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 Keep up with the latest local business news prepared by the reporters and editors of the San Diego Business Journal and sent to you by email every business day. Sign up now at sdbj.com FREE DAILY UPDATE