Executive Airpark what the aviation industry calls a fixed-base operator and the company overseeing the day-to-day operations of the airport agreed to make pavement improvements, construct parking facilities, and refurbish and build 69,800 square feet of new hangar space. It also plans to create a 5,850-square-foot flight club lounge with a public viewing area, a fuel farm and a community aircraft wash rack.
Space will be set aside for an Urban Air Mobility hub that once technology and regulation allow is intended to support a new type of energy-efficient aircraft. Long-term plans also include the creation of an aviation museum for the public.
Editor-at-Large
San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott is misleading the public by refusing to release potentially damning parts of a forensic report that reviewed the 101 Ash Street building deal, even after the report was promised to be an independent and comprehensive analysis of what has now become one of the City’s worst financial debacles in its history.
The “forensic analysis” was touted as an in-depth investigation of all aspects of, and all departments and personnel involved in, the $128 million purchase and $30 million renovation of the building after the 19-story tower had to be evacuated in January 2020 over employees’ exposure to asbestos.
Print
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria on Friday announced his selection to run the city’s vast real estate portfolio longtime Port of San Diego official Penny Maus.
Maus, who was chosen out of a field of nearly 30 applicants, will succeed former Real Estate Assets Department director Cybele Thompson, who resigned in August in the wake of criticisms of the city’s troubled acquisition of the former Sempra Energy headquarters at 101 Ash St.
“Penny has proven expertise in seeking and promoting new business development, handling a diverse portfolio of assets and developing cost-saving measures that benefit San Diegans,” Gloria said in his announcement.
Arturo
Editor-at-Large
Over 1,000 City of San Diego employees were moved into the 101 Ash Street building in December 2019 and January 2020 without final building inspections that would have required that all of the fire life safety equipment be certified to be working, and after City leaders were warned by the general contractor that the systems were not operable, but City staff then misrepresented the building status to the press, the public, and even the San Diego Ethics Commission.
The building, which served as the corporate headquaters of San Diego Gas & Electric and later its parent company Sempra Energy for more than 45 years, was leased by the City in January 2017 under a 20-year lease-to-own agreement, then the City spent more than $30 million in renovations before the building was ultimately abandoned in late January 2020 due to asbestos exposure.