San Rafael and Securities Fraud

San Rafael is arguably Marin’s business capital. It’s home to BioMarin (BMRN), a large employer, and it has a busy downtown with many successful small businesses.

Of late, the Mission City has seen interesting shifts in the business landscape. Autodesk left San Rafael for San Francisco last October. But a new 140 room hotel, AC Marriot, opens downtown in March.

Covid-19 impacted the downtown, with almost 100 businesses not renewing their business licenses in 2022. Besides generating revenue for the city, those licenses are intricate for the non-profit San Rafael Downtown Business Improvement District (SRBID), the business advocacy group representing merchants in the downtown area.

Some revenue from those business licenses flow to the SRBID. As a result of the challenging economy and the drop in business license renewals, the SBID is looking at a 25% decline in revenues.

The SRBID’s mission is to generate excitement about the downtown and hopefully foot traffic for businesses. It promotes the downtown and presents events such as the Hops and Vine Stroll in September and May Madness car show. It also advocates for area businesses and markets the downtown as a destination.

Faced with a decline in revenues, the SRBID is now looking at how it can increase revenues and cut costs.

In a different area of San Rafael, the owners of the Northgate Mall, Merlone Geir Partners, have seen the future and it doesn’t look like retail. Instead, Merlone has put a residential redevelopment project on the table called Northgate Town Square which includes 1,320 apartments built in two phases. The project has been greeted with a mixed bag of support. Housing advocates are cheered by the fact the proposed units would add to the mix that includes some affordable housing. But some residents see the proposed complex as too dense, too high (one building would be seven stories), lacking in green space and potentially causing traffic woes.

The redevelopment follows a swing and miss on Merlone’s first concept, a Costco big box retail warehouse with a gas station. Resident’s were adamant that the project was inappropriate for the old Sears space and Merlone wisely withdrew the concept.

The latest twist in the project’s saga is that Marin Municipal Water District said it will have adequate water supply for the complex. It would be located on 45 acres of land in the Terra Linda neighborhood currently occupied by a mall that includes 41 different stores and restaurants and anchored by Macy’s.

The design review commission has looked at the project and included revisions. The planning commission examined the project in December and suggested changes as well. Public hearings are set for 2023, and its clear the project’s final design is fluid.

Merlone has held almost 20 community meetings, attempting to walk the fine line between listening to feedback, and selling the project to residents. The San Francisco-based firm hired a Marin PR company, Lighthouse Public Affairs, to run interference. It appears Merlone is in the game for the long haul.

Your Marin Moment

Marin has always been home to smart business executives who not only add to the local economy, but sometimes cut a national profile. One of the downsides to having such prominence is you might begin to think you are smarter than other folks, or you won’t get caught.

Meet Novato resident Frank Glasser, CEO of Veritas Executive Compensation Consultant with offices in San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Washington DC. His own website bills him as the “nation’s top authority on executive compensation.”

But Frank is going to be taking some time off after being convicted of insider trading. He will serve one year and one day for profiting from Sanofi SA’s acquisition of Kadmon Holdings Inc. in 2021. He’ll also cough up $368,000 he made from trading on the inside information he picked up from his client Kadmon.

He faced up to 45 years in the federal slam on two counts of securities fraud, so the one-year sentence represents a huge break for the 68-year old Glassner. He begins serving his sentence in April.

While he was contrite before the court, saying his trading was “completely vile and reprehensible, and I shall punish myself for my actions every day until I die,” his website features a different tone. “Despite Frank’s successful track record, he remains humble. He hates talking about how he’s featured in basically every major publication. In fact, he begged us to nix this section altogether. It was only the Wall Street Journal. And Fortune. And Business Week. And Time Magazine… Basically, Frank Glassner is the stuff of legends — everything you’d hoped & dreamed an executive compensation consultant would be.”

Orange jumpsuits are the new business casual.