Canadians’ Coin
Stretches Farther at
SeaWorld’s Gates
The expectation may not sound all that appetizing: 1,500 meals a day. It’s the commitment that the Hotel del Coronado’s executive chef, Joe Giunta, made when plans to remodel the kitchen and restaurant were being finalized, according to the hotel.
The revamped restaurant, which opened June 5, is part of the hotel’s $55 million restoration project.
The restaurant, formerly named Ocean Terrace but rechristened Sheerwater, will be open seven days a week for all meals. It expects to serve 500 breakfast entrees, 600 lunch entrees and 400 dinner entrees each day.
As a result, the menu was specifically planned to be straightforward, planned for the kitchen staff to prepare dishes quickly and efficiently, the hotel said.
During the last six months, the cooking staff has been meeting to plan the menu, starting with listing food groups on a bulletin board, then suggestions for dishes for each meal period, ideas from the staff’s past cooking experiences , even old family recipes , and gauging trends in the culinary industry. From there, the ideas went through several rounds of cuts, and then to preparing and reengineering the items.
The hotel expects to make Sheerwater’s introduction the beginning of a new era of improved quality for the entire property.
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Come Visit, Eh: With the Canadian dollar’s decline in the face of U.S. currency, SeaWorld San Diego is marketing to Canadians who might have been disenchanted with the idea of spending additional money while vacationing in the states.
For customers with proof of Canadian residency, the aquatic theme park is selling tickets for 69 Canadian cents on the U.S. dollar.
The offer costs the park nearly $14 per admission, according to SeaWorld. The program continues through Sept. 15.
Checking In: Doug Myers, executive director of the Zoological Society of San Diego, will be the featured speaker at the San Diego County Hotel-Motel Association’s July 13 meeting, which will take place at the San Diego Zoo’s special event area. The Town & Country Hotel in Mission Valley has a new roof over its grand ballroom and foyer. Financial details were not disclosed. The Oceanside Visitors and Tourism Information Center will be revamping its office as part of its conversion to becoming an official “California Welcome Center.” A release from the area’s Chamber of Commerce said the center’s annual visitor count of 30,000 could double, because its marketing exposure will increase. The Zoological Society recently named Robert Schlesinger director of development. Schlesinger, who has been doing development work for 16 years, has been with the University of California Berkeley for the last 10 years. His current position there is director of planned giving and foundation counsel, and he is in part responsible for the university’s $1.1 billion capital campaign.
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Board Changes: Nine newly elected members of the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau became official this month. Local businessman Tom Fat, president of the dining complex China Camp, is the new chairman of the board. Other members, each elected to a three-year term, are: Martin Astengo, general manager of the Holiday Inn Select-San Diego; Ingrid Croce, owner of Croce’s Restaurants & Night Clubs; Patrick Duffy, general manager of the Hilton San Diego Resort; Dr. Joyce Gattas, dean of SDSU’s College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts; Scott Hermes, vice president of sales and marketing for Planet Earth Reservations; Fahari Jeffers, secretary-treasurer of the United Domestic Workers of America; Frank McCully, president of Creative Business Solutions; Chuck Nathanson, executive director of San Diego Dialogue/UCSD; and Ron Phillips, vice president of Northern Trust Bank. New officers are also in place for the San Diego Chamber Orchestra’s Board of Directors. The new president is Rancho Santa Fe resident Bill Weber, a consultant on strategic management who recently retired from his job as an executive for an aircraft company. Others on the board are vice president Penny Dokomo, secretary Susan Snow and chief financial officer Leslie Ross.
The deadline for the next tourism & hospitality column is July 6. Rodrigues can be reached at (858) 277-6359, ext. 107, or via E-mail at trodrigues@sdbj.com.
Multi-Tenant Industrial Building Nearly Completed
San Diego-based Multitech Properties Inc. will soon have a completed 40,000-square-foot multi-tenant industrial building at 8310-8324 Miramar Mall Road, a company spokeswoman said.
Rick Marrs Architects of La Mesa designed the concrete tilt-up building, which is being built by Peterbuilt Construction Co. Inc. of San Diego, said Leslie Cusworth, a spokeswoman. The project was 90 percent complete as of June 27, she said. About 30 percent of the space has been pre-leased.
Six units ranging from 4,800 square feet to 11,000 square feet are still available, she said.
Council Approves Agreement
For Redeveloping Navy Base
BY BRAD GRAVES
Staff Writer
San Diego City Hall and the Corky McMillin Cos. finally have a deal on how the developer will turn the Naval Training Center into a multifaceted Point Loma neighborhood.
Yet many decisions remain for the two sides, including what companies will join National City-based McMillin in the $500 million redevelopment venture.
The San Diego City Council last week approved the disposition and development agreement designating McMillin as the master developer for 235 acres of the former military base on Point Loma. The agreement calls for McMillin to fulfill certain requirements, then receive portions of the base from the city, either through deed or lease.
Preliminary plans call for hotels on one area of the former base, commercial space on another, housing on a third, and other uses in other areas. McMillin will end up deeding or leasing NTC land to other developers for some of those projects.
Asked whether other developers were lining up to get work at NTC, company spokeswoman Megan Conley acknowledged unsolicited proposals from interested business people. “We haven’t engaged in any serious conversation with any of them,” she said.
McMillin has not decided which parcels it will or will not develop with its own staff, she said. That decision would come before a decision on what outside developers would work at NTC, she said.
The City Council and California Coastal Commission also have yet to approve various entitlements for the former NTC site.
The City Council named McMillin as its preferred candidate for master developer in June 1999; the two parties negotiated their deal for much of the past year. McMillin signed the disposition and development agreement earlier in June.
