Lennar and Intergulf Development Group are developing Breeza, a 158-unit residential condo development at Pacific Highway and Ash Street in Little Italy. The project also will have retail space.

Intergulf Development Group has halted plans to build 360 residential condominiums and retail units on property a block south of San Diego City College — a move that gives the cramped college the chance to build a much-needed parking structure and vocational education classrooms as part of its master plan.

Intergulf had intended to build Citypoint on the block bounded by Broadway and 16th, 17th and C streets. It was to contain 360 condos for sale and 2,323 square feet of retail space. But before completing permit work on the project, the developer sold the property to the college. Damon Schamu, vice chancellor of facilities management for the San Diego Community College District, says the college acquired the property for just over $20 million in January. Public records show that Intergulf paid $14.9 million for the property in a transaction that closed in March 2005.

Laura Grow, marketing manager for Intergulf, says the land was sold to the college to help facilitate its future expansion plans. “Intergulf will not be developing this site,” she says. Sherm Harmer, president of Urban Housing Partners, says Intergulf gave way to the college’s need for more property. “Colleges are very powerful,” he says.

Despite its decision to sell the East Village property, Intergulf still has business Downtown. It is partnering with Lennar to develop Breeza, a three-building mixed-use development at Pacific Highway and Ash Street.

Parking — or the lack of it — long has been a problem at the 92-year-old City College, which has about 12,000 students in an urban landscape teeming with new housing developments. When Proposition S passed in 2002, providing $685 million to the San Diego Community College District, district officials decided to use some of the funds for a parking structure and additional classroom buildings at City College for its vocational nursing, cosmetology and photography programs.

“One of the reasons why the population (at City College) isn’t growing is the parking problem,” says Schamu. He says a multiple-story parking structure on the property acquired from Intergulf will provide space for between 800 and 1,000 vehicles.

Barry Garron, City College spokesman, says the parking structure and educational buildings on the former Citypoint site are expected to be completed in about three years.

The college also is looking to purchase property in an adjacent block — bounded by Broadway and 15th, 16th and C streets — for additional educational facilities five or six years away. Schamu says eight or nine property owners, including the owner of a 24-unit apartment building on C Street, have been contacted for negotiations. He says the owners have been invited to participate in the appraisal process on their properties and that the college district will pay relocation expenses for current tenants of the apartment building.

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A priority list has been formed for Breeza, the condominium development under construction at the northeast corner of Pacific Highway and Ash Street in Little Italy. The project consists of 158 condos, 283 parking spaces and 7,100 square feet of retail space. The developers plan to restore the historic Parron Hall building’s first floor into Breeza’s community and fitness room while the other floors will be converted into and sold as live/work lofts. An early 2008 completion date is expected. Condo units are priced between the mid-$300,000s to $1.8 million. Prospective buyers can register online at breezaliving.com or call (619) 234-8736.

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Barbara Kaiser, former redevelopment bureau manager for the city of Long Beach Community Development Department and a San Diego native, has been hired as v.p. of real estate operations for Centre City Development Corp. She replaces Janice Weinrick, who went to work for The Olson Co. in January. “CCDC will benefit from her in-depth knowledge of the complexities of urban redevelopment and her many years of experience overseeing a successful program in Long Beach,” says Nancy Graham, CCDC president.

Kaiser has held previous positions with the city of Huntington Beach, where she was the deputy city administrator; and the city of Los Angeles, where she was a project manager in the Community Redevelopment Agency. “I’m excited to be joining CCDC at a time when so many pivotal projects are under way,” says Kaiser. “It’s also great to be coming back to my hometown.”

Kaiser holds a bachelor’s degree from SDSU and a master’s degree in public administration from the Consortium of California State Universities and Colleges.

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Arvanni Properties LLC has purchased the entire retail portion of the Porta d’ Italia condo project, a two-building complex on the north and south sides of Grape Street between India and Columbia streets in Little Italy. Arvanni paid $4.8 million for the 10,720 square feet (6,232 square feet in the north building at Grape and India; 4,488 square feet in the south building at Grape and Columbia). The ground floor retail anchors both buildings, which house 184 residential units totaling 129,953 square feet.

The retail space is fully leased by 7-Eleven, DNA Furniture, San Diego Shore Corp., Chi Chocolate, Nibras N. Romaya (cigar sales) and the condo sales office.

Lin Martin and Danny Fitzgerald of Grubb & Ellis|BRE Commercial represented the seller, Porta D’ Italia LLC, which is a partnership between Lennar Communities and Centex Homes.

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