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The News in Brief

Buck gets $1.5M grant

NOVATO – The Buck Institute for Age Research won a $1.5 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation to study the connection between aging and conditions such as Parkinson’s, cancer and osteoporosis.

The research will bring together several disciplines, including neuroscience, mitochondrial proteomics and bioenergetics to test the idea that aging underpins certain diseases.

“If our assumptions ... are correct, it opens up an opportunity to address the root cause of so many conditions,” said Julie Andersen, Ph.D. “It offers the real and tantalizing possibility that we could delay the onset of many debilitating diseases simply by delaying the aging process itself.”

She and Brad Gibson, Ph.D., will direct the research at the Novato institute.

The Keck Foundation, established in 1954 by the late founder of Superior Oil Co., focuses on pioneering efforts in the areas of medical research, science and engineering.

American TonerServ acquires iPrint of LA

SANTA ROSA – American TonerServ announced its intent to add iPrint in Los Angeles to its growing network of printer supplies and services companies.

The acquisition, following due diligence, will be the sixth for the Santa Rosa company, which is growing its business by consolidating small and mid-size independent operators in the recycled printer cartridge and printer services industry.

“We’re on the move,” said President and CEO Dan Brinker. “We have four [more acquisitions] under letter of intent, which we expect will pass through due diligence before the year is out.”

iPrint reported revenues of about $12 million for the last 12 months.

American TonerServ now serves more than 7,000 customers in more than 30 states and employs 90 nationwide, 12 at its headquarters. The acquired companies are left in place but with resources to expand their client base and the benefit of back-end business management services.

Novato center to get $7 million upgrade

NOVATO – The 40-year-old Pacheco Plaza neighborhood shopping center is set to get a $7 million overhaul starting next month to prepare the property for a new anchor tenant when the current anchor, a Safeway grocery store, relocates in late August to a development on the east side of the highway.

Over the next 17 months the 77,400-square-foot shopping center on Ignacio Boulevard will be getting a new roofline and a courtyard with a fountain for community events such as a farmer’s market, according to project manager Megan Gast with property owner Walter Kieckhefer Co. LLC. The center will remain open during construction.

“The center was built in the late 1960s and was well-maintained over the years,” she said of Walter Kieckhefer Sr.’s construction of the shopping center. “We wanted to give it an updated look. The architect came up with a design that will have lasting appeal.”

David Saunders of Daniel Macdonald Architects of Novato was the lead architect on the project. Nordby Construction of Santa Rosa is the general contractor.

Main Street Property Services of Lafayette is marketing the center to prospective anchor and supporting tenants. Though the ownership is looking to bring in upscale retailers such as a spa and restaurants, the goal will remain to have local services such as a shoe repair shop, according to Ms. Gast.

Safeway will become the anchor tenant at Grosvenor’s Hamilton Gateway retail center on Nave Drive on the east side of Highway 101.

Walter Kieckhefer Co. LLC has developed 1 million square feet of office and light-industrial space in Tempe, Ariz., since the mid-1980s.

Traverso’s to move

SANTA ROSA – Specialty grocer Traverso’s Gourmet Foods & Wine, which has been in downtown Santa Rosa locations for 73 years and in its current spot for 34 of them, is set to relocate to the Fountaingrove area of northeast Santa Rosa in January.

The Traverso family signed a lease to occupy a 4,000-square-foot store space in the Fountaingrove Village mixed-use development at 2055 Stagecoach Road.

A spokesman for the family owned Traverso’s said many of the store’s customers live in east Santa Rosa, Healdsburg and Windsor.

AIA awards scheduled

NORTH BAY – The AIA Redwood Empire Design Awards will feature a Friday Night Expo and Juror’s Lectures on Sept. 26 and the Design Awards Gala on Sept. 27. The awards recognize distinguished architects who have demonstrated commitment to the importance of design in Sonoma County and Northern California.

This program is held every other year and provides critical funding for the Redwood Empire chapter of the American Institute of Architects’ programs, publications and activities. For information on sponsorship or expo booth opportunities, contact Executive Director Wendy Young at 707-838-2672, or visit www.aiare.org.