Page 22 www.sdbj.

com SAN DIEGO BUSINESS JOURNAL September 1, 2014

Coronado was the recipient of a nationwide honor recently when Coastal Living
Magazine selected a house at 100 Ocean Drive for its 2014 Showhouse. The home will
debut in its October issue. It is the frst California home for the magazines annual recog-
nition and is a well-deserved pick. Selected from possibilities on all the coastlines in the
U.S., the home in Coronado is truly one of the most beautiful homes in the nation.
In January of 2013, a ffth generation contractor/builder in Carlsbad selected
Coronado-based John OBrien and partner, Mark Blore, of Flagg Coastal Homes to build
a multigenerational property on the Coronado Beach.
HOME OF THE MONTH
Each month the San Diego Business Journal highlights a home of the month,
selected by the editors as representative of the best of San Diego Countys luxury
residential real estate.
Edited by Stephanie R. Glidden
Coronados
Coastal
Showhouse
Photos courtesy of Flagg Coastal Homes
Left, Mark Blore and John OBrien of Flagg
Coastal Homes
Coronado page 30
Page 30 www.sdbj.com SAN DIEGO BUSINESS JOURNAL September 1, 2014
NEWS IN BRIEF
For breaking news,
see www.sdbj.com
City Wont Appeal Ruling
On Convention Center Plan
San Diego City Council recently voted
7-0 not to appeal a court ruling that invali-
dated the funding mechanism for a planned
$520 million expansion of the San Diego
Convention Center.
Offcials will next decide whether to place
a funding measure before voters which
would require two-thirds approval because
it involves raising taxes or consider other
development-related methods to boost
convention center space.
Previously proposed alternatives include
building a downtown facility combining
noncontiguous convention space with a
new stadium for the San Diego Chargers.
Mayor Kevin Faulconer in recent weeks has
been meeting with hotel and convention
industry offcials, as well as representatives
of the Chargers and developer JMI Realty,
to discuss proposals on the table.
The mayor said in a statement that he
is open to all options. I continue to be-
lieve that any proposed Chargers stadium
project should be brought before voters,
Faulconer said.
The Chargers last year proposed an
East Village project that would combine a
stadium with convention and event space.
JMI Realty, which was founded by former
San Diego Padres owner John Moores and
who developed Petco Park, recently put
forward four downtown concept options
with various confgurations of stadium
and convention facilities.
Californias Fourth District Court of
Appeals overturned the convention center
expansion fnancing mechanism, ruling
that a proposed tax on hotel bills is un-
constitutional because it was not approved
by voters.
In 2012, City Council and local hoteliers
approved a fnancing district to fund the
bulk of the project, in which San Diego
hotels with at least 30 rooms would apply
a tax of 1 to 3 percent to guests room bills.
Lou Hirsh
$3.7M Card Room Project
Underway in Chula Vista
Dempsey Construction Inc. of Carls-
bad is at work on a $3.7 million renova-
OBrien founded Flagg Coastal
Homes as a design/build custom home-
builder in response to the demand for
nautically inspired homes in Corona-
do. OBrien, a U.S. Naval Academy
graduate, former Naval Offcer, PT-
Boat skipper and a Navy SEAL, has
been building and selling homes for 34
years in Southern California. OBriens
partner, Blore, joined Flagg Coastal
Homes in 2004 and is also a Navy
SEAL as well as a Coronado resident.
During the past 13 years, Flagg Coastal
has developed and sold 37 homes in
Coronado.
We have a look, OBrien said. A
coastal look and branding.
All proceeds from the ticket sales for
the showcase go to the Navy SEALs
Foundation. To date the showcase has
generated $33,000 for the foundation.
The home is three stories, and it is
entered from the street on what is tech-
nically the second foor. The entry was
designed in a wide gallery style so you
can see all the way through to the ocean
and the Coronado Islands.
Its breathtaking.
We reversed the foor plan, all the
main bedrooms are on the same foor
as the entrance except for the kids
space in the basement, OBrien said.
The construction of a basement in
Southern California is rare, and this
was not without its problems. When
construction began they punctured the
old bottom of the sea. The home is lo-
cated on an old bight, a shallow stretch
of water that used to divide Coronado
and North Island. The bight was flled
in during WWII. The construction
team pumped seven million gallons of
water out of the basement. Interesting-
ly, it was fresh water from an aquifer.
The entryway to the basement is off
the gallery foor, down a wide set of
painted stairs and unlike most base-
ments, its flled with light. The Flagg
team installed windows on the east side
so that light flls the room for most of the
day. Off of the living area is a creative
set of four bunkbeds for the grandkids.
The bunks are built into the wall and are
reminiscent of berths on a boat.
There is elevator access on each foor.
Going back up to the entry-level sec-
ond foor is the master bedroom with
ocean breezes and views and French
doors leading to a deck. Two more
bedrooms are on the other side of the
gallery with a shared bath.
The piece d resistance is the upper
foor where the kitchen and family room
are located. The house is set back from
Ocean Drive on a large grassy park,
which provides a buffer from the traffc
and beachgoers. The farm-style kitchen
sink looks out over the park to the ocean.
Finally, a reason to do the dishes.
A huge deck stretches across the
entire front of this foor. When the
French doors are open it is one large
living area flled with comfortable fur-
niture and dining tables.
The landscaping was provided by
San Diego-based Topia, whose founder
designed and installed the landscaping
for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Laguna
Beach, according to OBrien.
On the back side of the kitchen is
the adult relaxation room as OBrien
referred to it. The foor is clad with
distressed French oak planking from
San Diego-based DuChateau Floors.
OBrien said it is hottest fooring in
America right now.
Off of the adult relaxation room is
yet another deck, which leads to the
rooftop deck, which overlooks the one
of the best views on the planet.
Point Loma, Pacifc Beach and La
Jolla are usually clouded in, he said.
But Coronado is in the sun all the time,
because of the way it is situated.
We ended up in the garage on the
basement level where OBrien had a large
map of the U.S. so visitors can push in a
pin in to indicate where they were from.
We have more visitors east of the
Mississippi than from the West, he
said. Weve had visitors from Canada,
England, New Zealand, Germany and
Switzerland as well.
Its worth a visit, especially to beneft
a good cause. Go to coastbuilder.net
from page 22
Coronado:
Rendering Courtesy of Dempsey Construction Inc.
A rendering of new location for Village Club Card Room
tion and expansion that will convert an
existing property into the new location
for Village Club Card Room casino in
Chula Vista.
VC Bay Properties is the owner and
developer of the property at 285 Bay
Blvd. Village Club opened in 1946 and
is currently located at 429 Broadway in
Chula Vista, with games including poker,
pai gow, blackjack and baccarat.
Demps ey off i ci al s s ai d t he
14,000-square-foot project at Bay Bou-
levard, set for a fall completion, includes
a complete buildout and construction
of a new card room with a full-service
restaurant and bar. Offcials said it will be
among the largest non-Indian card room
casinos in San Diego County.
The project includes a large porte
cochere entry and 30-foot-high ceilings
in the main card room, 20 poker and
pai gow tables, and two high-limit areas.
There will be a full-service kitchen, and
an indoor and outdoor bar with an ex-
terior patio area containing fre pits and
water features.
The project was designed by Joseph
Wong Design Architects of San Diego.
Lou Hirsh
Construction Project Values
Rise 42% in the County
San Diego Countys contracts awarded
for future construction rose 42 percent in
value from a year ago in the frst seven
months of 2014, according to the latest
data from McGraw Hill Construction.
The total value of nonresidential and
residential projects topped $2.93 billion
in the January-to-July period, up from
$2.06 billion in the year-ago period. Non-
residential projects reached nearly $2.3
billion in value, more than doubling the
year-ago fgure, while residential projects
were down 40 percent, at $640.1 million.
Nonresidential projects include gov-
ernment, education, offce, retail, man-
ufacturing and other commercial build-
ings. The residential category includes
single- and multi-family housing.
The state of California saw essentially
no change from a year ago in total con-
tract values, at $29.45 billion for the frst
seven months of 2014. The states nonres-
idential contracts were up 30 percent and
residential projects rose 7 percent, with
non-building projects such as roads
and bridges down 31 percent.
Lou Hirsh
Internet Poker Bill Is Not
In the Cards This Session
With the end of the legislative session
in sight, the author of the remaining
Internet poker bill in the California Leg-
islature called it quits, saying he will try
again in the 2015-16 session.
Such legislation could open a new
revenue stream for Californias American
Indian tribes, who offer gambling in casi-
no buildings on their reservations. There
are eight brick-and-mortar casinos in San
Diego County.
One of the major reasons that I did
not move [the bill] this legislative session
was that the Department of Justice and
the California Gaming Commission
did not have enough time to review the
language and make relevant recommen-
dations on the regulatory structure of the
bill. It is essential that Californians have
safe and compliant Internet poker ac-
cess, said the bills author, Assemblyman
Reginald Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles),
in a written statement.
Card clubs and the horse tracks have
also expressed interest in offering Inter-
net poker, the statement said.
Another provision that got consider-
able debate was whether certain vendors
could offer Internet poker services.
Language concerning bad actors could
have exposed the state to legal challenges,
the assemblyman said.
We have come a long way, but we have
to be patient, so we can get this right,
Jones-Sawyer said.
Brad Graves
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