboard includes detailed action pages, task lists and due dates, making goals and implementation progress easy to follow and understand.

City announces arts, culture funding

The City of San Diego has released the guidelines and opened applications for two significant funding opportunities to strengthen arts and culture activities and projects across the city. The Operational Support Program (OSP) y Creative Communities San Diego (CCSD) are now accepting applications for the upcoming funding cycle. OSP and CCSD provide critical financial support to nonprofit arts and culture organizations and projects, fostering growth in San Diego’s cultural ecosystem while expanding community access to the arts.

The OSP offers operating support to nonprofit arts and culture organizations, while the CCSD funds project-based initiatives. Both opportunities are designed to make a lasting impact on San Diego residents and visitors by boosting local tourism and ensuring that arts and culture thrive in all city council districts. The funding is made possible through the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), a tax collected from visitors staying in hotels and similar accommodations. OSP and CCSD-funded activities and projects will occur between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026.

Applicants can access free online resources and in-person help by visiting the OSP y CCSD Resources webpage. Organizations without tax-exempt nonprofit status may be eligible for CCSD funding through a fiscal sponsor. Applications for both funding opportunities are available online, with a submission deadline of Monday, Nov. 25, 2024, at 8 a.m.