Structures 2009 Cover

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Structures 2009 INSIDE FRONT Cover

S T R U C T U R E S

Contents

TheLists

TOM YORK

Editor sNoteNavy and Marine Corps construction............................ B4

Federal courthouse addition....................................... B5

Hotel Indigo ........................................................... B6

1Mission mixed-used project...................................... B7

Wayne Holtan Q&A ................................................... B9

Sony Electronics headquarters...................................B11

Topping Off: Educational Cultural Center .....................B13

North Coast Church .................................................B15

MedImpact Healthcare Systems building .....................B17

Groundbreaking: Miramar College infrastructure ...........B21

Hourglass Park Field House .......................................B23

Topping Off: San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey ............B25

Real Estate Profile: David A. Blackburn .......................B29

Topping Off: Palomar Medical Center West ...................B31

Alternative Energy Providers ................................ B8, B9

Architecural Firms ....................................B10, B12, B14

Commercial Developers ........................................... B14

Commercial Property Management Cos. ............... B16, B18

Commercial Real Estate Brokerages ........................... B19

Engineering Firms ........................................... B20, B22

Environmental Consultants ...................................... B24

General Contractors ......................................... B26, B27

Largest Construction Projects............................ B28, B30

Residential Real Estate Agencies ................................. B32

Residential Property Management Cos. ......................... B33

Tenant Improvement Cos............................................ B34

On the Cover: Cover photos are, from left, the Indigo Hotel downtown, Sony Electronics headquarters in Rancho Bernardo, and 1Mission mixed-use building in Mission Hills.

Cover Design: Michael S. Domine

’09 Structures Focuses on Major Structures in the RegionIt is again time to serve up the 2009 edition

of Structures, our yearly Special Report that

offers a “nuts-and-bolts” look at new structures

and other major projects in the region.

In addition to the stories,

Structures contains more than

a dozen lists ranging from

the top architectural firms to

largest commercial developers.

We’re confident you’ll find the

publication an interesting

read, not to mention a valuable

resource for the year ahead.

This was a departmentwide

project from the editorial staff,

especially Research Director

Kevin Black and Research Assistant Andrew Schweizer.

The two were responsible for the many lists, including

three completely new ones, that appear here.

The stories that accompany the lists are

generated by our staff of award-winning

journalists who cover the region on a daily and

weekly basis, and have a deep background in

real estate, as well as other business sectors.

Meanwhile, I would like to thank individual

members of the editorial and production

departments for their contributions.

Assistant Managing Editor Julie Gallant

deserves special recognition. She was

responsible for coordinating most of the project,

a complex effort given her responsibilities

for other sections of the weekly paper.

Production Director Darlene Alilain and Paginator

Marta Klass deserve thanks, as well. They gave the

publication the sparkle you see in these pages.

Darlene handled the project from the production

point of view, while Marta was responsible for

pagination of the interior pages of Structures.

Production Artist/Photographer Michael

S. Domine designed the front cover, which

features a montage of local photographs.

And, of course, kudos to the sales staff

for making this publication possible.

As you know, the Business Journal is known far

and wide for its industry lists. No other publication

offers such a wealth of information tailored to

the needs of the local business community.

Let us know your thoughts. If you have

comments, or suggestions, feel free to

send an e-mail to tyork@sdbj.com.

Tom York is editor of the Business Journal.

9747 Olson Drive San Diego, CA 92121 858.558.1800 www.tbpenick.comLicensed in CA, NV, AZ and OH.

Breaking New Ground Since 1905.

S T R U C T U R E S

Building Boom Marches on Behind Military Gates Contractors Lining

Up for Billions Worth of Work in New,

Renovation Projects

It’s a building boom most San Die-

gans don’t get to see.

Deep inside the region’s military

bases, contractors are putting up new

buildings and renovating older ones in an

effort that spreads around more than $1

billion per year.

The San Diego Military Advisory Council

reports there will be $5.3 billion worth

of Navy and Marine Corps construction

in San Diego County between 2007 and

2010, contributing 14,200 jobs to the

region. Those figures from the council’s

2008 study — the latest available —

don’t count military construction projects

unveiled as part of February’s $787 billion

stimulus bill.

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is

getting the lion’s share of military con-

struction work. It’s getting buildings for

running the base and buildings to sup-

port the Marine Corps’ mission abroad.

And barracks. “2009 is the year of the

barracks,” says Jeff Harper, president of

Harper Construction. Camp Pendleton

alone plans to build or upgrade 25 of the

living quarters between 2008 and 2011.

P-015 is the unassuming name of a

1-year-old, $21.4 million project in the

central, Camp Horno section of the base.

It stands four stories tall. Harper, the

general contractor, used frequent part-

ner Cass Sowatsky Chapman & Associ-ates as architect.

The businesses and military brass used

the project to work out the “Best of Breed”

design concept for new barracks projects.

The designers tried to give the place a col-

lege dormitory feel. Features include a cen-

tral laundry facility and recreation room,

with pool tables and computer games in-

side, and basketball courts outside.

Construction was complicated by the

wildfires of October 2007 — both the

fires and the amount of ash that settled

afterwards.

Aging barracks buildings and a push to

increase the number of active-duty Ma-

rines have created the need for new bar-

racks at all Marine bases. The Pentagon

met this need by taking the Costco ap-

proach: awarding barracks in giant-sized

packages.

In September, Harper snared Bid Pack-

age No. 1, a $120 million deal that spreads

900 units among five barracks complexes.

Three will be at Camp Pendleton’s head-

quarters area, another in the Chappo area

and one more at the special operations

command. The package alone has 1,000

people working on it, says Harper.

“We’re waiting to hear on No. 4 and

No. 7,” Harper said in mid-July, referring

to a pair of additional bid packages.

At present, Camp Pendleton reports that

71 new construction and repair projects,

worth $709 million, are in progress.

They include a quarter-million-square-

foot headquarters complex for the Ma-

rines’ special operations command. Carls-

bad-based RQ Construction is prime

contractor for the job, worth as much as

$57 million if all options are exercised.

Completion is set for late 2010.

The big money, however, may not be in

building for the long term. Temporary fa-

cilities, site improvements, furniture and

fixtures are in demand at Camp Pendle-

ton. One year ago, the Navy awarded the

Tempe, Ariz.-based joint venture of Sundt

and Williams Scotsman a deal to put such

items at 10 sites on the sprawling base.

With options tagged on, the contract has

grown to $82 million. The deal’s ceiling

value is $128 million.

Navy Apartment TowersOne of the San Diego region’s most vis-

ible military projects is the new bachelor

quarters at Naval Base San Diego. Pacif-

ic Beacon is a quartet of 18-story tow-

ers where Interstates 5 and 15 meet in

the South Bay. Officially opened in March,

the $322 million project houses 941 two-

bedroom apartments.

Arlington, Va.-based Clark Realty

Capital developed the project with the

Navy under a public-private partnership.

Maryland-based Torti Gallas and Partners

was architect. Maryland-based Clark

Construction Group and Clark Builders

Group were general contractors.

Balancing aesthetics and structural

strength was one of the builders’ bigger

challenges, said Jim Forburger, an

executive with Clark Realty Builders.

Pacific Beacon had to “look and feel like

a higher-end condo,” Forburger said, but

still meet the Pentagon’s anti-terrorism,

“force protection” criteria. Glass panels

could only be so big, he said. In the end,

Forburger said, designers successfully

worked around that obstacle.

The project was billed as the biggest

construction site in San Diego, with

more than 1,000 workers. By the time it

was done, builders had poured enough

concrete to fill 20 Olympic-size swimming

pools, put up 350,000 linear feet of

drywall and inserted 1,200 miles of

electrical wire, the executive said.

Elsewhere on the base, Soltek Pacific Construction is working on an $18.9 million

remodel of the former Navy Exchange.

At Naval Station Coronado, Barnhart is

at work on a $24 million project to upgrade

one of the base’s deepwater ship berths,

Berth Lima, to accommodate nuclear

aircraft carriers. More recently Barnhartsnagged an $11 million deal for a child

development center. Hangar renovations

are in the works, with Soltek Pacific

handling a $13 million project and Harper

working on a $14 million project. An

$86 million barracks, funded by stimulus

money, should be awarded by September.

Mine Warfare CommandAt Naval Base Point Loma, work

continues to accommodate the mine

warfare command moving here from Texas.

Ramona-based R.A. Burch Construction is

looking toward November to finish a new,

19,000-square-foot building with a 45-by-

90-foot training tank. Builders sunk 270

50-foot piles at the bayfront site to guard

against liquefaction — the soil turning to

mush in case of an earthquake. For similar

reasons the 12-foot-deep tank sits 6 feet

above ground. The new construction plus

renovation of existing buildings is worth

‘Balancing aesthetics and structural

strength was one of the builders’ bigger challenges.’

— Jim Forburger, executive

Clark Realty Builders

Continued on Page B32

Photos by Pablo Mason

These bachelor enlisted quarters, named P-015, recently built at Camp Pendleton used a ‘Best of Breed’ design concept for new barracks. The $21.4 million project in-cluded a recreation room with pool tables and computer games, shown at right.

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Tower to Add 14 Courtrooms to Federal BuildingSafety Features Built in to Protect Against Attacks

Construction is set to begin in Au-

gust on the 16-story federal court-

house addition, a $325 million proj-

ect in downtown San Diego that will help

kick-start the struggling local building

industry by employing 600 workers on a

daily basis during the next three years.

Tom Diersbock of Colorado-based Hensel

Phelps Construction, the project’s gener-

al contractor, estimates that 3,000 local

workers will contribute specialty work on

the 465,000-square-foot building.

“It’s an exciting job for the guys in San

Diego to build something as complex and

as big as this,” said Diersbock, the proj-

ect manager. “The chance to build a fed-

eral courthouse doesn’t come around in

San Diego too often.”

Key subcontractors for the project in-

clude:

• The Los Angeles office of New York

City-based architect Richard Meier &

Partners;

•El Cajon-based University Mechan-ical & Engineering. It will install the

building’s heating, ventilation and air

conditioning;

•The San Diego office of Los Ange-

les-based Bergelectric. It will install the

building’s electrical infrastructure;

•Utah-based SME Steel will provide the

steel framework for the building;

•Hensel Phelps will do the concrete

work; and

•Minnesota-based Enclose will provide

the building’s exterior glass and glazing.

Major ProjectThe building will be an annex to the

current federal courthouse at Broadway

between State and Union streets. It will

feature 14 courtrooms, 18 court cham-

bers, two court of appeals chambers and

a special procedures chamber.

“It’s a pretty tight site,” to build on,

says Diersbock, noting that residents in

the area are being kept apprised of the

construction timeline. Project work is

set to take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.,

which Diersbock says are typical hours

for a downtown project.

“There’s a lot of traffic control and

setting up lane closures to get mate-

rials in,” said Diersbock. “The build-

ing will be pretty tall, so we’ll have

two tower cranes to help with materi-

als movement.”

The tower cranes will come four months

into the project, he says, after the building’s

foundation is poured with 10,000 yards of

concrete, 40 feet below ground level.

Underground ParkingThree levels of parking will be built un-

derground, with one for public parking and

two for U.S. marshals, judges and security.

Diersbock gives a rundown of the

amount of materials expected to be used

for the new courthouse:

•35,000 yards of concrete.

•7,000 tons of steel.

•300,000 square feet of glass.

Although he didn’t have an estimate

on how much wiring would be used on

the building, Diersbock says, “a lot,” add-

ing that very little wood will be used in

the construction.

Commodity prices have been com-

petitive, says Diersbock, noting that all

materials needed for the building are

expected to be available during con-

struction.

Steel prices, for example, have been

fairly flat, he says, because the global

economic slump has lowered world de-

mand for it.

Tom Farrell, associate architect at Rich-

ard Meier & Partners, says the building,

which was designed by partner Michael

Palladino, had to comply with a myri-

ad of federally required structural pro-

tections put in place since the Sept. 11

courtroom public spaces on the east side

views of the city and hills beyond. The

public plaza fronting the courthouse will

be landscaped with California sycamore

trees and decomposed granite.

Richard Meier & Partners won the

courthouse design job six years ago, and

has been working on it ever since, says

Farrell.

“It’s finally getting going,” he said.

“We’re super-excited for the project. The

people of San Diego are going to be ex-

cited to see something going up there.”

Mark Larson is a freelance writer for the

Business Journal.

World Trade Center terrorist attack in 2001

and the Oklahoma City federal courthouse

bombing of 1995. When complete, stain-

less steel barriers will be installed around

the perimeter of the building to protect

against someone trying to crash a vehi-

cle into it.

Tall OrderComplicating the safety requirements

for large setbacks from the street was the

space restrictions of being on one urban

block, rather than in a spacious subur-

ban setting.

The result is a tower designed for an

urban environment, fronted by a pedes-

trian plaza made possible by the one-

block closure of Union Street. Features

built into the design were a mimicking

of the columns of the Edward J. Schwartz

federal courthouse across the plaza from

it, terra cotta exterior panels to offer a

softer, warmer texture to the building’s

glass exterior, an open-air courtyard for

the jury assembly area, and a ramp/hedge

artwork design fronting the courthouse,

by San Diego artist Bob Irwin. A 30-foot-

tall acrylic art piece also by Irwin will be

in the new building’s lobby.

On the west side of the tower, judges

chambers will offer spectacular views of

the bay, while clear windows will afford

‘It’s an exciting job for the guys in San Diego

to build something

as complex and as big as this. The chance to build

a federal courthouse doesn’t come around in San Diego too often.’

— Tom Diersbock, project manager

Hensel Phelps Construction

Richard Meier & Partners Architects-Shimahara Illustration

The 16-story addition to the federal courthouse building downtown will include 14 courtrooms, 18 court chambers, two court of appeals cham-bers and a special procedures chamber.

S T R U C T U R E S

Hotel Indigo Builds in Green Features From Garden Rooftop to Bottom

Windows, Heat Pumps Help Moderate Temperatures in $60M, 210-Room Structure

Considering the toll that the reces-

sion has taken on tourism, the 210-

room Hotel Indigo, which opened in

mid-July near Petco Park, is likely to be

the last posh boutique to be built down-

town for a while.

But it has the distinction of being the

first LEED-certified hotel in San Diego.

It’s also one of only seven hotels in the

state and one of 19 in the country to

achieve such certification. The acronym

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy

and Environmental Design, and certifi-

cation comes from the U.S. Green Build-

ing Council.

The 12-story property, which stands

on a 17,300-square-foot lot at the

corner of Ninth and Island avenues,

is owned by InterContinental Hotels

Group. IHG is also its operator. The

building is 136,000 square feet in size

and has a 32,000-square-foot subterra-

nean garage. Amenities include a bar

and restaurant, fitness studio, business

center, and 6,200 square feet of meet-

ing space.

Because of the sustainability aspects

of the hotel, including a green roof that’s

90 percent foliage — another first for a

downtown hotel — the city allowed IHG

to increase its square footage 10 percent

from the maximum allowed on a lot that

size, says Joseph Wong, who heads Jo-seph Wong Design Associates, the proj-

ect’s architect. The cost of construction

was $38 million and, including land acqui-

sition, the project totaled $60 million.

The property’s gardenlike rooftop con-

tains drought-tolerant, low-maintenance

foliage such as silver carpet and gaza-

nia plants that help reduce heating and

air-conditioning costs. The garden also

absorbs storm water, thus eliminating

runoff around the building. Additional-

ly, the rooftop houses a composting sta-

tion that uses organic food scraps such

as fruit and vegetable waste from the

kitchen, says IHG spokeswoman Caroline

Counihan.

Saving ElectricityThe hotel’s operable windows reduce

the need for air conditioning. Further-

more, placing windows throughout means

more daylight and less artificial lighting.

Installing heat pumps rather than

boilers and chillers, which have tradi-

tionally been used for heating and air

conditioning in high-rises, will also re-

duce energy consumption, says Mark Ro-

bison, president of Robison Engineering

of Seattle, the project engineer.

“The Indigo has water source heat

pumps,” Robison said.

When natural sunlight heats one side

of the building, the water encapsulat-

ed in the piping system can be pumped

to heat rooms in the shaded side. The

system can also pump cooler water from

the shaded side to lower the thermostat

where the building is exposed to the

sun. An added benefit is that heat pump

systems are less costly than chillers and

boilers, he says.

Conserving energy is vital in racking up

points to qualify for LEED certification,

Counihan says. But so is recycling, and

both come into play on the hotel’s green

ninth-floor terrace that contains an herb

garden of rosemary, cilantro, parsley, mint

and tarragon that are used in the hotel

restaurant’s menu items. The decking ma-

terial on the terrace is made from recy-

cled grocery bags and wood fiber byprod-

ucts from furniture and cabinetry making.

Recycled glass was used in the construc-

tion of the terrace’s outdoor fire pits.

Recycling started on the first day of

construction, when older buildings that

occupied the lot were razed, and much of

the old scraps of wood, metal and other

materials were reused.

Air quality is also a chief concern

and only paints, coatings, sealants,

adhesives and carpeting low in vola-

tile organic compounds, or VOCs, were

used.

Alex Guyott, development coordina-

tor with Hensel Phelps Construction, the

general contractor, estimates that adher-

ing to LEED standards added five hours a

week to the building process.

“It wasn’t from the construction stand-

point, but more because of the admin-

istrative paperwork the Green Building

Council requires,” Guyott said.

Continuing Green ThemeThe Indigo takes green even further,

using a paperless check-in system for

guests and reserving parking spaces for

visitors who drive fuel-efficient cars.

There’s also preferred parking for em-

ployees who car pool, along with bicy-

cle racks and shower facilities for those

who bike to work.

However, the water element, in keep-

ing with the hotel’s name, is evident

throughout. Large-scale murals designed

by local photographer Ian Cummings in-

clude locally inspired pictures of native

plant life, such as agaves and California

poppies, beaches and the ocean in guest

rooms and public areas. Shades of yellow

and blue dominate the décor, and a glass

sculpture positioned on the western fa-

cade of the building appears to hang be-

tween the ninth and 12th floors like a

giant banner. Its design is intended to

mimic the waves and ripples of the Pa-

cific Ocean.

“I would say IHG designed this hotel

with the younger professional in mind,”

Wong said. “It’s like Starwood’s W, but as

a prototype it’s warmer and has more of a

residential feel, less edgy.”

Michael S. Domine

The 210-room Hotel Indigo near Petco Park is the first LEED-certified hotel in San Diego. Amenities include a bar and restaurant, fitness studio, business center and 6,200 square feet of meeting space.

Michael S. Domine

Joseph Wong of Joseph Wong Design Associates led the design of the $60 million Hotel Indigo project.

S T R U C T U R E S

Continued on Page B32

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Old Inspires New at Mission Hills Condo/Retail Project1Mission Blends in With Neighborhood’s Restored 20th Century Buildings

Developer CLB Partners has the for-

midable challenge of blending old

and new on a high-visibility block

in venerable Mission Hills.

The 1Mission project is on the block

from Washington Street to Fort Stock-

ton Drive, between Goldfinch and Falcon

streets.

An award-winning restoration by CLB

of two early 20th century retail buildings

on Washington inspired the design of a

new five-story residence with street-level

retail space and underground parking.

The L-shaped building incorporates

old styles outside and a contemporary

appearance inside 48 luxury single-lev-

el condos (flats) and 13 two-story town-

homes.

Construction began in December 2007

and is expected to be completed in Sep-

tember.

An urban “secret garden” will have ma-

ture trees, drought-resistant and native

plants, private patios for residents, a wa-

ter feature and paseo walkway connect-

ing Washington with Goldfinch.

“We thought if there was such a thing

as a village block in Mission Hills, this

was it,” said CLB Development Manager

Luke Daniels.

The 1Mission team includes R.S. Law-rence Development; lead architect M.W.

Steele Group; general contractor Turner

Construction; historic architect HeritageArchitecture & Planning; and SpurlockPoirier Landscape Architects.

Numerous subcontractors, mostly from

San Diego County, include: Rick Engi-neering, DCI Engineers, The Engineer-ing Partners, T-Squared Professional Engineers, Casper Co., J.R. Construc-tion, Lakewood Building Systems, RCIReinforcing Steel and Valley Casework.

The iconic “Mission Hills” sign, located

on the property for many years, was placed

at the paseo’s Washington entrance.

“Many of the charming Spanish Revival

and Mission-style architectural elements

used in the original construction, such as

red and yellow brick, wrought-iron balco-

nies and colorful awnings, are replicat-

ed in the contemporary residential build-

ing,” said Daniels.

The post-tension concrete and rebar

building with type three construction will

cover 115,000 square feet of living space

and 5,150 square feet of retail space.

It will contain 993,500 tons of rebar,

10,000 cubic yards of concrete, 196,865

linear feet of electrical wiring and 91,271

linear feet of piping.

CLB had several reasons for using con-

crete: higher quality; sound attenuation;

allows for extra ceiling height (ranging

from 10 feet to 19-1/2 feet high) and

thinner decks; fewer vertical columns are

needed; and the building can be finished

more quickly.

Modern BrownstonesTownhomes evoke the look of brown-

stones outside, but inside, units will be

ultra-modern, with sleek, gourmet-pleas-

ing kitchens, spa-like bathrooms and

plenty of large windows.

There are 31 floor plans, ranging from

1,057 to 2,671 square feet, with up to

three bedrooms and baths and panoramic

views in many of the units.

Residences cost from $500,000 to

$1.2 million.

Retail units will have oversized me-

chanical shafts and there will be grease

interceptor pads for restaurant tenants,

said Daniels. The units will also have sep-

arate trash collection areas.

A patio behind the retail spaces is

available to a restaurant tenant for out-

door dining.

CLB declined to disclose the 1Mission

building and project costs as well as its

financing sources.

Jamie Awford, vice president and gen-

Michael S. Domine

The 1Mission residential and retail project in Mission Hills incorporates Spanish Revival and Mission-style architectural elements.

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S T R U C T U R E S

S T R U C T U R E S

Domusstudio Architecture Fired Up About Designing

Series of Fire StationsBulk of Firm’s Work InvolvesChurch-Related Structures

Editor’s note: The design of neighbor-

hood fire stations has become a newer

area of expertise for Wayne Holtan and his

colleagues at Domusstudio Architecture,

a firm launched 23 years ago as Dominy

+ Associates. General contractor Barnhart

and the city of Encinitas announced the

completion of the $3.55 million, 7,000-

square-foot Fire Station No. 3 on June 18.

The project, featuring a two-story concrete

masonry structure with curving rooflines,

is one of four stations the firm is design-

ing or has designed for Encinitas.

San Diego-based Domusstudio is also

known for its design of new churches as

well as other residential structures. Holtan,

a graduate of the University of Minnesota

with degrees in architecture and environ-

mental design, joined the firm in 1999. He

became a principal in 2001. We asked him

about his efforts in designing fire stations,

and about some of the nuts and bolts of

moving a station from concept to complet-

ed project:

QUESTION: Why did you decide to specialize in designing fire sta-tions, and what percentage of this work involves your business?ANSWER: Seventy percent of our

work is ecclesiastical, or church-re-

lated, not only houses of worship,

but preschools, administrative build-

ings, gymnasiums and multipurpose

classrooms. We also do libraries, se-

nior housing and custom residential.

Fire stations are a natural exten-

sion of the other types of “houses”

we do. They are really custom residen-

tial projects — houses for the appa-

ratus and houses for the firefighters.

We did our first station for the city of

Encinitas about seven years ago. Fire-

fighters just moved into a new Sta-

tion No. 3 in Leucadia a month ago,

and we are going to the Planning Com-

mission for Station No. 2 in Cardiff-

by-the-Sea later this month. Station

No. 1 in downtown Encinitas has de-

sign work started and is currently wait-

ing for direction to move forward.

We also have a station in de-

sign for the city of La Quinta, which

will break ground later this year.

This market has seemed to grow over

the last few years. I think it’s a com-

bination of many stations, in all mu-

nicipalities, having become outdat-

ed and a new awareness of this with

the catastrophic wildfires that have

occurred in the last few years.

Q: How many have you designed so far?A: We have designed seven stations, so

we are still trying to build our portfo-

lio. We have been shortlisted for inter-

views for a few others. In fact, we have

an interview coming up next month.

Q: How are fire stations different from other commercial, public buildings?A: As noted, they have aspects simi-

lar to a custom residence with the add-

ed technology of the alarms and notifi-

cation systems. They get heavy use by

the different shifts that rotate through,

must be low-maintenance from the fin-

ish materials to the landscape, and

have a respect for their environment.

Q: What are the design challenges?What are the construction challenges?A: Of the stations we’ve done, one of

Continued on Page B33

Michael S. Domine

Wayne Holtan is helping Domusstudio Architecture build up its portfolio of fire stations with structures such as this $3.55 million Fire Station No. 3 in Encinitas.

S T R U C T U R E S

Continued on Page B12

S T R U C T U R E S

Sony Electronics Consolidates Staff in $160M HeadquartersEmployees Enjoy Dining Room Views and Rooftop Gym at Rancho Bernardo Facility

Sony Electronics set a tight deadline

for erecting a new corporate head-

quarters building to accommodate

much of its staff that had been working out

of seven buildings in Rancho Bernardo.

Two years later, the striking 11-story

building is completed, ahead of the ag-

gressive deadline, contractors say.

“The building went up at an extraordi-

narily fast pace. I don’t know of anoth-

er project in San Diego that went up that

fast,” said Jim Roherty, president of Pa-cific Building Group, one of the primary

contractors, along with Sundt Construc-

tion, for the $160 million project.

Ed Holakiewicz, associate principal for

Carrier Johnson, the architect, says because

of the compressed timeline, the design/

build team had to come together quickly

and make early critical path decisions.

“We were ordering steel for the super-

structure of the building long before the

entire design was completed,” Holakie-

wicz said.

Putting Workers FirstSony executives wanted the building

to put a focus on their employees and

offer them a comfortable working en-

vironment. To that end, the 455,000-

square-foot building contains an employ-

ee dining room on the top floor, and a

fitness center on the roof of the six-level

parking garage adjacent to the building.

Both features are unusual for corporate

headquarters, particularly placing a dining

area on the top floor, say contractors. Usu-

ally, such facilities are located on or near

the ground floor due to the necessary infra-

structure systems, such as plumbing, that

need to be well-integrated, and to minimize

the noise and vibrations to lower floors.

Sony wanted the dining room on the

top level to send a clear message that its

employees were essential to its success,

says Roherty.

“Instead of executives on the top floor,

they put the employees on the top floor,”

he said. “The views from the dining facility

are spectacular. On a clear day, you can see

the Del Mar Racetrack and the ocean.”

Challenging FoundationAnother challenging aspect of the

building was its foundation, made with

4,100 cubic yards of concrete that had to

be poured continuously during a 10-hour

window starting at 2 a.m., says Roherty.

That action used 475 trucks and 100

workers to create a 3-foot-thick slab that

covers 39,000 square feet.

To ensure that the Sony project team was

working together, getting everything right,

and its steel orders were accurate, the team

brought in the steel fabricator early in the

design process, Holakiewicz says.

Sony determined it wanted reduced vi-

brations to the building, which translated

to using more steel. That, in turn, meant

the building’s costs would rise.

There were also increases to the costs of

other materials, including aluminum, cop-

per and other metals, causing the project

to cost more than the estimated $150 mil-

lion when it was first announced in 2007.

Sony aimed to create a building that

would be a model for energy conservation,

and incorporated a number of energy-sav-

ing elements into the project. These include

solar panels on the parking garage; an en-

ergy-efficient air-conditioning and heating

system; and using recycled materials in the

carpeting and furniture. The landscaping

also uses a good deal of drought-resistant

plants, and all the construction debris was

recycled, Roherty says.

Because of these elements, the Sony

building garnered a Silver certification

from the U.S. Green Building Council’s

Leadership in Energy and Environmental

Design program.

The headquarters houses 1,400 of So-

ny’s 2,000 employees at the 32-acre site.

The remainder, including some involved in

the making and servicing of Vaio laptop

computers, work in two nearby buildings.

In addition to Sony Electronics’ exec-

utive and support staff, the new struc-

ture is home to employees in planning,

accounting, home products, engineering,

sales, product development, finance, mar-

keting, and corporate communications.

Many ChangesSony has been in San Diego since 1972,

and once manufactured Trinitron tele-

visions and computer monitors, among

other electronic goods at the site where

4,500 employees worked in the late

1990s. From that peak, it began mov-

ing pieces of its manufacturing to low-

er wage areas. By 2004, the Rancho Ber-

nardo campus had 2,600 employees, and

layoffs occurred this year as part of So-

ny’s worldwide restructuring.

Now, the local employees have more

changes to get accustomed to, but they’re

more pleasant than downsizing.

These changes involve new offices and

amenities.

The headquarters emits a feeling of ele-

gant simplicity, which is exactly what Sony

wanted to convey, says Holakiewicz.

Roherty says that while the building is

of the highest quality, it wasn’t overdone,

as is sometimes the case for a corporate

headquarters.

“This building is certainly Class A in quali-

ty, but it was not overly done,” he said. “You

don’t walk into the building and say, ‘Oh,

they wasted a lot of money on that.’ This

feels like it’s well done. It’s comfortable, it’s

done with a lot of high-quality material, but

it’s done in a cost-effective way.”

Photo courtesy of Sony Electronics

Sony wanted to convey a feeling of elegant simplicity with its new 11-story, 455,000-square-foot headquarters building.

Michael S. Domine

Jim Roherty is president of Pacific Building Group, one of the primary contractors for the $160 million Sony headquarters project.

S T R U C T U R E SContinued from Page B10

Continued on Page B14

S T R U C T U R E S

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Locat-

ed at 4343 Ocean View Blvd. in Lo-

gan Heights, this project consists of

three distinct

one-story build-

ings and three

covered repair ar-

eas for a total

of 67,010 square

feet. The build-

ings and cov-

ered areas are comprised of repair

bays, shops, classrooms, labs, demon-

stration theater(s), and other learn-

ing spaces for automotive technology,

automotive mechanical and electri-

cal repair, automotive body repair, au-

tomotive upholstery, graphic printing

technology, computer graphic arts, Cis-

co lab, business information technol-

ogy and welding technology. The fa-

cility will also have spaces to support

computer research, a technical repair

library and parts storage. Additional-

ly, the buildings have office space for

faculty and staff. The facility is com-

pletely accessible to the disabled.

The project is designed to meet Sil-

ver certification standards of the

U.S. Green Building Council’s Leader-

ship in Energy and Environmental De-

sign program. The campus will incorpo-

rate a number of sustainable features

such as maximizing the availabili-

ty of natural daylight to reduce ener-

gy needs and using materials with re-

cycled or post-consumer content.

INTERESTING FACETS: In seeking LEED

Silver certification, high-efficiency

plumbing fixtures are in place to re-

duce water consumption by more than

40 percent as compared to a stan-

dard building, bicycle racks and show-

ers are provided and no new parking

spaces are being added to encour-

age students and faculty to bicycle

rather than drive to campus. Light-

colored paving throughout the site

also reduces the creation of heat is-

lands, making it more comfortable dur-

ing warm weather. More than 75 per-

cent of the project’s construction

waste will be recycled to reduce the

impact on landfills, and a high per-

centage of new construction materi-

als will be from recycled content.

DEVELOPER: N/A.

FINANCING:

DESIGNER: NTD Stichler Architecture.

GENERAL CONTRACTOR:

MAJOR SUBCONTRACTORS: KNA Consult-

ing Engineers,

Nowell & Associates, landscape architect.

START DATE: July 1, 2007.

COMPLETION DATE: July 23, 2009.

BUILDING COST:

PROJECT COST:SQUARE FOOTAGE:TENANTS SIGNED TO DATE: N/A.LEASING AGENT: N/A.

Editor’s note: Topping Off is a regular fea-

ture of the Business Journal focusing on

commercial, industrial and multi-unit res-

idential projects that are finishing con-

struction. Send suggestions of projects to

aschweizer@sdbj.com.

OFFtopping

TOPPINGOFF

is a look at projects nearing

completion.

25 Years of Building Pride

9752 Aspen Creek Ct. Suite 150

San Diego, CA 92126(858) 552-0600

License #502376

ContactDirector of Business Development

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are unwavering.

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North Island Credit Union

James Norris

Three buildings and three covered repair areas have been built to house classrooms, labs and shops that accommodate automotive, graphic arts and welding classes at the Educa-tional Cultural Complex.

S T R U C T U R E SContinued from Page B12

S T R U C T U R E S

After beginning the process of pur-

chasing a 40-acre site in Vista a

decade ago and overcoming hur-

dles with the city of Oceanside and law-

suits from the neighbors, North Coast

Church can finally see the light at the

end of the tunnel for its relocation, ex-

pecting the completion of phase one by

spring 2010.

With more than 7,000 worshippers in

total, North Coast Church has inhabited

its main campus, two miles away from the

new location on North Santa Fe Avenue,

since 1991. There are additional venues

in Oceanside, Fallbrook and Carlsbad.

The construction cost alone for this

first 100,000-square-foot phase is $18.8

million, and $53.5 million total, includ-

ing land and development costs, design

costs, and off-site and on-site work.

The project includes six multi-use build-

ings — four single-story, two two-story

— delegated into four worship auditori-

Unconventional North Coast Church Expanding Over 40 AcresSeparate Venues, Including Auditoriums, to Accommodate Thousands of Worshippers

ficulties gaining approval from the city of

Oceanside to connect to its sewer, said

Ahlquist. The six-month process was re-

solved about five months ago.

“We found an alternate existing sew-

er manhole in the county and chose to go

in a different direction to connect with a

sewer that already fed into the Oceanside

sewer system,” said Ahlquist.

NonconformistThe positioning and functions of North

Coast’s buildings are uncommon for stan-

dard church design, laid out on a radius

to form a plaza and divided into multiple

venues instead of one large sanctuary.

JPM’s principals, John Mattox and Cos-

tello, have been involved with design-

ing and managing the project, and have

worked closely with the two general con-

tractors Hazard Construction and RoelConstruction. The architect is Derek Kita-

bayashi, owner of Kitabayashi Design Studio.

The design incorporates various materi-

als with metal cladding, along with a large

amount of glass. There is a curved accent

wall that fronts each building adjacent to

the plaza, which is encircled with palm

trees, and a terraced landscaped area that

steps down to the main worship venue.

“It’s not your typical church; it’s a

modern design with a very open campus,

and there are multiple venues that all are

in service at the same time,” said Costel-

lo. “So we didn’t have to build a sanctu-

ary that seats 3,000 to accommodate all

the people, but venues that seat about

850, because it’s more intimate. With a

church this size I find that very unique.”

Wired These four worship auditoriums —

each with its own music, atmosphere,

design and lighting — display the same

message simultaneously via video. There

is a main worship auditorium where the

pastor preaches from, “North Coast Live,”

and this video is projected life-size onto

screens in the other venues: “The Edge,”

“Traditions” and “Video Café.” Between

the different times and days offered in

these rooms there are 24 service options

offered every weekend.

According to Dennis Choy, North Coast’s

communications, technology and produc-

tions pastor, this set-up has made the

audiovisual and technological aspects of

the project complicated.

“The complexity of designing several dif-

ferent rooms spreads your dollars, spreads

everything,” said Choy. “It’s much easier

to design one big room. There are multiple

sound consoles and then we have to con-

nect them all together to spread the word

and the video throughout the venues.”

Oklahoma-based design-build firm The

Spectrum Group was the subcontractor

hired for the project’s systems integration.

North Coast has entitlements to even-

tually build nine buildings, totaling

365,000 square feet. The entire project

is estimated to include three construc-

tion phases during the next 20 years. Ac-

cording to Costello, the project team did

a complete master plan for the 40-acre

site, laying out and designing all nine

buildings in the beginning in order to

phase them in as needed.

For Costello, the major construction

hurdle was installing 40 acres of infra-

structure for all current and future build-

ings. The project team also completed nu-

merous off-site improvements, including

installing streetlights, sidewalks, roads,

future sewer lines and connections for

the city of Vista, bus stops and a horse

trail along the exterior of the property for

the neighborhood. They also installed a

well that produces enough water to pro-

vide irrigation for the entire site.

‘We didn’t have to build a sanctuary that seats

3,000 to accommodate all the people, but venues that seat about 850,

because it’s more intimate. With a church this size I find that very unique.’

— Tom Costello of JPM Design Management

ums, offices, a bookstore/café and class-

rooms for children, youths and adults.

It is halfway completed, with buildings

either just finishing up with framing or in

the early stages of stuccoing, said con-

struction manager Tom Costello of JPMDesign Management.

North Coast is developing the project

itself, and Senior Pastor Larry Osborne and

the church leadership hired JPM Design

Management early on to assist with the

design and preparation of presentations to

governing agencies, said Steve Ahlquist,

executive director of resource ministry.

Ahlquist and Charles Bradshaw, an execu-

tive pastor, are overseeing the project.

RoadblocksAccording to Ahlquist, there have been

two major challenges during the course of

the project, the first of which was when the

church was hit with two environmental law-

suits from the Guajome Alliance for Respon-

sible Development. Both lawsuits — first in

2001 and then again in 2005 — were over

the Environmental Impact Report, and both

resulted in the city approving the project.

A settlement was reached in 2005 that in-

cluded postponing the construction of a

school and off-site improvements.

In 2008, after installing the major-

ity of the sewer line, nearly one-fourth

of a mile, through Vista and the San Di-

ego County roadways, the church had dif-

Photo courtesy of North Coast Church

North Coast Church is nearing completion on the construction of its first phase, which includes six buildings, totaling 100,000 square feet.

Michael S. Domine

JPM Design Management principals Tom Costello, shown, and John Mattox are head-ing up the project’s construction manage-ment.

S T R U C T U R E S

Continued on Page B18

S T R U C T U R E S

tel

House tipping, San Francisco Earthquake, 1906

Office Building With Panoramic Views Seeks Gold CertificationPrimary Occupant, MedImpact, Requests Imported Stone Exterior

MedImpact Healthcare Sys-tems

-

The six-story, 155,000-square-foot

building is halfway finished. Crews

are currently fitting the exterior with

imported sandstone from India, says

Chris Heim, project manager for Reno Contracting, which is the general con-

tractor.

“The stone has certain tones that

will look like it fits very naturally right

into the hills with browns, coppers

and earth tones,” Heim said. “It’s real-

ly beautiful stone.”

The building is steel-framed with

high-performance glass that offers

sweeping panoramas of the surround-

ing area. And the imported stone was

a special request by MedImpact.

“We went through extensive research

and review of stone,” Heim said. “We

have stone that’s not on any building in

San Diego right now.”

The building also has a unique feature

that’s visible from Interstate 15, says

Heim.

“A big portion of the curtain wall and

west side of the building has a big curve

in it that I think will really look incred-

ible,” he said. “It’s pop-out and has all

this aluminum paneling and stone that’s

really sharp. It’s really going to be a

pretty building.”

Sudberry Properties of San Diego is

the lead developer. Sudberry and Med-

Impact jointly own the $60 million

building, which is being designed pri-

marily for MedImpact — the nation’s

largest privately-held pharmacy bene-

fit management company — but also

for a number of smaller tenants.

“It’s kind of build-to-suit,” said Heim.

“It’s still an office building with a shell

core with the idea that MedImpact would

occupy it. A true build-to-suit right from

the get-go is for one tenant. This is still

a building for potential multiple occu-

pants.”

MedImpact had final say over its de-

sign.

“It’s probably a little slower because

we’re trying to finish every exterior and

interior together, versus when someone

builds a shell finish and looks for ten-

ants,” says architect Randy Hanna of

Hanna Gabriel Wells.

LEED CertificationThe project, located at 10811 Scripps

Gateway Court, will be Gold-certified un-

der the Leadership in Energy and Environ-

mental Design program by the U.S. Green

Building Council.

“Gold is definitely higher than the nor-

mal standard. Most offices getting LEED

are just certified or Silver; but Gold, it

will be one of few buildings in town,”

Hanna said.

To achieve LEED certification, the

developer can use only certain mate-

rials and types of mechanical, electri-

cal and water systems. The MedImpact

building’s sustainable features, for in-

stance, include storm water quality

control, water-efficient landscaping,

construction waste recycling, and use

of recyclable and sustainable materi-

als. Thirty-five percent of the build-

ing’s electricity will come from renew-

able resources.

“You have to have a client willing

to pursue that certification. That’s a

big part of it,” Hanna said. “Sudber-

ry is very receptive to doing LEED-cer-

tified. They were a big part in tak-

ing that from Silver to Gold. They see

the value in doing sustainable build-

ings.”

He added, “There’s a little more re-

search and documentation required.”

Heim said the MedImpact project is

probably the only office building project

going up in San Diego right now.

“There’s no spec construction going on

at all,” he said.

The project was financed by Bank of

America and Key Ban of Ohio. Fuscoe Engineering of San Diego is the civ-

il engineer. Hope Engineering of San

Diego is the structural engineer. Lifes-

capes International of Newport Beach

is the landscape architect.

“We’re more than satisfied,” Hanna

said. “I wouldn’t do things differently

next time.”

Photo courtesy of Sudberry Properties

The steel-framed, six-story building that will house MedImpact Healthcare Systems’ headquarters offers sweeping panoramas of the surrounding area.

Rendering courtesy of Sudberry Properties

The project in Scripps Ranch is built with sustainable features that save energy and re-duces the amount of water needed for landscaping.

S T R U C T U R E S

Continued from Page B16

San Diego’s Top Solar Power FirmLeading the Solar Energy Revolution

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S T R U C T U R E S

S T R U C T U R E S

Continued on Page B22

S T R U C T U R E S

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The Miramar Infrastructure

Project, Phase I, calls for the demolition and grading

of more than 1 million square feet of surface areas to

install new Americans With Dis-

abilities Act-compliant walkways

and parking with lighting, land-

scaping and irrigation. Trenching

is being done for the installation

of more than 12 miles of conduit

and piping for a new storm drain

system, sanitary sewer, domestic

water, fire service, electrical and

mechanical service to support future campus buildout.

The project includes a storm water detention basin that

has a 6.65 million gallon capacity. The landscape archi-

tecture component is designed to respect the character

of the existing site, while at the same time enhancing

it with vegetation and other elements that will provide

a more drought-tolerant/lower water-use/low-mainte-

nance environment. The irrigation system, Calsense,

uses an automatic irrigation controller that measures

the amount of moisture in the air and moisture re-

tention in the landscaping, and adjusts accordingly.

INTERESTING FACETS: Materials include 18.3 miles,

or 96,589 linear feet, of irrigation pipe buried in

the ground, 7,800 pop-up sprinkler heads, 21,457

square feet of drip irrigation in appropriate ar-

eas to minimize water use, 763 newly planted trees,

GROUNDBREAKING

is a look at projects,

planned or under construction.

BREAKINGground

63,770 newly planted shrubs, ornamental grass-

es and ground covers, 149,561 square feet of new-

ly created turf areas and 51,794 square feet of na-

tive plant buffer adjacent to the environmentally

sensitive area in the northwest area of the campus.

DEVELOPER: N/A.

FINANCING: Proposition S.

DESIGNER: Wimmer Yamada and Caughey.

GENERAL CONTRACTOR: West Coast General Corp.MAJOR SUBCONTRACTORS: R.B.F. Consulting, civ-

il engineer; LSW Engineers California, electrical en-

gineer; Wimmer Yamada and Caughey, landscape ar-

chitect; West Coast General Corp., contractors.

START DATE: July 1, 2008.

COMPLETION DATE: Scheduled for completion fall 2009.

CONSTRUCTION COST: $11.1 million.

PROJECT COST: $13.5 million.

SQUARE FOOTAGE: 1 million square feet.

TENANTS SIGNED TO DATE: N/A.

LEASING AGENT: N/A.

Editor’s note: Groundbreaking is a regular feature of the Business Journal, and includes commercial, industrial and multi-unit residential projects that are either nearing construction, in construction or finishing construction. Send suggestions of projects to aschweizer@sdbj.com.

Wimmer Yamada and Caughey

More than 1 million square feet will be graded to install ADA-compliant walkways and park-ing with lighting and landscaping at Miramar College.

Wimmer Yamada and Caughey

The landscaping being done as part of the infrastructure project calls for a drought-tolerant, low-maintenance en-vironment.

S T R U C T U R E SContinued from Page B20

S T R U C T U R E S

Miramar College Hourglass Park Field

House is a state-of-the-art recre-

ational facility shared between

the school and the city of San Diego.

The complex includes a gym, fitness

center, classrooms and lecture rooms,

faculty and staff offices, multipurpose ar-

eas, a swimming pool and a concession

stand. Funded primarily by Proposition S

and the city of San Diego, the $27 mil-

lion project was the third and final stage

of the Hourglass Athletics Complex.

The 60,000-square-foot athletics

building, which is next to Hourglass Park

in the southwest corner of the campus,

opened its doors to college students and

local residents at a grand opening cere-

mony March 27.

The project was years in the making.

“It got stalled for funding reasons,”

said Kevin Krumdieck, a local designer

for Carrier Johnson, which started work-

ing on the project design more than a de-

cade ago.

Although originally planned as a gym-

nasium for the city, after brainstorm-

ing, the college and city came up with

the idea of shared use for the space and

started construction four years ago. The

facility’s uses for the college and city are

separated by designated areas, but the

goal was to create the sense that it’s a

place for students and other residents to

coexist.

“It’s a combination of many years of

dreaming and planning,” said Ursula Kro-

emer, communications director for the

San Diego Community College District’s

$1.6 billion Propositions S and N con-

struction bond program.

C.W. Driver Drives ProjectC.W. Driver served as general contrac-

tor for the project. Major subcontrac-

tors included Swinerton Management &

Consulting, construction manager; Gaf-con, program manager; Schneider + As-

sociates, structural engineer; Burkett & Wong Engineers, civil engineer; Michael

Wall & Associates, electrical engineer;

James Mann Associates, mechanical en-

gineer; and Howard Associates, land-

scape architect.

Even during the construction, contrac-

tors and designers experienced unfore-

seen delays. The property once housed a

naval air station and didn’t map many of

the electrical and water lines hidden un-

derneath the soil.

“The site had a lot of unconsolidated

fill, dumped 34 years ago, and you tend

to find things that you wouldn’t if you

just built over the top of the soil,” said

Krumdieck.

Weather and design impacts and deliv-

ery of construction materials also played

a part in delays.

Once construction was completed, doc-

umentation of sustainable design was sub-

mitted to the U.S. Green Building Council,

and LEED certification is pending.

Miramar College Sports $27M Recreation Center After Years of Planning, Funding Woes, Facility Now Open to Students, Residents

With natural ventilation concepts and

a high degree of water efficiency, the fa-

cility was designed with sustainability in

mind. “It’s a wave for the future with the

idea of how to build smart,” said Krum-

dieck.

Energy EfficientThe 28,000-square-foot gym particular-

ly exemplifies energy efficiency. Described

as cavernous, the multipurpose area con-

tains sustainable materials that assist in

how well and how easily the building can

be maintained, Kroemer says.

Design aspects of the gym focused pri-

marily on lighting. Throughout the day,

the area is evenly lit. The soft lighting

prevents glare.

“Glazing can let in too much bright-

ness,” Krumdieck said. “We used dim light

to tune it to what would be acceptable

for sporting events.”

The use of translucence — light trans-

mitting plastics — helped aid in day-

lighting the facility and minimizing the

use of fossil fuels and electricity.

A multitude of materials were used in

the construction of the Hourglass Park

Field House, including a combination of

stucco, glass, 4,000 cubic yards of struc-

tural concrete and 500 tons of structural

steel. Taller portions of the steel materi-

al were used, as shorter portions can be-

come distracting.

‘Rainscreen Principle’Carrier Johnson used an approach

known as the “Rainscreen Principle,”

which involves an outer layer that acts as

a watertight membrane.

“With the hot sun, the exterior wall

tends to get cooked and fail over time,”

said Krumdieck. “We are protecting the

real weather barrier with a sacrificial

rain screen.”

The screen will help reduce the amount

of maintenance that will need to be done

to the facility. Resin-based concrete was

also used in a bright red color to bring

excitement to the building.

The dance studio is an example of how

the construction engages the interior and

exterior of the facility. It opens out with

a large barn door and enters into a shad-

ed amphitheater.

Since both the city and college cam-

pus are using the facility, cost per hour of

use is optimized. Krumdieck describes the

building’s shared use as its best feature.

This makes it “unique compared to nor-

mal architectural buildings,” he said.

“Operational control can often be a

worry, but when the different entities fig-

ure out they can get more for their mon-

ey, those issues go down on the list of

priorities. It’s a win-win.”

Kevin Walsh

The Miramar College Hourglass Park Field House complex opened recently as a rec-reational facility for the school and city of San Diego.

Kevin Walsh

The dance studio can be opened to the outdoors and enters into a shaded amphitheater.

S T R U C T U R E S

S T R U C T U R E S

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The Elephant Odyssey is a 7.5-

acre multi-species animal exhibit consisting of more

than 17 structures, including a new 19,000-square-foot

Elephant Care Center, restaurant,

retail shop, life support system

filtration yards, and new exhib-

its for lions and jaguars, secre-

tary birds, camels and horses, ta-

pirs, guanacos and capybaras,

and the California condor. Visi-

tors to the exhibit will be walked

through a simulated Fossil Portal and enter into the

Mammoth Passage where life-size statues of a Colum-

bian mammoth family stand as a reminder of the crea-

tures that once roamed the area now occupied by their

modern-day descendants, the Asian elephants. The ex-

hibit showcases the natural landscape of the area with

simulated rockwork boulders and caves as well as an

extensive botanical collection from the San Diego Zoo.

INTERESTING FACETS: More than 5,000 specimens

of trees and plants have been salvaged, boxed, and

re-planted within the exhibit during the course of

the project. These natural landscape features will

be complimented by “Utilitrees,” which are artifi-

cial tree structures made of steel and shotcrete, and

made to represent a baobab tree. The Utilitrees con-

tain electric heaters, hay feeders, irrigation heads,

and shade canopies to provide the function of a tree,

as well as the utilities needed to provide the add-

ed comforts of food and warmth on cold nights.

OFFtopping

TOPPINGOFF

is a look at projects nearing

completion.

DESIGNERS: Ferguson Pape Baldwin Architects; Ar-con Engineers, structural consultants; ILA Zam-mit, electrical engineers; MA Engineers, heating,

ventilation air conditioning and plumbing engi-

neers; Neri Landscape Architecture; TJP Engi-neering, animal life support system consultants.

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER: Rudolph & Sletten.

MAJOR SUBCONTRACTORS: Dynalectric, electri-

cal; Ahrens Corp., life support and plumbing; Min-shew Bros. Steel Construction, structural steel;

Pacific Rim Mechanical; ValleyCrest, landscap-

ing and hardscape; WestTech Metal Fabrica-tion; Cabral Metal Fab, enclosure netting, ScottFence, containment barriers and fencing.

START DATE: Oct. 7, 2007.

COMPLETION DATE: May 23, 2009.

CONSTRUCTION COST: $40,000,000.

PROJECT COST: $50,000,000.

SQUARE FOOTAGE: 7.5 acres.

TENANTS SIGNED TO DATE: N/A.

LEASING AGENT: N/A.

Editor’s note: Topping Off is a regular feature of the

Business Journal focusing on commercial, industrial and

multi-unit residential projects that are finishing con-

struction. Send suggestions of projects to aschweizer@

sdbj.com.

Photos courtesy of San Diego Zoo

The San Diego Zoo’s 7.5-acre Ele-phant Odyssey consists of more than 17 structures.

Photo courtesy of San Diego Zoo

‘Utilitrees’ at the Elephant Odyssey are artificial tree struc-tures that contain electric heaters, hay feeders and irriga-tion heads.

S T R U C T U R E S

S T R U C T U R E S

S T R U C T U R E S

Continued on Page B30

S T R U C T U R E S

RESUMÉ• NAME:• COMPANY:

• TITLE:• EDUCATION:

• BIRTHPLACE:•AGE:• CURRENT RESIDENCE:

• FAMILY:

DAVID A. BLACKBURNREAL ESTATEprofileDavid A. Blackburn is president of

Forensic Imaging & Archiving, a San Diego company that prevents

construction defects, cost overruns and negligent workplace injuries for clients by documenting the work quality and progress of projects through various mediums and keeping proof of such on file.

BUSINESS PHILOSOPHYEssential business philosophy: Deliver a quality product at a value that far exceeds cost.

Best way to keep a competitive edge:Improve or learn something every day.

Guiding principles: Under-promise and over-deliver.

Yardsticks of success: Saving clients millions!

Goals yet to be achieved: To be recognized as the industry leader in quality assurance/risk management.

JUDGMENT CALLSBest business decision: Marrying Diane.

Worst business decision: Waiting seven years to marry Diane.

Toughest business decision: To bring an investor into Forensic Imaging & Archiving.Biggest missed opportunity: $40million contract with the U.S. Navy.Mentor: Domingus Spoor. He is driven, smart and full of integrity.Word that describes you: Driven.

TRUE CONFESSIONSWhat you like best about your job: Providing value in our business ethics.What you like least about your job: When a potential client cannot recognize the long-term benefit of our services. Pet peeves: Attorneys in our industry that are more interested in the

treatment rather than the cure. Most important lesson learned: Trust is earned.Person most interested in meeting: The Insurance Czar.Three greatest passions: Working, flying and parenthood. First choice for a new career: Pilot.

PREDILECTIONSFavorite quote: “What goes around comes around.”Most influential book: The Bible.Favorite status symbol: My airplane.Favorite restaurant: California cuisine.Favorite place for business meetings: Conference rooms with a projector. I am a visual person.

S T R U C T U R E SContinued from Page B28

S T R U C T U R E S

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: -

---

--

INTERESTING FACETS:

-

-

--

DEVELOPER:FINANCING:

-

OFFtopping

TOPPINGOFF

is a look at projects nearing

completion.

DESIGNER:GENERAL CONTRACTOR:MAJOR SUBCONTRACTORS:START DATE:COMPLETION DATE:BUILDING COST:PRJECT COST:

SQUARE FOOTAGE:TENANTS SIGNED TO DATE: N/A.LEASING AGENT: WND.

Editor’s note: Topping Off is a regular feature of the Business

Journal focusing on commercial, industrial and multi-unit res-

idential projects that are finishing construction. Send sugges-

tions of projects to aschweizer@sdbj.com.

CO Architects

Palomar Medical Center West, being built in Escondido, is the first major medical facility to be built in North County in 30 years.

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S T R U C T U R E S

1Mission:Continued from Page B7

eral manager of Turner Construction’s San

Diego office, said his company planned

ahead to overcome challenges:

“Managing the design and working

with a fixed budget, developing an ag-

gressive schedule ... and developing a

project-specific safety and construction

plan to minimize disruptions to the Mis-

sion Hills neighborhood and surrounding

local businesses,” Awford said. “We are

very happy with the results on this proj-

ect, including the strong relationships

with the local community, architect, en-

gineers and owner that have all contrib-

uted to the success of this project.”

M.W. Steele Group was in charge of

both exterior and interior design for

1Mission.

President Mark Steele, FAIA, AICP, said

one of his firm’s big challenges was “try-

ing to design a building in an area as

sensitive as Mission Hills.”

“Follow-up and consistency are really

important,” Steele said. “We have a close

relationship with CLB. We know our client

well, we know our neighborhood.

“We’re very satisfied with the results

— we’re getting good feedback from the

community. We’ve hit the mark on this

project.”

Andrew Spurlock, FASLA, founder of

Spurlock Poirier Landscape Architects,

has the challenge of bringing the “se-

cret garden” to life. He and his team are

also customizing landscaping facing the

street to fit with the character of each

street and its neighborhood views.

Joyce Thorne is a freelance writer for

the Business Journal.

$21 million. Architects are Vasquez Marshall, San Diego as well as Wildman

and Morris, San Francisco.

Farther south on Point Loma, the Navy

broke ground in March on an effort to

replace antiquated fuel storage tanks with

as many as eight high-capacity tanks, and

to clean up an underground fuel plume.

The project’s $167 million ceiling price

may grow to $195 million under the new

defense bill. Northern California-based

Nova Group and Underground Construction

are prime contractors.

Stimulus money may fund a $12 million

child care center on Point Loma, to be

awarded in September.

The coming months will see the

Navy award more stimulus projects. The

Pentagon seems to be awarding small

projects first, including many repair jobs,

working its way up to big projects.

The government plans to award the

biggest project, the $563 million hospital

near the main gate at Camp Pendleton, in

September 2010.

Military:Continued from Page B4

Pablo Mason

Four-story bachelor enlisted quarters known as P-015 were designed by Cass Sowatsky Chapman & Associates.

Rendering courtesy of M.W. Steele Group

1Mission, shown at the corner of Falcon Street and Fort Stockton Drive in Mission Hills, combines 48 luxury condos, 13 townhomes plus street-level retail space and underground parking.

S T R U C T U R E S

the main design challenges has been

to have them fit into their neighbor-

hoods. In Encinitas, for example, each

station reflects the unique charac-

ter of its neighborhood; from Leuca-

dia to Cardiff to downtown. The sta-

tion in La Quinta reflects its proximity

to that desert city’s Old Town District.

The construction challenges can vary

— from working around a trailer moved

on-site to temporarily house firefight-

ers and keeping access to trucks at all

times while the new structure is built,

to getting the station up and running

as soon as possible to maintain cov-

erage equally in all parts of the city.

Q: What’s unique from a construc-tion point of view about the stations you’ve been involved with so far?A: I think the municipalities that are

building new stations, like everyone in

general, are becoming more aware of

sustainable design concepts. As a gov-

erning agency, they want to set an ex-

ample and design to and incorporate the

sustainable design strategies and mate-

Q&A:Continued from Page B9

rials that reflect a concern for the en-

vironment. Our station in La Quinta is

being designed to the U.S. Green Build-

ing Council’s LEED Silver guidelines and

Station No. 2 in Encinitas will be de-

signed for LEED Silver accreditation.

This approach to these buildings

will add marginally to the design and

construction costs, but will reflect

the city’s concern for the environ-

ment as they develop new buildings.

Our office has used many sustainable

design strategies, as just good design

approaches, for many years before it be-

came fashionable. And with the many

new materials and products available,

the design and finish options are exten-

sive and not necessarily that expensive.

Q: What other design specialties are you pursuing?A: We have recently been awarded our first

project for the San Diego Unified School

District as a result of our private school

work experience and we have two design/

build preschool projects under way for the

Navy. These both represent areas of work

we have experience in and new clients

we are looking forward to working with.

Jay Dominy

The 1970s-era Encinitas Fire Station No. 3 was demolished and replaced with modern, expanded public safety facilities. With the firefighters’ living area upstairs, the station includes offices, a training classroom, physical fitness area and three oversized bays for emergency equipment on the first floor.

S T R U C T U R E S

At California Bank & Trust we

believe that banking is about

more than transactions, it’s

about building strong,

long-term relationships —

one client at a time.

* Award ratings for California Bank & Trust reported under holding (parent) company, Zions Bancorporation. Ratings based on blind surveys conducted by Greenwich Associates between January and June 2008 and published in American Banker September 2008. Based on nearly 17,000 interviews with businesses with sales of $10-500 million across the country. More than 750 banks were eligible to win an award. MEMBER FDIC

We invite you to experience the benefits of a California Bank & Trust relationship.

We are honored to be the recipient

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To learn more about how our award-winning service can support your business banking needs,

call (800) 355-0514. www.calbanktrust.com/greenwich

Structures 2009 INSIDE BACK Cover

All Types of Delivery Methods:

Architectural Rendering of BEQ at Wounded Warrior Battalion West Camp Pendleton, CA

Fontana Park Jessie Turner Health and Fitness Community Center, Fontana, CA2009 Project of the Year from the American Public Works Association

University of California San Diego Supercomputer ExpansionLa Jolla, CA

Ronald McDonald House, San Diego, CABarnhart project team and Ronald celebrating the

June 2009 Grand Opening

Indian Wells Golf Club, Indian Wells, CA2009 Gold Nugget Award from the Pacific Coast Builders Conference

Chino Hills Civic Center, Chino Hills, CA2008 Best of Chino Hills Award from U.S. Local Business Association

Structures 2009 BACK Cover