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News Briefs

Second Quarter Apartment Sales Hit New Level

During the second quarter of 2002, the number of apartment complex purchases in San Diego County was at the highest level since 1989, according to San Diego-based Burnham Real Estate Services.

There were 335 sales of apartment properties during the second quarter, up 12.4 percent from a year ago when sales were at a 12-year high, Burnham reported.

The second quarter of this year saw the sale of 14 apartment complexes, with 100 or more units. Those sales represented 3,448 units purchased for more than $400 million.

The biggest sale was the 500-unit Marbrisas Apartments in Chula Vista for $69 million.

Eight of the top 14 sales had purchase prices of $100,000 or more per unit. Without counting those “mega-deals,” the average sales price per unit in the second quarter was $83,550, a 20 percent increase from the same period in 2001 when the adjusted sales price was $69,361 per unit, according to Burnham.

The total number of units sold in the second quarter was 7,466. According to Burnham vice president and apartment specialist George Carlson, that is a 66.2 percent increase from the same period in 2001. It is also the highest number of units sold in one quarter since 1986, when 8,908 units were sold.

Online Benefits Program Boosts Hawthorne Revenues

San Diego-based Hawthorne Benefit Technologies now manages more than $105 million in corporate benefits with BeneTrac, its online employee benefits administration program.

The milestone represents 135 companies nationwide with 62,000 health plan members. The privately held company is in its third year of operation and has now had two consecutive quarters of profitability. Hawthorne reports it is on track this year to surpass 2001 sales revenue by 130 percent.

Jerry Hawthorne created the company in 1999. Hawthorne said other companies, mostly from outside the insurance industry, were creating Web-based technologies for managing benefits. He said other products were not able to communicate successfully with insurance companies. The company, originally focused on the West Coast, expanded nationally in 2001.

BeneTrac gives employers access to plan information 24 hours a day. It can save companies money on benefits administration by giving employees the ability to monitor, edit and access their account information online.

The product can only be purchased through insurance brokers or benefits consultants.

Carlsbad Office Building Construction Set for Spring

Ocean Ridge, a 75,000-square-foot office building on a 3.8-acre site in the master-planned community of Carlsbad Ranch, is expected to begin construction in early 2003 in Carlsbad.

The three-story Class A project is being developed for approximately $18 million by Los Angeles-based Lowe Enterprises Southwest and Orange County-based Palomar Cannon Partnership. Ron Jacobson and John Hoffmann of Colliers International’s Carlsbad office will market and lease the project.

Ocean Ridge will have ocean views from all three floors, a steel and glass exterior, integrated fiber optic cable and phone systems, shower and locker facilities, and a state-of-the-art energy management system with computerized security, lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

Parking is being provided at a ratio of 4 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet, including 75 underground parking spaces.

The architect is Brian Paul and Associates of San Diego. Bearing Construction Inc. of Encinitas is the general contractor.

Civil Engineering Firm to Occupy Carlsbad Facility

O’Day Consultants Inc., a Carlsbad-based civil engineering firm, has signed a $6.7 million, eight-year lease for a 32,196-square-foot building at 2710 Loker Ave. W. in Carlsbad.

O’Day plans to occupy 17,000 square feet of the building, named Atrium II and owned by Atrium Lot II LLC. The company plans to lease the other 15,196 square feet out to other tenants as office suites ranging from 2,000 to 11,000 square feet.

John Walters of Coldwell Banker Commercial represented the lessee. Justin Halenza, Mark Avilla and Norm Kerlin of BRE Commercial/NAI represented the lessor.

Atrium II is the second phase of a 60,770-square-foot, two-building Class A office project developed by Vista-based Newport National Corp.

San Diego-based Keeton Construction Co. completed the building in September. Pacific Building Group of San Diego is building O’Day’s tenant improvements.

Beyster Institute Names Entrepreneurship Head

Robert Fuller was appointed the new director of entrepreneurial programs at the Beyster Institute, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the use of employee ownership.

Fuller has more than 17 years experience in promoting entrepreneurship as a tool of economic development, and previously worked in government program management with Science Applications International Corp.

He holds a MBA from Troy State University and BS from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Charter Jet Service Adds New Craft

Local charter aircraft company Schubach Aviation announced it has expanded its line of jets with a new plane that will enable the company to handle cross-country flights.

The two-pilot, eight-passenger Citation X is the “world’s fastest business aircraft,” according to Citation spokeswoman Bonnie Kutch. It can fly at about 600 mph and travel from Palomar Airport to New York in under four hours.

The luxury business jet, which costs $3,400 per flight-hour to charter, has on-board features such as a DVD player and three in-flight phones, Kutch added.

The plane, worth $15 million, has been made available to Schubach for chartered flights as a sublease from a private owner. The name of the owner and the terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Citation X is the first plane to enable the company to offer intercontinental travel for the first time, Kutch said.

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