Education
Eight Orange County universities were ranked on the U.S. News & World Report 2016 “Best Colleges” lists. The highest ranked local schools in their categories were University of California-Irvine and Chapman University in Orange. UCI is tied for No. 9, with the University of California-San Diego, on a list of national public universities—besting UC schools in Riverside and Santa Cruz and ranking below those in Berkeley, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara—while Chapman is tied for No. 7 on the Regional Universities (West) list. For public schools in the West California State University-Long Beach is ranked No. 5 and California State University-Fullerton is No. 7. On the full Western regional list Vanguard University in Costa Mesa is tied for No. 13; Hope International University in Fullerton is tied for No. 20, and Concordia University in Irvine is tied for No. 55. Soka University of America in Aliso Viejo is tied for No. 45 on the National Liberal Arts Colleges list.
UCI will get $19 million over four years from the National Institutes of Health to turn research results into medical products and services. The school’s Institute for Clinical & Translational Science develops scientific discoveries into medical advances. The new award follows a $20 million program that ran from 2010 and was used primarily to build research teams and get additional grants.
Hospitality
Burbank-based Walt Disney Co. plans to break ground on its Star Wars-themed land at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim next year, Disney’s chief operating officer Tom Staggs said at an investors’ conference. He didn’t mention an opening date for the 14-acre attraction, which marks the largest individual land expansion in Disneyland Park’s 60-year history. It would be located on the site now occupied by Big Thunder Ranch attraction and adjacent areas backstage and include two major rides. The company also said work would begin on an identical Star Wars land next year at its Hollywood Studios theme park in Florida.
The owner of the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel in Dana Point and the Montage Laguna Beach will be sold to real estate investor Blackstone Group LP in New York City for $6 billion in cash and debt ion a deal set to close early next year. Affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII LP will pay $14.25 a share for Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc. and assume $1.8 billion in debt. Strategic has ownership interests in 17 properties with 7,900 rooms and 847,000 square feet of meeting space. The purchase works out to $750,000 per room across the portfolio. It will be the second time the Montage changes hands in a year: Strategic bought the 250-room resort in January for $360 million, or $1.4 million a room.
Nonprofits
The Santa Ana-based Desert to the Sea Region of the American Red Cross named Linda Voss chief executive. The region covers Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, with a $10 million annual budget, 35 employees and 2,000 volunteers. Voss was previously chief executive of Red Cross operations in Baltimore and in Louisville, Ky. She has worked for medical and pharmaceutical companies, run a biopharmaceutical consulting firm, and spent eight years at American Red Cross headquarters in Washington, D.C., according to her LinkedIn profile. She replaces replaces Janet Whitcomb, who had been interim chief executive and is now retired.
Technology
Mountain View-based Google Inc. said Irvine is one of three cities under consideration for its Google Fiber program, which offers speeds of one gigabit per second, an estimated 100 times as fast as the average broadband service in the U.S. Google said Irvine, San Diego and Louisville, Ky., are under consideration in part because they are viewed as having civic leadership that puts a priority on expanding Internet access. Irvine also was cited for recent developments of collaborative work spaces that give a boost to an entrepreneurial culture in the city. Google Fiber would cover the cost of bringing the service, with costs an estimated $500 per home and involves installation of fiber-optic cable. Google Fiber has already wired Kansas City, Austin, Texas, and Provo, Utah.
