Jimmy Parker has been the executive director of the Gaslamp Quarter Association since 2004.

The leasehold of the 129-room Kona Kai Resort on Shelter Island has reportedly been transferred to a Noble House & Resorts entity known as Westgroup Kona Kai LLC.

The Uptown District shopping center in Hillcrest has been sold for $81.1 million to a unit of Regency Centers Corp., as part of a four-asset, $188.5 million transaction.

The new owners of Belmont Park in Mission Beach are meeting with residents, planning groups and associations to get a sense of what the community would like to see at the entertainment center.

Cecelia Moreno is the owner of Crest Cafe in Hillcrest.

In 2005, Ricardo Lopez walked away from the corporate world and bought a small business.

Big changes came to the local health, hospitality and education sectors in 2012. While the health care industry works out how to adapt to reforms outlined in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the hotel industry saw a number of acquisitions and a local attraction made national news. Here are some of The Daily Transcript’s top health, hospitality and education stories of 2012.

For Tom Garfinkel, president and chief executive for the San Diego Padres, 2012 was a year that could have made certain men lose faith.

Anthony Pico has spent 26 of the last 30 years as chairman of the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians.

Despite a national economy that remains sluggish, the hotel industry in San Diego is picking up. That’s good news for hotel management company RA Rauch & Associates.

The owner of Donovan’s Steak & Chop House has a long history of success in the restaurant industry.

San Diego County is only expected to see 478 hotel rooms come online in 2013, but the figure is projected to jump to about 1,000 in 2014 and as many as 2,000 rooms in 2015.

Construction is set to begin early next year on an 83-acre mixed-use development that will transform the junction of Rancho Santa Fe Road and La Costa Avenue from dirt into a walkable Carlsbad neighborhood.

While the U.S. economy continues its anemic recovery, the travel and hospitality industry has enjoyed more robust growth. In San Diego, the sector continued to show modest improvement in the second half of 2012, but industry experts anticipate slower growth in 2013.

The San Diego office of HFF says it has brokered the sale of the 41-room Golden Door Spa along with its 377 acres in San Marcos for a reported $24.8 million.

A report released Wednesday by the San Diego Association of Governments indicated that 13 local specialized industry clusters are powering the regional economy.

Hospitality and lifestyle public relations and marketing firm JLK Marketing + Communications has added ALCHEMY ARTS CENTER – Spa, Wellness Café to its list of lifestyle clients, where the agency will provide PR and media relations services to this retreat located in Santa Barbara.