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ADDENDUM – April 2, 2012

Other items of interest Orange County Business Journal

ENERGY

Houston-based Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP’s office in Orange is pursuing an expansion of its fuel-pipeline system that runs from San Bernardino County to the Las Vegas area. Kinder Morgan operates the pipeline system, known as Calnev, through its subsidiary Calnev Pipe Line LLC. The two pipelines now in place cover 550 miles between Colton and North Las Vegas and transport about 156,000 barrels of gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel.

The new pipeline would take capacity up 28%, to about 200,000 barrels a day.

GOVERNMENT

The Westminster City Council approved a general-plan amendment that will allow businesses in the city’s Little Saigon area to create a pedestrian-friendly plaza around Asian Garden Mall. The council did not approve any city funding and said neighborhood businesses themselves would have to fund any efforts to alter and beautify the area, with participation voluntary.

HEALTHCARE

Drug maker Pfizer bought Foothill Ranch-based vitamin maker Alacer Corp. on undisclosed terms. Alacer was founded in 1972 and focuses on Vitamin C products.

Allergan Inc. wants to expand medical uses of Botox to include bladder injections for patients suffering from urinary incontinence. The Irvine-based company’s request of the Food and Drug Administration follows positive test results of the procedure.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved a bid by BGC Partners Inc. to buy commercial brokerage Grubb & Ellis Co. BGC aims to combine Grubb with Newmark Knight Frank, a real estate services firm it acquired last year.

REAL ESTATE

One Broadway Plaza developer Mike Harrah has put up for sale the property housing Original Mike’s Restaurant in Santa Ana for a reported $10.5 million. Harrah also is said to be offering the Santora Arts Building in Santa Ana for $6.75 million, and considering the sale of a small warehouse in the city for about $3 million. Harrah is reportedly seeking to raise funds for construction of the 37-floor One Broadway office project he plans in Santa Ana.

Some 2% of Orange County homes—about 11,000 properties, or one home in 50 locally—were involved in foreclosure proceedings during February, according to Santa Ana-based data service CoreLogic Inc. That’s down from 2.3% a year earlier. The state foreclosure rate for February was 2.4% in February, and the U.S. rate was 3.4%.

RETAIL

Lake Forest-based Del Taco LLC opened the first of a planned 40 restaurants in the Houston area. The initial Houston location is owned by a franchisee that plans to open two additional Del Tacos in the market. The chain began expanding in the Dallas and Fort Worth areas almost two years ago. The push into the Houston area comes after it announced in February plans to open 60 company-owned and franchised Del Tacos in metropolitan Atlanta.

OTHER NEWS

Former Discover Torrance executive director Heather Johnston was named executive director of the Dana Point Chamber of Commerce. Johnston previously worked in marketing positions at Disneyland Resort and Irvine Company.

ECONOMIC INDICATOR

UP: OC home sales in February, which saw a 10.8% increase on single-family homes compared with the prior month and a 13.1% jump from a year earlier, according to the California Association of Realtors. The average sale price rose 0.4% to $485,380 month-to-month and dipped 2.2% from the year-earlier period.

UP: Weekly pay in OC in the third quarter of last year, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local workers saw their average weekly wages rise 6% from a year earlier, to $1,036. Paychecks statewide were up 6.8%, to an average of $982.

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