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Ala Moana Center’s $573M redevelopment in pictures

December 20, 2014 By Mark G. Howard Leave a Comment

Ala Moana Center, Hawaii’s largest shopping mall, is undergoing one of its biggest transformations in its more than 50-year history, which includes adding about 340,000 square feet of new retail space in the former Sears space.

The new Ewa wing will include between 65 and 75 new stores, including Hawaii’s first Bloomingdale’s department store and Nordstrom, which is being relocated from the other end of the mall.

A senior director of development for Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP), the owner of Ala Moana Center, recently said at an industry event in Honolulu that the completion of the $573.2 million redevelopment is anticipated for November 2015.

The Ewa wing also will include a $1 billion luxury residential development called Park Lane Ala Moana, which is being developed by Honolulu’s The MacNaughtonn Group and Kobayashi Group, as well as local investment firm BlackSand Capital and GGP.

The seven eight-story buildings, which will include 215 total units, are expected to be done by 2016.

Duane Shimogawa Reporter – Pacific Business News

Filed Under: Ala Moana - Kakaako, Commercial Real Estate, Featured Blog Tagged With: Ala Moana Shopping Center, General Growth Properties

Ala Moana area’s future: Wider sidewalks, bike paths and a train station

September 13, 2014 By idx guys Leave a Comment

Ala Moana residents got a look Wednesday evening at the Transit Oriented Development plan that the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting has crafted for the area.

Ala Moana residents got a look Wednesday evening at the Transit Oriented Development plan that the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting has crafted for the area.

Around 150 people got a look Wednesday evening at what the neighborhood around Ala Moana Center could look like years into the future, as Honolulu’s Department of Planning and Permitting showcased its rail-inspired transit oriented development plan for the neighborhood.

Speaking to the crowd at Washington Middle School. Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said that he likes to refer to the plans as “transit enhanced development,” and said that input on the plans from residents around the 21 stations on the city’s 20-mile rail transit route is crucial.

“It needs to to be organic,” he said. “It needs to be from the ground up.”

The Department of Planning and Permitting is creating TOD plans for most of the neighborhoods surrounding the 21 stations along the route of the $5.16 billion rail project, slated for completion in 2019.

Ala Moana Center will be the first or the last stop on the route.

The plan divides the Ala Moana area into six districts — Ala Moana Center, Kapiolani Corridor, the Hawaii Convention Center Keeaumoku, Kaheka and Atkinson. The plan features open space, a community pool, community gardens, wider sidewalks, bike paths, and a mix of commercial and residential space, including a stipulation that would require residential developers to designate a certain number of apartments as affordable housing.

“The plan is intended as both an overall framework for growth and a guide for local decision making around the station,” the DPP says. “It is conceptual in nature, showing possible improvements on both public and private property. To ensure positive change in the station area, it is essential that stakeholders work together on future projects.”

Next up — the Honolulu City Council needs to adopt the plan as well as special district zoning regulars. The department then wants to find incentives and money from the city, state and federal governments, and partner with property owners are are interested in using the plan as a guide for redevelopment.

Bill Cresenzo Reporter – Pacific Business News

Filed Under: Ala Moana - Kakaako, Featured Blog, Transit Oriented Development

Three condo towers, 900 units, in first phase of Howard Hughes Corp.’s Ward master plan

May 25, 2013 By idx guys Leave a Comment

May 21, 2013, 9:44am HST Updated: May 21, 2013, 1:50pm HST
Duane Shimogawa  |  Reporter- Pacific Business News

The Howard Hughes Corp. plans to add more than 900 residential units in two market-rate condominium towers and one mostly affordable residential tower as part of the first phase of its Ward Village master plan in Honolulu’s Kakaako neighborhood.

This rendering shows The Howard Hughes Corp.'s planned market-rate condominium towers, which located diagonally across the street from each other at the corner of Auahi and Kamakee streets, part of the developer's Ward Village master-planned community.

This rendering shows The Howard Hughes Corp.’s planned market-rate condominium towers, which located diagonally across the street from each other at the corner of Auahi and Kamakee streets, part of the developer’s Ward Village master-planned community.

David Striph, senior vice president of Hawaii for Dallas-based Howard Hughes Corp. (NYSE: HHC) said Tuesday that the developer is in the process of renovating the iconic IBM Building into a new information center and sales gallery as part of its first phase of the 60-acre urban master planned community that would eventually double the retail, dining and entertainment space in Kakaako.

Ninety percent of the units in a 415-unit tower planned for 404 Ward Ave., which would include commercial space and parking, would be affordable, with the rest market rate.

Nick Vanderboom, senior vice president of development for The Howard Hughes Corp., said that the two market rate towers — one planned for a surface parking lot across from the Consolidated Theatres Ward Stadium 16 and the other at the current Pier 1 Imports location diagonally across the street — will have a total of 500 units. Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR) will be relocated to another spot to accommodate the tower.

Vanderboom said that one tower will have 300 units and the other will have 200 units, but the price ranges for both are still being worked out.

Visit www.KakaakoProperties.com for more Kaka’ako information

The plan is to build the out the first phase concurrently with the affordable tower being the first application submitted to the Hawaii Community Development Authority. A hearing for the project is scheduled for next month.

Vanderboom says he expects that it will submit applications for the other projects some time this summer.

Groundbreaking for the first phase is scheduled for early next year with an expected finish date in early 2016, he said.

Howard Hughes Corp. has selected architects for the first phase, including an unidentified local firm, but has yet to choose general contractors for the first phase, Vanderboom said.

This first phase is expected to have an economic impact of $1.25 billion, create 9,000 direct and indirect jobs and add more than 1.5 million square feet as well as more than 900 residential units to Kakaako, which is being called “The Third City.”

Howard Hughes Corp. said that it has gone beyond many of the requirements for development under the master plan approved by the HCDA, noting that the towers in the first phase will have a mauka-makai orientation, which will showcase the views for residents while preserving the skyline for others.

The company also plans to build more than three times the required affordable housing in the first phase and new buildings along Ala Moana Boulevard will be set back to create a “greenbelt lined with townhouses.”

Ward’s approved master plan allows for up to 9.3 million total square feet of mixed-use development, including more than 4,000 residential units and about 1.5 million square feet of retail and other commercial space, said David Weinreb, CEO of Howard Hughes, in a letter to shareholders in March.

He noted that Ward Village has development rights for 22 high-rise towers in an urban master-planned community setting. Ward Village’s transformation is scheduled to happen throughout the next decade.

Visit www.KakaakoProperties.com for more Kaka’ako information

Filed Under: Ala Moana - Kakaako, Featured Blog, Howard Hughes Corp, Kakaako, Luxury Condos for sale, Luxury real estate, luxury real estate Oahu, New Condos for sale Tagged With: Howard Hughes Corp, Kakaako, new condo construction, new construction

California developer Franco Mola plans to build workforce housing in Kakaako

April 3, 2013 By idx guys Leave a Comment

Duane Shimogawa  |  Reporter- Pacific Business News
Apr 2, 2013, 1:54pm HST

A California-based real estate developer is planning to demolish several existing single-story industrial buildings and develop a 20-story, 217-unit workforce housing condominium project with ground-floor retail space in the Kakaako neighborhood in Honolulu.

The property, at 803 Waimanu St., encompasses a little more than 21,000 square feet.

It was once on the market for $4.8 million, according to the commercial real estate property website LoopNet.

The planned project also includes parking for 245 vehicles.

According to the plans, there will be no amenities and the ground floor may include a convenience store such as a 7-Eleven.

“It seems like these types of projects are catching on,” Hawaii Community Development Authority Director of Planning and Development Deekpak Neupane told PBN. “I think as far as affordable housing goes, it’s a good project.”

It will include studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. Neupane says that a two-bedroom unit would go for about $350,000.

Construction is slated to begin in the first quarter of next year and be done in 24 months.

The HCDA has scheduled a public hearing at which the developer, Franco Mola’s MJF Development Corp., will present its plans on May 1 with decision-making scheduled for June 5.

MJF Development could not be reached for comment.

Mola is no stranger to the Hawaii market, as he once had plans to redevelop the former Honolulu Advertiser property on Kapiolani Boulevard into a two-tower commercial and residential complex, which is now a project headed up by Hawaii developer Marshall Hung.

Kakaako Properties For Sale

Filed Under: Ala Moana - Kakaako, Condos for sale Oahu, Kakaako, Pacific Business News Tagged With: condos for sale, Kakaako, new condo construction, New Condos

Howard Hughes Corp. expects to make $66M profit from luxury Hawaii condo ONE Ala Moana

March 5, 2013 By idx guys Leave a Comment

One_Ala_Moana_View-12-Nordstrom-01_press

Howard Hughes Corp. CEO David Weinreb told shareholders Tuesday that the developer expects to make a profit of $66 million from the ultra-luxury ONE Ala Moana condominium tower being built next to Nordstrom at Ala Moana Center, seen in this rendering.

Howard Hughes Corp. expects to make $66M profit from luxury Hawaii condo ONE Ala Moana

Janis L. Magin Managing Editor of Digital Content- Pacific Business News
Mar 5, 2013, 12:57pm HST

The Howard Hughes Corp. expects to make a profit of $66 million from the ONE Ala Moana ultra-luxury condominium tower under construction behind Hawaii’s Ala Moana Center shopping mall, the developer’s CEO told shareholders on Tuesday.

Howard Hughes Corp. (NYSE: HHC) CEO David Weinreb said in a letter to shareholders that the units at the building, which is being developed in a partnership with Hawaii developers the Kobayashi Group and The MacNaughton Group, sold out for an average of $1,170 per square foot.

The cost of the project, including the value of Howard Hughes’ air rights, is about $900 per square foot, which means the developer expects to make a profit of $66 million, Weinreb said.

Mark Zuckerberg, founder, chairman and CEO of Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB), is reportedly one of the buyers of several multimillion-dollar units in the 23-story ONE Ala Moana project, which is being built atop a parking garage adjacent to the Nordstrom department store.

Weinreb also told shareholders that he expects condo units in Howard Hughes’ Ward Village master plan will command premium prices, based on resale values of another ocean-view condo in Honolulu’s Kakaako neighborhood.

The company expects Ward Village to “capture premiums” in the same way buyers have paid premium prices to live in the company’s Summerlin development near Las Vegas or The Woodlands near Houston.

Weinreb noted that the Ward properties it had acquired from General Growth Properties (NYSE: GGP) generate about $23 million a year in net operating income. Howard Hughes has plans to build about 500 market-rate units and at least 125 work-force units as part of the Ward Village master plan.

“While we have not yet determined pricing for our first phase towers, market data suggest that comparable existing ‘front row’ product with unobstructed ocean views resold in 2012 at an average price of approximately $1,400 per square foot,” Weinreb wrote. “Hokua, which is the condominium tower adjacent to Ward, resells at the highest average price per foot of any condominium tower in Honolulu, approximately $1,400 per square foot.”

Hokua was also developed by a partnership of the Kobayashi Group and The MacNaughton Group, along with A&B properties, the real estate arm of Alexander & Baldwin Inc. (NYSE: ALEX).

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Filed Under: Ala Moana - Kakaako, Condos for sale Oahu, Luxury Condos for sale, Luxury real estate, luxury real estate Oahu, Pacific Business News Tagged With: Honolulu luxury condos, Honolulu luxury properties, Kakaako, luxury condos, luxury properties in Hawaii

Kakaako’s Building Boom – Part Two

October 9, 2012 By idx guys Leave a Comment

Howard Hughes Corp. has already spent $3.5 million renovating Ward Centre, the shopping center where a Bed Bath & Beyond store will open this fall in the space formerly occupied by Borders bookstore.
HHC’s plans include a mixture of retail, residential and commercial construction projects over the next 12 years. More specifics should come in December, when the company says it hopes to announce “refinements” to the master plan created by General Growth Properties, former owners of Ward Centers. Almost daily, Striph says, he is in contact with KS, OHA, HCDA and other major players to coordinate efforts and “take a holistic view” of Kakaako.

“We’re trying to look at this as one whole area,” Striph says. “We want to make it the hottest, most vibrant residential community on Oahu. That’s our goal. We want to be really thoughtful and respectful of the community. We’re taking our time and want to do it right, reflecting the area’s history.”
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KS’s master plan, completed in 2009, calls for seven residential towers, up to 400 feet high, with low-rise “podium” units surrounding them. The build-out spans 15 years but has begun with alacrity.

Currently available Kaka’ako area properties for sale

“We’ll have warm bodies in the lofts by the end of October,” says Bob Oda, KS senior project manager. It’s part of KS’s affordable housing commitment.

Contractors will build the market-price units in the residential towers, says Paul Quintiliani, KS commercial real estate director, while KS itself may build the rental units. “We need to hit multiple price points to create a mixed-income community.”

HCDA’s latest Kakaako master plan, just a year old, calls for mixed-density using both high-rise and low-rise residential and commercial buildings, plus parks and civic parking. The homes will potentially provide low-, medium- and market-price condos and rentals close to a range of jobs, including high-tech jobs at the John A. Burns School of Medicine, the Cancer Center of Hawaii, now under construction, and private businesses in bioscience.

So far, there have been 1,388 units built in Kakaako since 1988 that are either affordable rentals or affordable units for purchase, says HCDA. The already-built projects include three developments devoted to seniors. Another 187 affordable units are either permitted or under construction.

Currently available Kaka’ako area properties for sale

“In the early vision, it was the Blade Runner view,” says Anthony J.H. Ching, HCDA’s executive director. “We were going to be living in the stars and sky, with superblock condos connected by elevated walkways. The next permutation was mixed-use to accommodate small businesses, but still a high-rise community. But now, with (new urban-planning) rules emphasizing an active street scene, we’re back down to the street. We want people to be able to walk along, to look into the windows, to engage.

“It will be like the Whole Foods corner in Kailua – there’s a sidewalk, a living wall that softens the building, and you can walk out into the trellis area and just sit there though you’re not far away from a four-lane road. But it’s softened with a landscaped median and you feel comfortable enough to engage in a conversation. It’s casual. It encourages people to interact. Imagine if you have that kind of environment in Kakaako?”

This vision for the future includes a cultural overlay from projects envisioned by OHA on 30 acres of newly acquired state land makai of Ala Moana boulevard. The agreement, finalized July 1, transferring 10 parcels worth $200 million, largely settles the longstanding dispute between OHA and the state over shared
revenues for the use of Public Land Trust lands. It sets the stage for OHA to develop affordable rental housing, a cultural center to celebrate Native Hawaiian arts, an ocean-side promenade with a string of stores, and a high-rise up to 200 feet high at 919 Ala Moana to provide space for Native Hawaiian service organizations. Additionally OHA wants perpetual access to the ocean at Kewalo Basin.

A master plan will be developed for OHA’s 10 parcels, says OHA chairwoman Colette Machado, and it’s expected to be complete within two years.

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OHA has asked HCDA to pull back on plans to develop two loading dock piers in front of Fisherman’s Wharf in order to keep that waterfront open. “We want that place free, to be able to house the Hokulea and other canoes,” Machado says. “… This is a no-brainer for Hawaiians. We want unimpeded access to the shoreline. That’s why Kakaako is so important to the trustees. It’s the last valuable shoreline in Honolulu.”

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However, according to Stu Glauberman, compliance assurance and community outreach officer for HCDA, Kewalo Basin’s  harbor remains within the purview of HCDA. “Plans for harbor improvements have not changed nor been put on hold,” he says. Current plans call for KB Marine L.P., which has a 50-year lease, to build two wave-abatement fences and 100 mooring slips at a cost to KB of $20 million. Plans for the loading docks at Fisherman’s Wharf call for them to be built with harbor revenues and $3 million from the state revolving fund, but there’s no set timeline in place.

The final details of Kakaako’s transformation will change and be debated over the coming two decades, but the broad strokes seem guided by a vision that the major landowners share with the governor.

“What I want to see,” Abercrombie says, “is a contem-porary Hawaiian version of organic architecture in a context of urban growth, where high density in the core can be transposed into community life that reflects Hawaii and its basic values.

“If you go high, then you can disperse your density at street level, where people live, and prevent urban sprawl.
It will emphasize walking, open space, view-plane corridors. You’ll see it like a village.”

Filed Under: Ala Moana - Kakaako, Kakaako, New Condos for sale, real estate in the news

Bloomberg Businessweek America’s Most Fun, Affordable Cities

September 1, 2012 By idx guys Leave a Comment

No. 2 Most Fun, Affordable City: Ala Moana-Kakaako, Honolulu, Hawaii 96814

No. of bars and restaurants: 273
Population: 19,576
Median home price: $357,000

The Ala Moana-Kakaako section of Honolulu has a number of restaurants and bars along Ala Moana Boulevard, South King Street, and Kapiolani Boulevard, according to yellowpages.com. Photographer: Getty Images

Filed Under: Ala Moana - Kakaako Tagged With: Kakaako

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