ANTELOPE VALLEYLANCASTERDrug simulation company Simulations Plus has won a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to test the efficacy of oral cavity products using its GastroPlus software. Simulations applied for funding through a joint proposal with St. Louis College of Pharmacy at University of Health Services and Pharmacy. “To now enter our third funded collaboration with the FDA in 2020 is an amazing accomplishment and speaks to the relationships forged and the reputation earned,” John DiBella, Lancaster division president for Simulations Plus, said in a statement. DiBella refers to two other collaborative agreements, one with the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine announced in July to test drug efficacy in animals, and a $400,000 grant revealed in May to fund software research which replicates drug delivery through the eyes.
SAN FERNANDO VALLEYENCINOA Marriott hotel tower with views of Ventura Boulevard – that’s the plan proposed by Irvine’s DKN Hotels, according to Encino Neighborhood Council. The Sherman Oaks AC Hotel by Marriott would go up at 15485 Ventura Blvd. after razing the 70-key Sherman Hotel, which was built in the 1960s. In its place, DKN Hotels plans to construct a six-story, 75-foot high hotel with 159 rooms and a second-level setback that will accommodate a pool deck plus indoor amenities. The developer gave a presentation this month to the Encino Neighborhood Council on the project. The company earlier filed plans with the city of Los Angeles Planning Commission.STUDIO CITYTix Corp. plans to begin a review of its strategic alternatives, including a potential sale of the company. “In recent months, the company and board have received indications of interest about the potential acquisition or sale of control of the company, but no letters of intent or term sheets have been received,” Tix said in a statement. The review of the discount ticket seller will be led by a special committee of its board members. Tix Corp. has been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus outbreak. In March, it shut down its seven discount ticket stores in Las Vegas under its Tix4Tonight brand as well as its online ticket sales website.SUN VALLEYConstruction on Casa Del Sol — a four-story, 44-unit affordable housing complex by nonprofit developer A Community of Friends — wrapped up earlier this month. Located at 10966 W. Ratner St., the complex, which features 43 studio and one-bedroom apartments, has been earmarked for formerly homeless senior citizens, according to Los Angeles County Housing Resource Center. Casa Del Sol is among the first county-supported developments to result from 2016’s $1.2 billion bond measure Proposition HHH, which aimed to create some 10,000 supportive housing units. With a price tag of $21.8 million, Casa Del Sol received partial funding from HHH money. The price would equal more than $495,000 an apartment.
Tri-CitiesBURBANKThe Walt Disney Co. has announced a restructuring of its media and entertainment businesses to further accelerate its direct-to-consumer strategy. The entertainment and media giant will be reorganized to focus on developing and producing original content for its streaming services as well as for legacy platforms. Distribution and commercialization activities will be centralized into a new single, global Media and Entertainment Distribution organization. Bob Chapek, the chief executive, said that given the success of the Disney+ streaming service and its plans to accelerate the direct-to-consumer business, the company is strategically positioning itself to more effectively support that growth strategy and increase shareholder value.The Cusumano family has donated $1 million to the Boys & Girls Club of Burbank and Greater East Valley to purchase a new clubhouse. Michael Cusumano and his brother Charles control Cusumano Real Estate Corp., a development and landlord company that is the largest owner of multifamily units in the Burbank area.
The Boys & Girls Club plans to buy the former Salvation Army building at 300 E. Angeleno Ave. for $5.3 million, after the board determined it would be more economical than building from the ground up. The club is currently in escrow with plans to move into the space in the first quarter of 2021.Thousands of layoffs are expected at AT&T’s WarnerMedia as the company prepares to restructure its workforce to cut operating costs by as much as 20 percent, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter. The wave of job cuts, the report said, will affect the Warner Bros. Studios subsidiary in Burbank as well as cable television channels HBO, TBS and TNT. “Like the rest of the entertainment industry, we have not been immune to the significant impact of the pandemic,” WarnerMedia said in a statement. “We shared with our employees recently that the organization will be restructured to respond to those changes. … It will involve increased investments in priority areas and, unfortunately, reductions in others.”GLENDALEGlendale restaurant operator Dine Brands Global Inc. announced that a subsidiary of Sun Holdings named Suncakes LLC has purchased 41 of its IHOP franchises. The IHOP restaurants are located in Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina. They were previously owned and operated by CFRA Holdings, which went into Chapter 11 earlier this year. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Dallas-based Sun Holdings is one of the largest franchise companies in the nation with more than 1,000 restaurants including locations of Burger King, Golden Corral, Arby’s and Popeyes.Glendale City Council passed an ordinance banning the sale of mylar balloons filled with helium or other lighter-than-air gases within city limits. According to the Glendale Water and Power utility website, helium mylar balloons cause several power outages in the city each year. Mylar, a crinkly, metallic polyester film, is highly conductive. If a balloon is released into the sky and gets tangled in a high-voltage power line, the material can cause a short circuit. The ordinance, which will take effect Nov. 30, still allows the sale of mylar balloons filled with air. Such balloons do not float and thus do not present a threat to power lines.
Ventura CountyCAMARILLOA hybrid-electric powered aircraft developed by Ampaire and launched from Camarillo Airport completed the longest flight to date for an airplane employing electric propulsion. The Oct. 8 flight piloted by Justin Gillen and Russell Newman took off from Camarillo and landed 2 ½ hours later at Hayward Executive Airport in the San Francisco area after flying up the Central Valley at 8,500 feet. The pair flew the Electric EEL, a six-seat Cessna 337 twin engine aircraft modified with an electric motor in the nose and a combustion engine in the rear. The milestone in electric aviation took place after four weeks of flight testing in the Camarillo area. In that time, the aircraft flew more than 30 hours during 23 flights in 28 days, the Hawthorne company said in a release.MOORPARKWestlake Village developer Daly Group Inc.
has received the go-ahead to construct High Street Depot in Moorpark. Moorpark City Council unanimously approved the project for the Moorpark Metrolink station-adjacent 226 High St. at an Oct. 7 special meeting, where commissioners found Daly Group President Vince Daly’s vision consistent with Moorpark’s general plan. “The next step is to go into construction drawings and engineering plans and move into construction,” said Daly Group chief Vince Daly. High Street Depot aims to revitalize High Street, a central commercial boulevard in Moorpark, with 79 housing units, 14,000 square feet of retail and restaurants while simultaneously paying tribute to the community’s history.
AROUND THE VALLEYS
