Jim Trammell, president of 5th Avenue Partners.

Downtown’s popularity as a growing residential community and tourist destination will be demonstrated in 2007 when not one, but two condominium hotels open eight blocks apart on Fifth Avenue, one at the south end of the Gaslamp Quarter and the other just north of the Gaslamp.

The Diegan, a 21-story tower, will offer 161 condominiums and 24 penthouses next to the House of Blues just north of Broadway. It will finish in fall 2007. Groundbreaking was held last month.

The Hard Rock Hotel San Diego, a 12-story building that will house 420 luxury rooms and suites south of Market Street at L Street, is expected to open in the spring of 2007.

The Diegan hotel, a development of 5th Avenue Partners in Orange County, is expected to open in fall 2007 next to the House of Blues on Fifth Avenue, just north of Broadway.

Developers of both projects claim firsts. 5th Avenue Partners of Orange County, developers of the Diegan, say it will be San Diego’s first-ever condo hotel. Tarsadia Hotels, a Newport Beach company developing the Hard Rock Hotel, say it will be the city’s first branded condo hotel.

Although these kinds of condos are new here, the concept has been around for several years. Condo hotels are flourishing in Florida and Europe. Buyers have the option of living in the units year-round, or living in them for part of the year and releasing them to hotel management for rental during the rest of the year.

Having two condo hotels in the same area doesn’t bother Lee Mullinax, principal of Vertical Properties Inc. which is handling sales and marketing for the Diegan. “They add more credibility to the concept,” he says. “This should legitimize the concept for a lot of people.”

Legitimization hardly seems necessary. Mullinax says 75 percent of the Diegan’s units have been sold already. Prices range from the high $300,000s to $4 million for the largest penthouse. The average price is about $500,000. Mullinax says he has reserved a unit for himself.

The Hard Rock Hotel San Diego is scheduled to open in spring 2007 at Fifth Avenue and L Street at the south end of the Gaslamp Quarter. Tarsadia Hotels of Newport Beach is the developer.

“We’re looking forward to raising the bar in San Diego for nightlife,” says Jim Trammell, president of 5th Avenue Partners, noting the Hard Rock Hotel’s “cool” amenities, a signature restaurant operated by NOBU and a lounge and sky bar by Rande Gerber. “Live like a rock star” is part of the hotel’s advertising campaign. The hotel also will house a spa and fitness center, state-of-the-art screening room, landscaped outdoor pool deck with private cabanas, a 7,000-square-foot music venue, retail boutiques fronting on Fifth Avenue and 40,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor banquet and meeting space. The condos will start in the $400,000s. The company is not publicly disclosing the high-end prices. Sales are being handled at 345 Sixth Ave.

The Diegan is being developed in conjunction with the House of Blues, which debuted earlier this year. The building will have two signature restaurants, a health spa, fitness center, pool and sky bar.

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Columbia Court, a four-story office building at 444 West C St., has been sold to Pacifica Cos., which intends to convert the 28,233-square-foot structure to office condos. The Busby Family Trust and the Shoemaker Family Trust sold the building for $6.3 million. Brokers Steve Rowland and Michael Roberts of Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial handled the transaction.

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Developers Ruben and Simon Andrews, who operate Hotel Mediterranean in East Village, reopened the Hotel Occidental at 410 Elm St. following a restoration. The hotel rooms are designed for short- and long-term guests with in-suite kitchenettes. Rooms are equipped with air conditioning, ceiling fans, wireless Internet, cable television and DVD players. Rooms start at $49 a night. Construction financing was through Security Business Bank. TSA Contracting Inc. provided the general contracting and the architecture was handled by James Schmidt Architecture. Fabrication Arts was responsible for sign fabricating. For more information, call (800) 205-9897 or visit hoteloccidental-sandiego.com.

The Downtown Relocations column features news on firms that are abandoning, embracing or expanding in the 92101 ZIP code. Send submissions to Manny Cruz, manny@sandiegometro.com.