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Arrested Development

BAJA’S REAL-ESTATE MARKET, booming until last year’s sub-prime fallout and rising crime fears, has showed signs of slowing. Even the descendant owners of Hussong’s legendary Ensenada cantina are feeling the pinch. Walter Hussong, 71, and John Hussong, 63, have opted to wait until spring to break ground on their $450 million Porto Hussong luxury development——five towers of high-rise condos, a boutique hotel, megayacht marina and yacht club and high-end shopping village.

Not that the seemingly carefree brothers appear to mind. “My family has lived in Ensenada for 100 years,” says John, “so we can wait to do this right.”

The project, by Meridian Development Group, will rise from a prized, if rustic, 16-acre property along the waters of Todos Santos Bay, a few miles north of Ensenada. For years, the acreage has been home to Quintas Papagayo, a loose collection of modest, 1940s-vintage rental cottages, two tired tennis courts and lots of unpaved Baja dirt and brush.

Both Porto Hussong and another equally lush Baja complex, Trump Ocean Resort, ballyhooed their launches in late 2006——gaudy symbols of Baja’s surge in upscale real-estate offerings. Lately, however, sales have trailed off.

Before heading out for an afternoon margarita, Walter shrugged off Porto Hussong’s delay. “It’s been our dream for 40 years to make Ensenada a world-class destination,” he says. “It’s gonna take longer than we thought. But we’re better off waiting.”
——JOHN FREEMAN

If You Row It, They Will Watch

IT’S A FIELD OF DREAMS on the bay,” says Gerry Widmer, president of the San Diego Crew Classic, describing America’s premier spring regatta and the official season kick-off event pitting the best eight-oared shells in the world. Stanford men’s varsity eights champ attempts to hold on to the coveted Copley Cup next month (April 5 and 6), when the team goes oar-to-oar on Mission Bay with eastern powerhouses Princeton, Yale, Harvard and Penn, as well as western neighbors from the top 10 collegiate crews in the country.

“The winner of the Copley Cup has always ended the season as one of the top-ranked teams, and this year they will be competing against the very best,” says David Copley, San Diego Union-Tribune publisher and San Diego Crew Foundation trustee. “With all of the top crews coming to San Diego, rowing fans are in for a great weekend of racing.” Celebrating its 35th anniversary, the Crew Classic started as a homegrown effort by two local rowing clubs and now draws more than 100 clubs, universities and colleges from across the country.

The USC women’s crew, the 2007 Jessop-Whittier Cup winner and one of the PAC 10’s strongest teams, also returns to defend its title. More than 4,000 athletes, ranging in age from 14 to 74, compete in junior, collegiate and masters races throughout the two days. Races and other festivities, including Sunday brunch, start at 7 a.m. and continue throughout the afternoon on both days. 619-225-0300; crewclassic.org.
——JOAN HEALY

Most Likely to Be a Laureate

SIX SAN DIEGO and Tijuana area high school students who have distinguished themselves through community service and academics are being honored alongside internationally acclaimed scientists and artists at the seventh Kyoto Laureate Symposium, March 12-14. The opening gala at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina is the official kickoff to celebrate this year’s Kyoto Prize laureates and those most likely to follow in their footsteps——local students who will join the laureates on stage as recipients of the 2008-2009 Kyoto Scholarships. Each student receives a college scholarship of up to $10,000.

“The symposium gives San Diegans the rare opportunity to experience the world’s great thinkers and creative masters,” says Kyoto board member Robert Horsman, president and CEO of San Diego National Bank.

The public is invited to presentations by the laureates, who have earned accolades in their fields and for their humanitarian work. Japanese chemist Dr. Hiroo Inokuchi’s extensive work with organic molecular electronics has impacted products and technology from wireless phones to television, solar cells to high-end robotics. U.S. geophysicist Dr. Hiroo Kanamori has ushered in a new era in seismology, creating early-warning systems that protect lives from earthquakes and tsunamis. German choreographer and artistic director Pina Bausch, director of Tanztheater Wuppertal, has opened a new dimension in theatrical arts, transcending the conventional domains of dance and theater.

For more information and a schedule of events, visit kyotoprize.org or call 619-235-4542.
——JOAN HEALY

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