Stories in this week’s Orange County Business Journal
TOP STORIES
Crystal Cathedral Ministries in Garden Grove will sell its 40-acre campus, including the landmark glass church and tower, as part of a plan to emerge from bankruptcy. The sale to undisclosed real estate investors includes a 15-year lease for the ministry, which is expected to continue operations. A price wasn’t disclosed. The ministry owes about $50 million counting debts to vendors and a $36 million mortgage. The sale is expected to bring enough money to pay off the mortgage and some other debt, with the rest settled in three and half years. The deal includes an option for Crystal Cathedral Ministries to buy back the church, tower and rest of the campus—with the exception of a four-story Family Life Center that’s already for sale—within four years. Falling revenue and controversies about pay for church officials have dogged Crystal Cathedral in recent years. Senior Pastor Sheila Schuller Coleman, daughter of founder Robert Schuller, now leads the ministry.
A homebuilding offshoot of Newport Beach-based RSI Holding Corp. is moving ahead on a nine-home project in Buena Park. RSI Land LLC had been working since last year on getting approval to build the homes on scattered lots throughout the city, according to Buena Park city records. The single-family homes—marketed under the New House by RSI name—will be slightly smaller than 2,000 square feet each. They are expected to be priced below going rates. The venture was started a few years ago by RSI Holding founder Ronald Simon, one of the county’s most prominent businessmen. He reportedly has invested more than $100 million in the homebuilding venture, which is based on manufacturing techniques he’s honed at cabinet maker RSI Home Products.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
UP: Average daily rates at hotels in Orange County in March, which saw a 4.8% gain from a year earlier to $144.56 per night, according to Colliers PKF. Hotel occupancy rose to 78.6% from 73.6%.
MANUFACTURING
Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc. in Irvine will convert more than 100 Ford F-150 pickup trucks to plug-in hybrids for Midland, Mich.-based Dow Chemical Co. The deal calls for Quantum to use lithium ion batteries made by the Dow, which plans to convert 5% of its truck fleet to plug-in hybrid technology. Quantum works on a number of alternative energy technologies and developed the system that powers Anaheim-based Fisker Automotive Inc.’s Karma luxury hybrid, which is due in showrooms later this year.
TECHNOLOGY
Fountain Valley-based memory products maker Kingston Technology Co. claimed half of the market last year for the most common memory used in computers. Kingston’s share of sales of dynamic random access memory—chips mounted on circuit boards that boost computer performance—rose from 39% in 2009 to 50% last year, according to market tracker DRAMeXchange. Total DRAM sales last year were $9.5 billion, putting Kingston’s stake of the market at $4.8 billion (see story, page 8, related Special Report, page 19).
Aliso Viejo-based QLogic Corp. increased its lead over rival Emulex Corp. of Costa Mesa in first-quarter sales of host bus adapters, a profitable piece of data networking electronics. QLogic had more than 55% of host bus adapter sales in the first quarter, according to Redwood City-based market tracker Zell’Oro Group. That was up nearly 2% from the prior quarter and 18% more than Emulex’s share. The two companies dominate the market for host bus adapters—circuit boards that link computers on data storage networks—and compete in one of the county’s oldest rivalries. Emulex spun off QLogic in the early 1990s.
TOURISM
Visitors spent $476.6 million in Irvine last year, supporting 5,070 jobs and contributing $27 million in local and state taxes, according to Destination Irvine, a trade group. Food and beverages accounted for $133 million of the spending, followed by accommodations at $108 million, $105 million for arts, entertainment and recreation, $90 for shopping and $30 million for transportation.
REAL ESTATE
The Orange City Council approved a pact with a developer to build 39 houses on one-acre equestrian lots on the site of the former Ridgeline Country Club. Orange-based JMI Real Estate, which purchased the site five years ago, has offered to donate 3.9 acres for a public horse arena and to build a 16,000-square-foot indoor arena and about one mile of public trails. Some residents of the Orange Park Acres community said they plan to gather voters’ signatures to force a referendum on the plan.
OTHER NEWS
Matthew Brown, a resident of Aliso Viejo and founder of the InvestorsHub.com stock board, was sentenced to four years in prison and fined $50,000 for his role in a fraudulent stock promotion scheme. The Securities and Exchange Commission estimates that Brown and several partners in the scheme made $6.2 million.
