Condominium prices on Oahu hit new record in December
The median price of a condominium on Oahu reached a record $361,250 in December, a 9.5 percent increase from the same month a year ago, according to figures released Tuesday by the Honolulu Board of Realtors.
The December median price for condos tops a previous record set in June, when the median price of a condominium hit $360,000.The median price of a condo in December 2013 was $330,000.
The median price of a single-family home on Oahu in December rose just 0.7 percent to $690,000, from $685,000 in December 2013. In November, the median price of a single-family home set a new record of $719,500.
Sales of single-family homes remained flat in December at 284 sales, compared to 283 home sales in December 2013.
Sales of condos were flat, with 290 units sold in both December 2014 and December 2013.
“This month’s sales figures basically stuck to historical norms except for one aspect,” Jack Legal, president of the Honolulu Board of Realtors, said in a statement, referring to the record median price for condos. “One positive is that the inventory of condos was up in December as compared to the previous year.”
Bill Cresenzo Reporter – Pacific Business News
Town Center of Mililani sold for $227M
The Town Center of Mililani, one of the largest shopping centers on Oahu, has been sold by owner New York’s TIAA Realty LLC to a joint venture of insurance giant MetLife and Chicago-based real estate investment firm M&J Wilkow for about $227.3 million.
PBN has obtained public documents that confirm the sale to an entity formed last month by MetLife and M&J Wilkow, Mililani Town Center LLC.
The address listed for Mililani Town Center is the same as M&J Wilkow’s address in Chicago.
The managing member of Mililani Town Center is ML-MJW Mililani Town Center Venture LLC.
The sale, which closed on Tuesday, includes 15 parcels, is the first real estate purchase by MetLife in Hawaii, although M&J Wilkow already owns the Foodland-anchored, 146,719-square-foot Parker Ranch Center on the Big Island as part of a joint venture.
Earlier this month, New York-based MetLife and M&J Wilkow announced that they acquired South Carolina’s 468,000-square-foot Magnolia Park outdoor retail center for an undisclosed price.
Affiliates from both firms formed a joint venture for that purchase, with the MetLife affiliate as the majority owner.
“Investing in retail real estate such as Magnolia Park is an important part of MetLife Real Estate Investors’ overall strategy,” said Robert Merck, senior managing director and global head of real estate for MetLife, in a statement. “We are also pleased to have M&J Wilkow as our joint venture partner and look forward to working with them to grow our investment.”
Marc Wilkow, president of M&J Wilkow, said at that time that the opportunity to team up with MetLife is “exceptional and inspiring” for his team.
“We also look forward to evaluating other similarly exciting opportunities with our colleagues at MetLife,” he said in a statement.
The 449,112-square-foot Town Center of Mililani, which is anchored by Consolidated Theatres, Walmart, Times Supermarket, Longs Drugs and PetSmart, has more than 90 tenants.
Colliers International handles both the management and leasing of the center, which opened in 1988 and is ranked as the eighth largest shopping center on Oahu, according to PBN research.
Fred Pieretti, a spokesman for MetLife, declined comment.
M&J Wilkow and TIAA Realty did not return messages left by PBN inquiring about the sale.
In 2005, TIAA Realty, a subsidiary of TIAA-CREF, bought the Town Center of Mililani from Castle & Cooke Commercial Properties for about $151.1 million, according to tax records.
Duane Shimogawa Reporter – Pacific Business News
Mililani Single Family Homes $400,000 - $600,000
Mililani Single Family Homes $600,000 - $800,000
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New Aqua and Aston Hotels President Matt Bailey talks about 2015
Earlier this month, AHR Hospitality Partners, Inc., parent company of Aqua Hospitality and Aston Hotels & Resorts, named Matt Bailey president of both companies. Bailey also retained his responsibility as COO of both companies.
Bailey has 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry, holding leadership roles at properties in Hawaii, Utah, California, Texas and Nevada. The Utah Hotel & Lodging Association named him “Hotelier of the Year” when he was vice president and general manager at the Sundance Resort.
Prior to joining Aston, he was the managing director at the Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort. Locally, he has served on the baord of the Maui Hotel & Lodging Association and the Hawaii Hotel and Lodging Association, and has been a chairman of the Maui Visitors Bureau.
“Both [Aqua and Aston] have enjoyed growth over the past few years,” Bailey told PBN. “In the new year, we will develop a strategic growth plan that will define who we want to be and where we wish to expand. This will serve as the touchstone for evaluating the many opportunities that we are regularly presented.”
He said there are several major initiative in store for both companies in 2015:
We will finalize the consolidation of the last of our departments next year. Thus far, the process has gone very well and I’m pleased with the results.
Both Aston and Aqua have very distinct, well developed cultures. In 2015, we will carefully craft a culture for the enterprise that is borne of the cultures of each company, but is unique to the enterprise. It will define us and the service we provide.
To succeed, we must be indispensable to our customers – internal and external. In the new year, we will introduce services and programs that will differentiate us from our competitors. Some will be possible because of our new found size and buying power.
Lastly, we will develop or refine the brand standards for each of our four brands: Aston, Aqua, Monogram and Lite.
Jason Ubay Reporter – Pacific Business News
Ala Moana Center’s $573M redevelopment in pictures
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
California family buys Starbucks-anchored Kapolei Parkway Shops for $13.8M
The Kapolei Parkway Shops, which includes Starbucks, Jamba Juice and Taco Del Mar in a 21,167-square-foot building, has been sold to a California family that has significant real estate holdings in the Western United States, including Hawaii, for $13.8 million, according to public records.
The seller, Honolulu-based KBSM LLC, an affiliate of The MacNaughton Group, through one of its partners, told PBN that periodically it elects to sell some of its development properties based on a number of factors.
“Nothing out of the ordinary drove our decision to sell this property,” said Jeff Arce, partner for the Honolulu-based firm. “The proceeds from this sale will be reinvested by its investors into the future investment opportunities.”
Mark Bratton, vice president and division manager of Investment Properties for Colliers International Hawaii, represented the seller in the transaction.
Jon-Eric Greene, senior vice president also of Colliers, who represented the unnamed buyer, said that they were looking for western properties to invest in.
“They’re a family from California that has other holdings in Hawaii,” he told PBN. “They have Big Island properties that they own.”
Greene noted that no changes are expected at the Kapolei Parkway Shops, which is located at 338 Kamokila Blvd. directly in front of The Home Depot and across the street from the Hawaii state Judiciary complex.
The total assessed value of the property is about $7.2 million, according to tax records.
“Generally, things in Hawaii are healthy at the moment,” Greene said referring to the investment market.
Duane Shimogawa Reporter – Pacific Business News
Kapiwai sustainable luxury subdivision near Downtown Honolulu sells out first phase
kapiwai_sustainable_luxury
Kapiwai, a planned 24-home sustainable luxury subdivision near Downtown Honolulu, has sold out all of the units in its first phase and is now accepting contracts on the last seven units of phase two, the brokerage firm marketing the project told PBN.
Construction of the private road and improvements have been ongoing since September.
Interest in the 15-acre project in Honolulu’s Pauoa Valley, which has an average price of $1.6 million, has come from local professionals, executives, owners of businesses, doctors and other professionals, including U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin Chang and his wife, Lannice, who were among the first owners in the Kakaako condominium Keola Lai.
The mix of owners include people who live in condos and want something that’s lateral living, being close to nature, Takaki said.
Schlack Ito energy and environmental attorney Douglas Codiga, who became the first Hawaii resident to drive the new BMW i3 EV, recently settled on Kapiwai after years of searching for the right place.
Located at 2914 Booth Road, Kapiwai’s development team — Pauoa Valley Preserve LLC — includes Honolulu attorney Barry Sullivan and Schatz Clifford LLC, which consists of Linda Schatz, a former development manager for Kamehameha Schools and wife of U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Janine Clifford, president of Honolulu-based Clifford Planning & Architecture.
While Clifford is still part of the team, Schatz, who, after helping bring Kapiwai to market and the start of construction, recently transitioned to a development manager’s position with Ohio-based developer Forest City.
Rik Papa, a longtime project executive at Honolulu-based Stanford Carr Development, took over for Schatz, and will help oversee the project through the completion of construction.
Duane Shimogawa Reporter – Pacific Business News
Korean firm secures $101M in financing for Hawaii Kai rental project
This rendering shows the plan for the 7000 Hawaii Kai residential rental project.
Hanwha Engineering Construction Corp. has secured $100.7 million in financing for its planned 7000 Hawaii Kai residential project in East Oahu, which is being developed by Honolulu-based Avalon Development Co. LLC, and includes 269 units at both market and affordable rents, the South Korea-based firm said Monday.
Hanwha Engineering Construction Corp. worked with HFF, a provider of commercial real estate and capital markets services in the United States, to structure the financing, which consists of a first lien loan in conjunction with a mezzanine investor.
HFF placed a $67.3 million first lien loan with Bank of the Ozarks and also got $33.4 million in mezzanine financing through iStar Financial Inc., which owns more than 200 residential condominiums at the Ilikai Hotel in Waikiki, to complete the multi-housing development.
The $165 million long-planned project, which was originally called the Hale Ka Lae condominium, and located at 7000 Hawaii Kai Drive, began construction in October and is slated to be completed in the second quarter of 2016.
The cost to develop the project is pegged at $108 million, but with the land cost penciled in, the total cost of it is $165 million, Christine Camp, president and CEO of Avalon, previously told PBN.
The firm was contracted in December 2013 by the landowner to develop, redesign and obtain financing for the project.
Rents for the affordable portion of the project will range between $1,475 per month to $2,200 per month, while rents for the market-rate units will range from $2,200 per month to $3,700 per month. The rents include maintenance fees.
Duane Shimogawa Reporter – Pacific Business News
MEDIAN SINGLE FAMILY HOME PRICES HIT RECORD ON OAHU, ACCORDING TO HONOLULU BOARD OF REALTORS®
During November, sales of single-family homes decreased by 24 percent, while condominium sales decreased by 10.8 percent from November 2013. The median price paid for single-family homes in November increased by 5.2 percent from the same month last year to $719,500. The median price for condominiums increased by 3.9 percent from November 2013 to $343,000. According to the Days on Market indicator, both single-family homes and condominiums were on the market for an average of 27 days.
“While the median price for a single-family home reached another record high this year, there were mitigating factors that caused it to hit $719,500,” said Julie Meier, president of the Honolulu Board of REALTORS®. “Unfortunately, the inventory of homes selling for $550,000 or less has dwindled drastically. For example, 171 of the 225 properties sold in November were priced above $550,000, and 56 of those went for $1 million or more. As a result of the large number of relatively high-end sales, the median price rose.
“The demand for homes continues to outpace current inventory levels,” added Meier. “Simply put, there aren’t as many properties at the moderate end of the spectrum for potential homeowners to consider at the moment. However, the condominium market remains within reach of first-time homebuyers, and the median price for a condo in Honolulu reflects that. We’re encouraged that developers have been mindful of this as they move forward with new projects, especially in Honolulu’s urban core. As we’ve said in the past, Oahu needs new inventory of homes and condos at all price levels to meet demand.”
DeBartolo Development signs lease for new West Oahu shopping mall
This rendering shows an aerial view of DeBartolo Development’s Ka Makana Alii, looking makai.
The long-term lease for the Ka Makana Alii mall is expected to generate more than $200 million in rent revenue that will support the construction of thousands of new homes for Hawaiian homesteaders, as well as programs benefiting Native Hawaiian interests across the state, the developer said.
Thus far, DeBartolo Development has announced four tenants, Macy’s, as an anchor, Forever 21’s fifth Hawaii store, an AT&T location and H&M’s second store in the state.
The project is expected to create about 3,000 construction jobs and another 6,500 permanent full-time jobs upon completion.
The developer also plans to build a public community park in the Kanehili Homestead area as part of the community’s benefits package that it negotiated with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
“We have worked closely together with DHHL to ensure this project delivers lasting value to not only the Native Hawaiian community, but also the residents of West Oahu,” Edward Kobel, president and COO of DeBartolo Development, said in a statement. “The long-term lease of the Ka Makana Alii site will create a dependable revenue stream for native Hawaiian beneficiaries for decades to come.”
Grading and grubbing activities are slated to begin this month, with a formal construction start date to be announced soon thereafter.
The first phase of the center, which includes more than 750,000-square-feet of retail, dining, entertainment and hotel space, is scheduled to open in 2016.
Duane Shimogawa Reporter – Pacific Business News