Carlsbad businesses showed strong gains in 2013 as companies opened new projects and renovated space to prime for the future. The tourism, life sciences, telecommunications and action sports sectors advanced during the past year, firming up the City of Carlsbad's economy.
The city's most noticeable 2013 opening was the LEGOLAND Hotel on the grounds of LEGOLAND California theme park. The new hotel, which welcomed guests for the first time in April, added 250 LEGO-themed and family-oriented rooms.
The LEGOLAND Hotel debut marked the second grand opening of a major Carlsbad resort in two years and helped cement Carlsbad's reputation as a desired tourist destination with international allure. The 215-room Hilton Carlsbad Oceanfront Resort & Spa opened in June 2012.
"Tourism in Carlsbad is very strong right now," said Sam Ross, executive director of Visit Carlsbad, noting that revenues from the Transient Occupancy Tax, the levy on hotel room stays, surpassed pre-recession figures. "TOT was up over 14 percent, at $14,675,000 for the fiscal year 2012-2013."
And those revenues help fund such everyday city services as police and fire protection, libraries and parks.
Carlsbad's other major resort properties were also active. The Park Hyatt Aviara Resort undertook a multimillion-dollar remodeling of guest rooms and its casual dining restaurant, California Bistro. And Dallas-based Omni Hotels & Resorts purchased La Costa Resort and Spa, which now operates as the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa. The resort also restored one of its two 18-hole golf courses, Legends, this past year.
Tourism wasn't the only segment of Carlsbad's economy showing revenue gains. The city's retail sector flexed its muscle, as indicated by increases in sales tax revenues in 2013, with Car Country Carlsbad leading the way. A new retail center, the 180,000-square-foot Palomar Commons, developed by San Diego-based Sudberry Properties, opened at Palomar Airport Road and El Camino Real. Its anchor tenant, Lowe's home improvement store, is a first for Carlsbad and will retain dollars in the city that went to home improvement stores in neighboring cities.
In Bressi Ranch, Pizza Port opened the doors to a 37,000-square-foot facility that houses a brewery, a production facility, and Pizza Port's corporate offices. And, best of all, it includes a new Pizza Port restaurant as its second Carlsbad location.
And Westfield began renovating the 44-year-old, 1.15-million-square-foot Plaza Camino Real shopping mall. After the remodel is completed in November 2014, the mall will be renamed Westfield Carlsbad and will offer new stores, restaurants and services, including a 12-screen Regal Cinema and a 24 Hour Fitness Center that will feature an indoor pool and rooftop basketball court. The new cinema and fitness center will be housed in the old Robinsons-May department store building.
On the commercial and industrial real estate front, vacancy rates continued to decline as business activity increased. Dennis Visser, managing director at Cassidy Turley San Diego, a commercial real estate services provider, said that the vacancy rate in Carlsbad's office buildings was high, but the trend is positive.
"In three of the last four quarters we had positive net absorption," Visser said. "We were at 27.6 percent vacancy in the third quarter of 2011, and we're at 21.7 percent in the third quarter of 2013 … nearly a 6 percent decline in the vacancy rate."
He noted that the industrial real estate sector is stronger than the office sector.
"At the end of the third quarter 2011, we were at 14.9 percent vacancy" in the industrial sector, Visser said. "In the third quarter of 2013, we're at 11.4 percent, a 3.5 percent decline. We've had positive net absorption in five of the last six quarters. That's not robust, but it's trending in the right direction."
He also noted that there were significant real estate transactions involving business properties during 2013, including the purchase of the 229,694-square-foot Faraday Corporate Center, at 2200 Faraday Ave., by Regent Properties, for $40.4 million. Visser, whose firm handled the transaction, said the transactions indicate that the real estate recovery has spread from the county's central core to the suburbs.
"I think investors are bullish on Carlsbad," Visser said. "In the big picture, we're encouraged about the improved market fundamentals and rising demand going into 2014."
Other business landmark events included:
• In July, a new life sciences incubator and community laboratory, Bio, Tech and Beyond, opened its doors to scientists and other people who want to exchange and test their ideas. The 6,000-square-foot lab, made possible through a partnership with the City of Carlsbad, provides low-cost benches and equipment for people with dreams of turning their ideas into lifesaving medicines.
• Life Technologies was purchased by Thermo Fisher Scientific in April for $13.6 billion. The deal merges two leading companies in the field of genetic testing.
• ViaSat set records for subscribers to its satellite Internet service, reporting 590,000 subscribers at the end of September. The company launched its communications satellite, Viasat-1, in 2012.
• Local action sports giants TaylorMade-Adidas Golf, which manufactures golf clubs, golf balls and other equipment, reported sales of $1.3 billion from January to September, making it the largest golf company in the world.
The city's most noticeable 2013 opening was the LEGOLAND Hotel on the grounds of LEGOLAND California theme park. The new hotel, which welcomed guests for the first time in April, added 250 LEGO-themed and family-oriented rooms.
The LEGOLAND Hotel debut marked the second grand opening of a major Carlsbad resort in two years and helped cement Carlsbad's reputation as a desired tourist destination with international allure. The 215-room Hilton Carlsbad Oceanfront Resort & Spa opened in June 2012.
"Tourism in Carlsbad is very strong right now," said Sam Ross, executive director of Visit Carlsbad, noting that revenues from the Transient Occupancy Tax, the levy on hotel room stays, surpassed pre-recession figures. "TOT was up over 14 percent, at $14,675,000 for the fiscal year 2012-2013."
And those revenues help fund such everyday city services as police and fire protection, libraries and parks.
Carlsbad's other major resort properties were also active. The Park Hyatt Aviara Resort undertook a multimillion-dollar remodeling of guest rooms and its casual dining restaurant, California Bistro. And Dallas-based Omni Hotels & Resorts purchased La Costa Resort and Spa, which now operates as the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa. The resort also restored one of its two 18-hole golf courses, Legends, this past year.
Tourism wasn't the only segment of Carlsbad's economy showing revenue gains. The city's retail sector flexed its muscle, as indicated by increases in sales tax revenues in 2013, with Car Country Carlsbad leading the way. A new retail center, the 180,000-square-foot Palomar Commons, developed by San Diego-based Sudberry Properties, opened at Palomar Airport Road and El Camino Real. Its anchor tenant, Lowe's home improvement store, is a first for Carlsbad and will retain dollars in the city that went to home improvement stores in neighboring cities.
In Bressi Ranch, Pizza Port opened the doors to a 37,000-square-foot facility that houses a brewery, a production facility, and Pizza Port's corporate offices. And, best of all, it includes a new Pizza Port restaurant as its second Carlsbad location.
And Westfield began renovating the 44-year-old, 1.15-million-square-foot Plaza Camino Real shopping mall. After the remodel is completed in November 2014, the mall will be renamed Westfield Carlsbad and will offer new stores, restaurants and services, including a 12-screen Regal Cinema and a 24 Hour Fitness Center that will feature an indoor pool and rooftop basketball court. The new cinema and fitness center will be housed in the old Robinsons-May department store building.
On the commercial and industrial real estate front, vacancy rates continued to decline as business activity increased. Dennis Visser, managing director at Cassidy Turley San Diego, a commercial real estate services provider, said that the vacancy rate in Carlsbad's office buildings was high, but the trend is positive.
"In three of the last four quarters we had positive net absorption," Visser said. "We were at 27.6 percent vacancy in the third quarter of 2011, and we're at 21.7 percent in the third quarter of 2013 … nearly a 6 percent decline in the vacancy rate."
He noted that the industrial real estate sector is stronger than the office sector.
"At the end of the third quarter 2011, we were at 14.9 percent vacancy" in the industrial sector, Visser said. "In the third quarter of 2013, we're at 11.4 percent, a 3.5 percent decline. We've had positive net absorption in five of the last six quarters. That's not robust, but it's trending in the right direction."
He also noted that there were significant real estate transactions involving business properties during 2013, including the purchase of the 229,694-square-foot Faraday Corporate Center, at 2200 Faraday Ave., by Regent Properties, for $40.4 million. Visser, whose firm handled the transaction, said the transactions indicate that the real estate recovery has spread from the county's central core to the suburbs.
"I think investors are bullish on Carlsbad," Visser said. "In the big picture, we're encouraged about the improved market fundamentals and rising demand going into 2014."
Other business landmark events included:
• In July, a new life sciences incubator and community laboratory, Bio, Tech and Beyond, opened its doors to scientists and other people who want to exchange and test their ideas. The 6,000-square-foot lab, made possible through a partnership with the City of Carlsbad, provides low-cost benches and equipment for people with dreams of turning their ideas into lifesaving medicines.
• Life Technologies was purchased by Thermo Fisher Scientific in April for $13.6 billion. The deal merges two leading companies in the field of genetic testing.
• ViaSat set records for subscribers to its satellite Internet service, reporting 590,000 subscribers at the end of September. The company launched its communications satellite, Viasat-1, in 2012.
• Local action sports giants TaylorMade-Adidas Golf, which manufactures golf clubs, golf balls and other equipment, reported sales of $1.3 billion from January to September, making it the largest golf company in the world.