San Fernando ValleyBURBANKWalt Disney Co. plans to lay off about 32,000 employees in the coming months – 4,000 more than previously announced – due to government ordered lockdowns, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Burbank entertainment and media giant said the staffing cuts will come primarily from its Parks, Experiences and Products division. “Additionally, as of Oct. 3, 2020, approximately 37,000 employees who are not scheduled for employment termination were on furlough as a result of COVID-19’s impact on our businesses,” the company’s annual filing said. The Disney parks in California have remained closed since March, while the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida has been open since the summer on a limited attendance basis. Theme parks in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo have also been open since the summer but the Paris theme park was forced to close again in late October when the French government imposed a new lockdown. Disney cruise ships have suspended operations since March as well. The company employed approximately 203,000 people as of Oct. 3, with about 155,000 of those in the Parks, Experiences and Products segment, according to the SEC filing.NORTH HOLLYWOODPlans filed with Los Angeles Planning Department indicate Agoura Hills-based Napa Industries wants to redevelop a 30,000 square feet property located at the northwest corner of Lankershim Boulevard and Hesby Street into a seven-story, 171-suite hotel. Designed by the firm AXIS/GFA, the contemporary complex, which would rise at 5057 Lankershim Blvd. on a site that currently has two small commercial buildings, will also contain 9,350 square feet of ground-floor retail, a restaurant and an 89-car semi-subterranean parking garage. Napa Industries, which is based at 5330 Derry Ave., is requesting the demolition of the two commercial buildings and surface parking lots for construction of the hotel. The developer is requesting a series of discretionary entitlements from the city, including a general plan amendment, zone change, and conditional use permit for alcohol sales.SYLMARA 200-unit affordable housing complex in Sylmar has sold for $29.4 million, or $147,000 per unit. Built in 1964 and renovated in 1999, Mountain View Manor covers more than 4 acres at 12960 Dronfield Ave. and offers a mix of studio, 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom units averaging 768 square feet. The property includes six buildings, two common areas, three laundry facilities and two swimming pools. Compass Commercial Senior Vice President Shaya Braverman and Compass associate Brendan Brown represented buyer Positive Investment and seller 21 Alpha Group in an off-market transaction.UNIVERSAL CITYUniversal Studios will open its newest theme park attraction early next year at its Japanese park. Super Nintendo World is scheduled to open Feb. 4 at Universal Studios Japan and is based on video games from the Kyoto-based game developer. The theme park operator, a unit of NBCUniversal in Universal City, has invested $578 million into the project. According to a story from Bloomberg, one of the first attractions will be a Mario Kart ride inside a re-creation of Bowser’s Castle. Universal Studios had plans to open a similar video game-themed area at its Florida theme park, but those were put on hold.
Santa Clarita ValleySANTA CLARITAPrincess Cruises announced it will extend its pause on cruising activity through March 31. The extension follows the release of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “framework for conditional sailing order,” which replaced the Centers’ No Sail Order at the beginning of November. The framework allows cruise lines to phase in operations at different speeds based on their success at implementing public health and safety measures. That includes testing crew; simulating voyages to test the operator’s ability to mitigate COVID-19 risks onboard; and achieving certifications for ships. Princess, a subsidiary of Carnival Corp., said pausing until March 31 will give the company enough time to complete those requirements. Also, Princess cancelled all cruises longer than seven days that sail in or out of any U.S. port through Nov. 1 of next year – an effort to keep compliant with the CDC’s seven-day cap on itineraries that include U.S. ports. Princess added it has extended its pause for cruises departing and arriving in Japan through June 25, citing uncertainty about international travel restrictions.Officials from the city of Santa Clarita and the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corp. announced 149 local small businesses have been approved for COVID-19 relief grants of up to $5,000. The grants come through the Santa Clarita Small Business COVID Relief Grant program, run jointly by the city and economic development organization using funding allocated by the federal government’s CARES Act. It will give about $500,000 of the $2.74 million earmarked by the city of Santa Clarita for small business relief efforts. Businesses with fewer than 100 employees were eligible to apply.
Ventura CountyCAMARILLOSaalex Solutions supported the first fully operational mission for Space X and its Crew Dragon spacecraft that docked last month at the International Space Station. The federal services division of Saalex Corp. made available its Expendable Launch Vehicle Integrated Support 3 (ELVIS 3) team to provide engineering, programmatic and technical support for the mission. The launch on Nov. 15 marked the first time the Dragon spacecraft named Resilience carried four astronauts to the space station, where it docked the following day. A previous test launch in May carried two astronauts to the station.Digital advertising company Trade Desk, based in Ventura, is partnering with California State University – Channel Islands to apply its data science platform to the education field. Trade Desk’s platform, originally built to help digital ad buyers find the perfect target for their marketing efforts, will identify and address disparities in education at the Camarillo school, CSUCI said. Data show students involved in peer mentorship programs stay in school and graduate on time, CSUCI said in a statement. In response, Trade Desk’s philanthropic arm, the Jeff Green Family Foundation, made a $250,000 donation to bolster the university’s peer mentorship programs. The foundation is named after Trade Desk’s co-founder and chief executive. Another $250,000 donation was made by the Jeff Green Family Foundation for a tiered scholarship; recipients get increased amounts of funding each year they remain in college, CSUCI said.THOUSAND OAKSAmgen Inc.’s drug Otezla will appear in a COVID-19 clinical trial as part of testing efforts by the COVID R&D Alliance consortium of companies. The “Community” trial will use Otezla in combination with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.’s lanadelumab and zilucoplan by Belgian company UCB Pharmaceuticals to treat uncontrolled vascular and immune inflammatory responses in COVID-19 patients. Otezla was originally developed to treat psoriasis. “We hope to find options that could potentially save lives of the patients who will need treatments for COVID-19 before widespread availability of a vaccine,” Dr. David Reese, vice president of research and development at Amgen, said in a statement. The Community trial will test COVID patients in the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and other countries.
Teledyne CARIS, a subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies Inc., has received “significant funding” from Canada’s Ocean Supercluster to develop a software system for remote underwater surveying and mapping. The supercluster is an industry organization to drive ocean-based economic growth in Canada. Teledyne CARIS has partnered with Ocean Floor Geophysics in British Columbia to develop capabilities that will facilitate autonomous vehicle mapping of the ocean floor and provide access to that data on desktop computers anywhere. “We are excited to continue innovating in support of remote operations through the design and execution of the CARIS Cloud Program,” Andy Hoggarth, vice president of sales and marketing at Teledyne CARIS, said in a statement.
AROUND THE VALLEYS
