New CEO at AltaSea

By Karen Robes Meeks

San Pedro attorney Tim McOsker will lead AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles as chief executive officer. McOsker, who is expected to start on February 1, will be tasked with overseeing contracts, leases, land deals, and partnership negotiations related to the non-profit organization, which was established to revamp 35 acres in the oldest part of the port into “a center for ocean-oriented science research, STEM education and sustainable business creation.

“In 2017, AltaSea had a remarkable string of successes that built a powerful foundation for our next stage of development,” said AltaSea Board Chairman Camilla Townsend. “In 2018, with Tim as CEO, AltaSea will aggressively move forward on complicated issues such as signing additional tenants, finalizing major operating partnerships, taking control of additional parcels and beginning their development and remediation. Tim brings decades of hands-on experience in this kind of work and we’re thrilled that he has agreed to join AltaSea as CEO.”

McOsker, a San Pedro resident, is a partner at Glaser Weil Fink Howard Avchen & Shapiro LLP, where he co-chairs the Government and Regulatory Law Department. He served as chief of staff for former Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn and as his chief deputy city attorney. He represented AltaSea in 2017 when it renegotiated its lease with the port.

Cross-Pacific Swim

By Karen Robes Meeks

Ben Lecomte, the first person to swim across the Atlantic Ocean, will kick off a six-month attempt to traverse the Pacific Ocean on Sept. 16, at an open house at AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles.

Lecomte, who is doing the swim to bring the growing issues of plastic pollution into the spotlight, will be accompanied by a support team that will also collect data on the ocean’s condition and its effect on human and sea life for various research projects and major scientific organizations, including NASA.

One of the studies will track Lecomte’s swim as he follows the currents that have carried radioactive pollution from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant accident. He will wear a “RadBand” sampling device to measure its spread. Lecomte’s body will also be tested during the six-month swim to study the impacts of extreme exercise on his biome.

“We’re proud to support The Longest Swim, providing facilities and other resources for Ben’s team and ship as he prepares to bring worldwide attention to the plastics and other contaminants polluting our oceans,” said AltaSea Executive Director Jenny Krusoe. “His project is an example of what we’re building here, bringing together ocean-focused science, education and sustainable business incubation. We’re convening passionate, smart people and organizations dedicated to making our planet better. Ben’s project is a natural fit.”

After staying at AltaSea, Lecomte’s 67-foot support ship Discoverer and crew will begin its five-week journey to Tokyo, where Lecomte will launch into his spring swim to San Francisco.v “Now that I have children, it’s where my motivation is,” Lecomte said. “I’m using what I like to do and creating a platform that maybe can make a little difference. I’m swimming across the ocean to give attention to the problems facing our oceans, so that our kids can maybe have a better future.”

Lecomte will be at AltaSea’s quarterly open house, which starts at 10 a.m. Sept. 16 at AltaSea in Berth 58, 2456 S. Signal St. in San Pedro. The event is open to the public, but reservations are required. Email RSVP@altasea.org for more details.

AltaSea Project Receives $20 Million Donation

By Mark Edward Nero

AltaSea, an in-development marine research center at the Port of Los Angeles, will receive a $20 million gift from the Annenberg Foundation, the foundation’s president and CEO said Feb. 11 at an event to unveil designs for the project.

Wallis Annenberg, Chairman, President and CEO of the Annenberg Foundation, announced the contribution toward the development of AltaSea, a new public-private endeavor in the Port of LA that brings together science, business and education to generate solutions to the challenges of sustainability.

“The ocean may be the most precious public resource we have, a life source unlike any other on the planet,” Annenberg said. “AltaSea is about uniting business, academia, and our scientific community to turn the Port of LA’s public waterfront into the mecca for jobs, discovery and sustainability that it should be.”

AltaSea, now in its first phase of development, came to fruition in 2013 when the LA City Council approved a lease agreement to transform a pier on the Los Angeles waterfront in San Pedro into AltaSea.

Located on a 35-acre campus in the Port of Los Angeles, AltaSea is said to be the only urban, ocean-based ideas and innovation center in the world.

Planning and permitting for Phase One has begun, with construction expected to begin in 2017 and be complete by 2019. The total project budget is $217 million, with a goal of $160 million in private funding.

The 50-year master lease for the 35-acre site requires $53.25 million to be raised by the first quarter of 2017 for the port to begin construction and ensure occupancy by the end of 2019.

AltaSea Marine Research Center Appoints CEO

By Mark Edward Nero

AltaSea, a planned marine research center at the Port of Los Angeles, named environmental social entrepreneur and business leader Rachel Etherington its first chief executive officer on March 3.

The AltaSea facility, to be located at the site of a 10-year-old site at the Port of LA, involves about 35 acres of land and water at the port’s City Dock No. 1 site, Berths 56-60 and Berths 70-71.

In addition to the urban marine research center, the campus will house a business incubator and educational facility. It’s being developed through a public-private partnership that includes AltaSea, the Port of Los Angeles and several regional public and private universities.

The planned AltaSea campus is slated to feature circulating seawater labs, classrooms, lecture halls, support facilities, an interpretive center, a facility for marine-related commercial ventures, offices and development of the world’s largest seawater wave tank for studying tsunamis and rogue waves.

“AltaSea is a vision that must be built from the ground up, so we were searching for someone with strong leadership and development experience, business expertise, a global perspective, and most importantly, a passion for the environment and ocean,” Brad Jones, founding partner of Redpoint Ventures and a member of the AltaSea Advisory Committee and its CEO search committee, said. “We found that unique combination of skills and qualities in Rachel Etherington.”

Before officially taking the helm at AltaSea on April 1, Etherington will transition out of her duties as managing director of the BLUE Marine Foundation in the United Kingdom, a global foundation dedicated to ocean protection and preservation through public-private partnerships, public policy and awareness building campaigns.

Prior to her work with the BLUE Marine Foundation, Etherington founded and directed Fauna & Flora International Australia, one of the world’s oldest international conservation organizations.

“AltaSea represents a unique opportunity for a heavily urbanized city like Los Angeles to help lead and solve some of the most pressing global sustainability issues of our time,” Etherington said in a statement.

The entire project cost is estimated at more than $500 million, with completion over a 15- to 20-year timeframe. Funding commitments for Phase 1 of the project currently total $82 million, including $57 million in site-related capital investments by the port and a $25 million gift by the Annenberg Foundation. The first phase is estimated to cost $185 million and be complete in 2019.

Marine Research Campus Planned for Port of LA

The Los Angeles City Council on Dec. 17 unanimously approved a 50-year lease to transform a 100-year-old pier on the LA waterfront into an urban marine research and innovation center dubbed AltaSea.

The lease agreement – signed between the Port of Los Angeles and the AltaSea project’s fiscal sponsor, the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors – involves about 35 acres of land and water at the port’s City Dock No. 1 site, Berths 56-60 and Berths 70-71.

The AltaSea site will be developed through a public-private partnership that includes the port, AltaSea and regional public and private universities. Funding commitments for the project’s first phase currently total $82 million, including $57 million in site-related capital investments by the port and a $25 million gift by the Annenberg Foundation. Phase 1 is currently estimated to cost $185 million with a 2018 completion goal.

For the first phase of the project – berths 56 and 57 – the port has agreed to make improvements to the wharf and subsurfaces to ready the property for development. AltaSea is responsible for upgrading the existing historic warehouse structures, as well as other improvements and facility operations.

“AltaSea is a game changer not only for the Los Angeles waterfront but for the entire region,” LA Harbor Commissioner Anthony Pirozzi remarked, saying that the project provides “a unique opportunity to diversify the job base along the Los Angeles waterfront” via a world-class marine research institute that that he predicted would become an “economic engine” for the region.

The AltaSea campus is planned to feature circulating seawater labs, offices, classrooms, lecture halls, support facilities, an interpretive center, a facility for marine-related commercial ventures, and development of a seawater wave tank for studying tsunamis and rogue waves.

The entire project cost is estimated at more than $500 million with completion over a 15- to 20-year timeframe.

Port of LA Launches Urban Marine Research Center Project

Port of Los Angeles officials, LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, philanthropic leaders, marine scientists, students and community members were on hand June 17 for the official unveiling of a plan to transform a 100-year-old pier on the LA waterfront into a world-class urban marine research and innovation center.

At the event, officials announced that the 28-acre site currently known as City Dock No. 1 will be developed into the “AltaSea” urban marine center through a public-private partnership between the port, the non-profit Annenberg Foundation and a host of regional public and private universities.

The facility is planned to feature circulating sea-water labs, offices, classrooms, lecture halls, support facilities, an interpretive center, and the development of the world’s largest seawater wave tank for studying tsunamis and rogue waves.

“At the edge of the largest urban area in the western U.S., the AltaSea research campus is part of a grander vision for the Port of Los Angeles,” POLA Executive Director Geraldine Knatz said. “We will continue our growth and expansion as America’s leading trade gateway and at the same time facilitate some of the most innovative and collaborative marine research and solutions possible.”

About $57 million in funding commitments for the project’s first phase already have already been tallied, including $32 million in site-related capital investments by the Port of LA and a $25 million gift by the Annenberg Foundation to get the project underway. Phase 1 is currently estimated to cost $155 million, with a 2018 completion goal.

The anchor tenant of Phase 1 will be the Southern California Marine Institute, a strategic alliance of 11 major Southern California universities that have marine science academic and research programs.

The entire project cost is estimated at more than $500 million with completion over a 15- to 20-year timeframe.

“AltaSea will position the City of Los Angeles as the premier location for addressing ocean-related environmental issues that are not only important to Southern California, but to the world,” Villaraigosa said.

Regarding the planned facility’s name, Daniel Pondella, Director of the Southern California Marine Institute and Chair of Biology at Occidental College, explained its origin.

“From its Latin root, Alta means high, deep, noble and profound,” he said. “Our goal is to forge deep and profound partnerships on every level and engage the entire Los Angeles community – from government agencies to university researchers, to science educators and industry leaders – in marine research that will transform the future.”

Phase 1 is expected to create an estimated 1,087 construction jobs, according to the port, with Phase 2 providing an additional 4,161 construction jobs.