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LA JOLLA’S PREFERRED SOURCE FOR LOCAL NEWS
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2010
San Diego Community Newspaper Group
DRE#01197544
www.SDNEWS.com Volume 16, Number 1
Sale of La Valencia could be a ‘win-win’ After drop in market value, ‘Pink Lady’ is under new management BY CLAIRE HARLIN | VILLAGE NEWS Its prominent pink color and towering terraces make La Jolla’s “Pink Lady” — otherwise known to visitors as the La Valencia Hotel — both an architectural icon and historical landmark. Considering the hotel’s recent
change of control, word around town is that those truths will remain unchanged. Pacifica Host Hotels, a San Diegobased company, announced Monday it has firmed up the option of purchasing La Valencia, and the developer has already assumed
management of the property. Spokespeople for both Pacifica and La Valencia, which has been owned by the Collins family for 65 years, decline to comment about the deal. But local hotelier Robert Rauch estimates the hotel’s price tag is about $40 million — a significant drop from the hotel’s 2008 estimated values, which range between $80 and $100 million. Built in 1926, La Valencia sits atop La Jolla Cove in the heart of down-
town and has been dubbed a “Hollywood hideaway” for some of the nation’s most elite celebrities. Pacifica Host Hotels owns more than 30 properties in five states, most of which are brand names such as Holiday Inn, Wyndham, Crowne Plaza and Hilton. Preserving the historic charm of the building while staying afloat in a suffering hotel industry will be no challenge for Pacifica, said Rauch, who is head of R.A. Rauch and Associates, La Valencia Hotel, commonly known as the “Pink Lady of La Jolla,” is under new
SEE VALENCIA, Page 4 management.
DON BALCH | Village News
Local Marine helps nab Somali pirates La Jollan led rescue mission that freed crew of German ship BY CLAIRE HARLIN | VILLAGE NEWS
Elizabeth Jackson and Dr. Richard Woodcock are residents of Vi at La Jolla Village retirement community. In August 2009, the couple exchanged marriage vows in the Vi gardens. PAUL HANSEN | Village News
Not your great-grandparents’ retirement Today’s seniors are more active than ever — really, really active BY JENNA FRAZIER | VILLAGE NEWS “You think you’re going to have a lot of spare time, but I’m busier now than I’ve ever been,” said Elizabeth Jackson, 89, a resident of Vi at La Jolla Village retirement community — formerly known as the Classic Residence by Hyatt. Jackson, a former medical researcher who has recently become involved in financial investing, is SEE RETIRE, Page 2
Loren Gardner and his wife of 56 years, Julie, have taken up snowboarding and hit the slopes several times a year. PAUL HANSEN | Village News
When Jackie Martin heard the words “pirates captured” on the earlymorning news Sept. 8 as she was getting ready for work, her heart sank. “I just froze and listened,” said the mother of 28-year-old Alexander Martin, a platoon commander from Camp Pendleton who has been on a pirate-hunting mission in the Gulf of Aden for 13 months. “Then I Capt. Alexander Martin. heard ‘USS Dubuque’ and my heart sank again, and I went cold until I heard there were no casualties.” Jackie was getting news that her son was the lead captain of a boat that came to the rescue of a pirate-seized ship in the treacherous high seas — a fiction-like story that’s put U.S. forces in the national spotlight for the past week. The story began when the German ship Magellan Star reported that it had been captured by Somali pirates about 85 miles off the Yemen coast. The USS Dubuque was ordered to the scene, and members of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Group scaled the ship by ladder, forcing the pirates’ surrender. Martin, who has served three tours in Iraq, was chosen to give a one-time press conference from overseas Sept. 9 and his account has been circulating in national headlines ever since. “As soon as the first stack of [Marines] made our way SEE MARINE, Page 6