Former First Hawaiian Bank CEO to develop Denny’s restaurant near Honolulu Zoo

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A rendering of Diamond Head Denny's in Waikiki. Don Horner, the former CEO of First

A rendering of Diamond Head Denny’s in Waikiki. Don Horner, the former CEO of First

Don Horner, the former CEO of First Hawaiian Bank, is developing a 5,000-square-foot Denny’s restaurant on a vacant parcel in Waikiki across from the Honolulu Zoo, he confirmed to PBN.

Horner, who retired as CEO of First Hawaiian Bank in 2012, told PBN Tuesday that a lease has been signed with a franchisee of Denny’s, and that the new 200-seat restaurant will be called “Diamond Head Denny’s.”

“The Hawaiian design will incorporate a tile roof, stucco finish exteriors, abundant landscaping, tiki torches, outdoor seating, bike racks, surf board storage for employees and 12 on-site parking stalls,” he said. “The interiors will have an ‘old Hawaii’ surfing theme, using local art and textures.”

Horner noted that the space will also include a 40- to 50-seat banquet room with state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment to be used for birthday parties, local civic clubs, condominium board meetings and other meetings.

“The objective is to create a casual, family-dining experience for both locals and visitors,” he said. “The operator is considering validating 1-2 hours of parking at the city’s zoo parking lot across the street to encourage local families’ patronage.”

The new restaurant will include outdoor seating for 40 and is expected to employ more than 30 people.

Horner anticipates interviewing contractors to work on the project in the next 120 days, with an opening date tentatively scheduled for sometime in 2016. His firm purchased the land at the corner of Kuhio and Kapahulu avenues last year.

Tom Schnell, principal for Honolulu-based PBR Hawaii & Associates Inc., is expected to present plans on the project at the Sept. 8 Waikiki Neighborhood Board meeting.

The franchisee for Diamond Head Denny’s is Medhat Bechay, who owns about 16 Denny’s franchises, mostly in California. He also owns two franchises on Oahu, with one in Kunia in West Oahu and another in Kaneohe at the Windward City Shopping Center.

Horner formed Malu Investment I LLC about three years ago for the purchase of the long-vacant 13,461-square-foot property at 208 Kapahulu Ave., which is next to the Makee Ailana condominium (former Scandia), as first reported by PBN.

Duane Shimogawa
Reporter
Pacific Business News

Sneak Peek: What Kalakaua Gardens senior living will look like in March

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Kalakaua Gardens senior living

Kalakaua Gardens senior living

Kalakaua Gardens senior living

Kalakaua Gardens senior living

The building under construction on Kalakaua Avenue will soon be a 17-floor senior living high rise.

Kalakaua Gardens opens in March and is managed by Avalon Healthcare which also runs Avalon Care Center, Hale Nani Rehabilitation and Nursing Center and Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home in Hilo.

The $75 million project is located at 1723 Kalakaua Ave. across the street from the Convention Center and near Ala Moana Center.

Hawaii native and Kalakaua Gardens General Manager Steve Nawahine most recently served as the executive director of Chandler Health Care Center in Greater Phoenix and is returning home to run the facility.

Nawahine said he expects the skilled nursing component to be in high demand and will be valuable for tenants when they get hurt and need rehabilitation and occupational therapy in-house.

“When seniors get hurt, normally they’d have to go to hospital then a nursing home to get,” he said. “In this setting, they’ll be able to go into skilled nursing get the care they need, and go right back up to the floor they came from.”

The project includes 164 independent and assisted living suites, 49 skilled nursing facility beds, and 23 beds in memory care.

When the building is full, 150 to 200 employees will be hired, Nawahine said, including 20 management level positions, 80 in-care and support staff jobs and 60 positions in dining, housekeeping and support staff.

San Francisco, California-based Island Paradise Investments is the developer for the project.

Honolulu-based Architects Hawaii Ltd. designed the project with San Francisco-based Swinerton Builders as the general contractor.

Interior design is led by Philpotts Interiors.

“There’s a great need for this in our community,” Nawahine added. “The building was built for ohana-style living — when elevators open you don’t see hallways, you see living and dining rooms where people are encouraged to live and be social with one another.”

Lorin Eleni Gill
Reporter
Pacific Business News

Honolulu apartment complex on the market for $4.25M

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A Honolulu apartment building is on the market for $4.25 million, the broker handling the sale confirmed to PBN.

Located at 1479 Thurston Ave. in Makiki, the four-story, 12,596-square-foot apartment complex, on a 7,930-square-foot parcel, includes 14 units and 16 parking stalls.

The property, which is 100 percent occupied, includes 13 one-bedroom/one-bathroom units on three levels and one three-bedroom penthouse unit located on the fourth floor.

The property is being marketed as being in strong demand when considering that there is a limited supply of rental units in the area.

The total assessed value of the property is about $2.3 million, according to tax records.

Duane Shimogawa
Reporter
Pacific Business News

California developer Carmel Partners selling Hawaii apartment complex

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California developer Carmel Partners is selling its 106-unit apartment complex in Wahiawa in Central Oahu for an undisclosed price, the broker handling the sale confirmed to PBN.

The 87,400-square-foot Palms of Kilani, which was built in 1972 and underwent a renovation in 2005, includes units ranging from two bedrooms to four bedrooms.

The three-acre property is being marketed by David Asakura, partner and principal broker of Honolulu-based Commercial Asset Advisors and Institutional Property Advisors.

Located at 1060 Kilani Ave., the Palms of Kilani was purchased by Carmel Partners’ CP III Palms of Kilani LLC for $15.4 million in 2011, according to public records.

The property has a total assessed value of $14.4 million.

Carmel Partners sold nearly 1,000 apartment rental units as part of a portfolio sale on Oahu for $300.5 million, the largest multi-family project sale in Hawaii in 2014.

The real estate investment trust sold its 520-unit Kalaeloa Rental Homes portfolio in West Oahu to a joint venture between the Boston-based real estate private equity firm, Rockpoint Group, and the California-based real estate investment firm, DiNapoli Capital Partners, for $154.5 million.

A few days later, Carmel Partners sold its 468-unit Waena Apartments in Honolulu to Douglas Emmett Inc. for $146 million.

Duane Shimogawa
Reporter
Pacific Business News

Zippy’s co-founder’s former Kahala Avenue Honolulu estate sold for $3M

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A Kahala Avenue estate that had some well-known owners throughout the years, including the co-founder of Zippy’s Inc. and Japanese businessman Genshiro Kawamoto, has been sold to an Arizona couple, according to public records.

The couple purchased the home from a subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin Inc. (NYSE: ALEX) for about $3.1 million.

Located at 4398 Kahala Ave., the 3,144-square-foot five-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom estate was one of the homes purchased by A&B Properties Inc. in 2013 from Japanese businessman Genshiro Kawamoto.

Kawamoto, who bought the home in 2005 from Giorgio Caldarone, an executive with Kamehameha Schools, and Nella Caldarone, for about $2.9 million, became an unpopular neighbor in the posh Honolulu neighborhood after allowing some of his properties to deteriorate.

The home’s former owners include the late Francis Higa, co-founder of Zippy’s, who purchased the home in 1989 for $1.6 million.

Last month, A&B Properties told PBN that it is demolishing an existing home on another Kahala Avenue home that was formerly owned by Kawamoto. A&B said it is removing the existing structure for health and safety reasons, and that it has no plans for the parcel.

A&B Properties recently transferred the ownership of another one of its Kahala Avenue properties it purchased from Kawamoto.

The company said it is exploring potential residential construction on the little more than one-acre oceanfront vacant parcel at 4607 Kahala Ave.

Duane Shimogawa
Reporter
Pacific Business News

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Proposed 350-foot condo tower in Waikiki met with major opposition

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A Japanese firm’s 350-foot mixed-use condominium-hotel tower being planned for the former property of the Kyo-ya Restaurant in Waikiki was met with strong opposition by some community members and the area’s neighborhood board.

Keith Kurahashi, president of the Honolulu-based planning and zoning consulting firm Kusao & Kurahashi Inc. presented plans for the 176-unit “One Waikiki” project to the Waikiki Neighborhood Board, which opposed the project because of height limit concerns.

The property’s current height limit is 25 feet, but the new owners of the property, Best Hospitality LLC, whose parent is Tokyo-based Tsukada Global Holdings, hope to raise the height limit to 350 feet.

Honolulu-based architecture firm WATG is part of the project and provided renderings for the condo-hotel, which would be located on two parcels of land encompassing about 28,000-square-feet at the edge of Fort DeRussy on Kalakaua Avenue.

Kurahashi said the developer will need to ask for a height limit increase, as well as do a draft environmental assessment and file a Waikiki Special District application.

He contended that the current height limit for the property, which was home to the Kyo-ya Restaurant for 50 years, no longer applies.

As part of the development, the Kyo-ya Restaurant, which closed in 2007, will be demolished.

The condo-hotel, which will include a pool deck, jacuzzi, fitness center, spa, an owner’s lounge, kitchen and restaurant, cafe, a wedding chapel, a bride room, a reflection pool, bridal gardens, four penthouse units and two large gardens, will have a common theme of large lanais and balconies.

There will be a total of 51 parking stalls for the project.

In terms of its economic benefits, Kurahashi noted that it would create many construction jobs and 100 permanent jobs, as well as millions in taxes to the city and state.

He also said that the project would add much needed room capacity to the state’s tourism mecca, especially since a total of 2,684 hotel units have been lost in Waikiki since 2003.

But several board members voiced their concerns about the proposed height limit increase of the project, going as far as passing a resolution to oppose the project’s height increase.

Hawaii developer Kevin Showe and a group of investors sold the property to Best Hospitality for $30.5 million, as first reported by PBN.

The property is zoned for resort/mixed-use and could be turned into a hotel, time share, condominium or a restaurant.

PBN also first reported about the developer’s plans to turn to build a condo-hotel.

Tsukada Global Holdings, which consists of companies in the wedding, hotel, restaurant, wellness and relaxation businesses, owns Best Bridal Hawaii Inc., an upscale wedding chapel owner.

Duane Shimogawa
Reporter
Pacific Business News

Chinese investor to build home on Oahu North Shore property by Waimea Bay

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A Chinese investor who purchased nearly half of the lots in a 25-lot residential subdivision on Oahu’s North Shore overlooking famed Waimea Bay now has plans to build a new home on one of those properties, according to public records.

The 11 lots, on a little more than two acres, at The Bluffs at Waimea were sold to Dhara LLC by the Burger family for $6 million last year, as first reported by PBN.

Dhara was formed a little more than a year ago, and lists Shaoxiong Huang as its manager.

The company was recently issued a $515,000 building permit for a new single-family home with a retaining wall at the rear of the property, according to the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Planning and Permitting.

Lancor Architects Inc. and Kingdom Builders are listed as the architect and general contractor, respectively, for the project.

The Bluffs at Waimea Bay is located on a hillside between Waimea Bay and Haleiwa town. The 23 lots being sold range from 7,500 square feet to 15,630 square feet, and homes have already been built on five of the lots.

Chinese investors are expected to spend more than $175 billion during the next few years acquiring real estate around the world, including Hawaii.

Duane Shimogawa
Reporter
Pacific Business News

 

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Oahu single-family home price shatters record in September

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The median sales price of a single-family home on Oahu rose by more than 7 percent in September to hit a record-shattering $730,000 on a 3.5 percent jump in sales, according to Multiple Listing Service data compiled by the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

September’s median price tops the previous record of $719,500 reached in November 2014 and is 6.7 percent higher than the $684,000 median price of a single-family home in November 2013.

“While single-family homes set a new record in September with a median price of $730,000, about 12 percent were sold below $500,000, demonstrating that there are options at all price points in the market – it just takes some looking,” Honolulu Board of Realtors President Jack Legal said in a prepared statement. “We are hopeful that the inventory of homes on the lower end of the spectrum will continue to grow to meet demand. In fact, the nearly 16 percent increase in condo sales over last year proves that more inventory is coming online for prospective homebuyers to consider.”

The $730,000 median sales price of a single-family home reached last month is 7.6 percent higher than the $678,500 price reached in September 2014. The number of single-family homes sold last month rose by 3.5 percent to 329, from the 318 sold during the same time last year.

Meanwhile, condominium unit sales were up 15.7 percent in September, with 480 sold, compared to the 415 that changed hands during the same time last year. The median sales price of those condominium units also increased by 5.5 percent to $366,000 last month, from $347,000 in September 2014.

Darin Moriki
Reporter
Pacific Business News

Oahu home prices rise 7.5% in August on 6.5% increase in sales

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The median price of a single-family home on Oahu rose by 7.5 percent last month to $699,000, while August also saw a 6.5 percent bump in sales compared to the same time last year, according to statistics from the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

There were 344 single-family homes sold last month, a 6.5 percent jump from the 323 that were sold in August 2014. Meanwhile, the median sales price of single-family homes rose last month by 7.5 percent to $699,000, from $650,000 during the same month last year.

That’s still lower than this year’s record $710,000 median sales price that was reached in July.

“August single-family home sales showed healthy gains over last year,” Honolulu Board of Realtors President Jack Legal said in a statement. “We were pleased to see the inventory of homes increasing, and pending sales are up almost 9 percent, which indicates a strong trend heading into September.”

Although the number of condominium sales fell by 3.6 percent last month to 428, compared to the 444 that sold in August 2014, the median sales price of those condo units rose slightly to $354,000. That was an increase of 1.1 percent from the $350,000 median sales price for condo units sales during the same time last year.

Year-to-date, a total of 2,270 single-family homes on Oahu were sold between January and August, an increase of 5.1 percent compared to the same eight-month period last year, when 2,160 single-family homes were sold. The median price of a single-family home for the first eight months of the year was $693,000, which was 4.2 percent higher than the median price for the first eight months of 2014, which was $665,000.

Year-to-date condominium sales also rose, with 3,312 sold between January and August, an increase of 3.7 percent compared to the 3,194 condo units that were sold on the resale market during the same eight-month period last year. The median condo price for that time period rose 2.4 percent to $358,250, from $350,000.

Darin Moriki
Reporter
Pacific Business News

Honolulu condo project on YMCA site near Ala Moana Center to start construction in early 2016

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A rendering for the Aloha Kai condominium across from Honolulu's Ala Moana Center

A rendering for the Aloha Kai condominium across from Honolulu’s Ala Moana Center

The 117-unit, 37-story “Aloha Kai” condominium project planned for the site of the YMCA of Honolulu Central branch on Atkinson Drive across from Ala Moana Center is expected to start construction by early 2016, the developer of the project confirmed to PBN Tuesday.

California-based MB Property Acquisitions LLC has partnered with the Japanese firm Tama Home on the development.

Michael Blumenthal, president of MB Property Acquisitions, told PBN that the project, which will include a new 30,000-square-foot YMCA Central branch with no residential units, a swimming pool and a sophisticated aqua facility that will cater to seniors, will have five levels of parking, with units being built atop those levels of parking.

Aloha Kai encountered a delay after the developer asked for a zoning change that included increasing the its height limit to 350 feet from 150 feet.

“It has taken a while, but we are moving forward,” Blumenthal said, noting that the demolition of the YMCA Central branch should begin in about five months. “It took a little more than a year to get the zone change, but that enhanced the economics of the deal.”

He also pointed out that the focus of the entire project has been on dealing with the YMCA Central branch at first, which will be redeveloped into a three-story, 30,000-square-foot facility.

“The plans for the YMCA [are] 95 percent complete, in terms of the working drawings,” Blumenthal said. “We really focused on designing the YMCA before jumping into the condo tower.”

The conceptual drawings for the condo tower are nearly complete, with Architects Hawaii Ltd., Swinerton Builders and Locations LLC working on the project.

The project, which will encompass about 150,000-square-feet of net saleable square footage, will have four units per floor, with a boutique-like, very private type of feel, according to Blumenthal.

The pricing of the project is still being determined, although he said it is probably going to be around $1,400 per square foot, meaning that a one-bedroom unit of roughly 600 square feet unit would be priced around $840,000.

Aloha Kai also will have a rooftop pool and all units will include lanais that overlook the ocean. There will be no commercial units in the project.

Blumenthal said he was one of the few bidders of the YMCA site to have given the nonprofit organization a portion of the site to build a new branch.

A little more than three years ago, MB Property Acquisitions announced its purchase of about 1.5 acres of the YMCA’s 1.77-acre lot for an undisclosed amount. Blumenthal said he expects to close on the purchase in about three months.

“We have substantial approvals,” he said. “We worked hard to provide a nice facility for the Y.”

The condo part of the project is expected to be completed in about two years.

Duane Shimogawa
Reporter
Pacific Business News

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