Chinese developer plans mixed-use condo tower near Honolulu’s Ala Moana Center

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The “Hawaii City Plaza” project at 710 Sheridan St. near Walmart and Sam’s Club stores is expected to have ground floor commercial space, including retail and restaurants, as well as a parking podium that will be the foundation for a condo tower.

James Freeman, principal for Honolulu-based FSC Architects, who is the architect for the project, declined further comment on the development until it engages in the public process. He is scheduled to present plans for the Hawaii City Plaza project at Tuesday’s Ala Moana-Kakaako Neighborhood Board.

The condo is expected to include a mix of affordable and market-rate units.

The Hawaii City Plaza is being developed by Advantage America Hawaii Regional Center LLC as part of the EB-5 immigrant investor program, which has resulted in $8.7 billion worth of foreign investment in U.S. businesses over the past three years and has created more than 35,000 jobs in America, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

To be eligible for visas that can ultimately lead to green cards, foreign investors must invest $1 million in new businesses that create 10 jobs in the U.S. That threshold falls to $500,000 if the investment is made in a rural area or areas with higher-than-average unemployment.

The Hawaii City Plaza project has received approval from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism as a project that fits within the targeted employment area.

It will be located in the Ala Moana Neighborhood Transit-Oriented area, with the goal of trying to get greater density around the transit stations to create walkable and bikeable communities.

The Hawaii City Plaza developer, a group from Mainland China, already has two projects in the Los Angeles area, which are smaller, limited-service hotels. This would be their first project in Hawaii.

The 39,520 square feet — nearly an acre of land — at 710 Sheridan St. is zoned for a retail/condo development.

Duane Shimogawa
Reporter
Pacific Business News

PBN confirms amount billionaire Larry Ellison paid for Hawaiian Island of Lanai

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Billionaire Larry Ellison paid $300M for the Hawaiian island of Lanai,

Billionaire Larry Ellison paid $300M for the Hawaiian island of Lanai,

One of the most widely-publicized real estate sales in recent memory in Hawaii, which involved Oracle Corp. co-founder Larry Ellison’s purchase of nearly the entire island of Lanai, hasn’t had a clear price attached to it — up until now.

It has been speculated by many that the price Ellison paid was somewhere in the range of hundreds of millions of dollars, even up to $500 million.

The third-richest person in the United States — Forbes puts his current net worth at $44.2 billion— has told Julian Guthrie, author of the 2013 book “The Billionaire and The Mechanic: How Larry Ellison and a Car Mechanic Teamed Up to Win Sailing’s Greatest Race, the America’s Cup,” that he paid $300 million for 98 percent of Lanai in 2012.

PBN has now confirmed, through public documents, that Ellison did indeed pay $300 million for the 141-square-mile Pineapple Island.

The sale included the two resort hotels — the Four Seasons Resorts Lanai at Manele Bay and the Four Seasons Resorts Lanai, Lodge at Koele — two championship golf courses and club houses, the Manele Golf Course and the Koele Golf Course, and more than 88,000 acres of land.

The seller, Los Angeles billionaire businessman David Murdock, took control of Lanai, the sixth-largest island in Hawaii by acreage, in 1985 as a result of his purchase of Castle & Cooke. The state and others own 2 percent of the island.

Meanwhile, Ellison is selling his controlling interest in his Hawaii interisland airline, Island Air, to a couple of Honolulu investment funds.

His Four Seasons Resort Lanai at Manele Bay, which closed this past summer for extensive renovations, is scheduled to reopen as the Four Seasons Resort Lanai and will begin taking reservations and opening on Feb 1. Koele, which has been closed to the public to house construction workers, will open in late 2016.

Duane Shimogawa
Reporter
Pacific Business News

 

Maui Luxury Properties $1.7M – $1.9M
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Kailua estate near President Obama’s vacation home is on the market for $28M

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51A sprawling 2.5-acre Hawaii oceanfront estate located near President Barack Obama’s vacation home is on the market for $28 million.

Located at 51 Kaikea Place in Kailua in Windward Oahu, the estate includes three homes, including a main residence, a guest home and a caretaker home, designed by Hawaii architect Fritz Johnson.

The homes were renovated in 2008, containing a total of 7,851 square feet of living area, 4,466 square feet of open lanai area, 1,121 square feet of storage space and 870 square feet of garage/carport areas. All fixtures, furniture and equipment are included in the sale, excluding the paintings.

Scott Eden of Newmark Grubb CBI is representing the owner in the sale. Property records show that “51 Kaikea LLC,” is the owner of the property, with Keiichi Kojima as its manager.

The property, which includes a total of four parcels, has a total assessed value of about $24.3 million, according to tax records. In 2008, the main parcel was purchased by 51 Kaikea LLC for $22 million, with two adjacent parcels purchased for $4 million.

“[The owner] spent $7 million to remodel the property, and to build a caretaker’s house on one of the front parcels,” Eden told PBN in an email, noting that the property was previously listed in January for $38 million.
The sale also includes the two adjacent 10,000-square-foot parcels in front of the main gate that may be used for additional residences.

“Land of this sheer size is becoming increasingly hard to find on Oahu, particularly in such a desirable location,” Eden said.

President Obama and his family arrived in Hawaii this past weekend for their annual family vacation, and the 51 Kaikea Place estate is located less than five minutes away from their vacation compound in Kailua.

Duane Shimogawa
Reporter
Pacific Business News

51a

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Hawaii Supreme Court rules in favor of D.R. Horton’s $4.6B Hoopili project

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D.R. Horton gets OK for 11,750-home Hoopili project in West Oahu

D.R. Horton gets OK for 11,750-home Hoopili project in West Oahu

D.R. Horton – Schuler Homes’ long-planned 11,750-home master-planned Hoopili project in Ewa in West Oahu is moving ahead after the Hawaii State Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Texas developer, saying that the state Land Use Commission properly reclassified the 1,525 acres for the project from agricultural to urban, according to a ruling Tuesday.

The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled against the appeal made by Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter and former state Sen. Clayton Hee, who argued the LUC’s reclassification of land for Hoopili violated part of the state constitution that dealt with conserving these types of lands for agricultural uses.

Sierra Club and Hee also argued that the LUC should not reclassify lands that the City and County of Honolulu could potentially designate as important agricultural lands in the future.

But in the end, the state Supreme Court said that “substantial evidence supported the LUC’s additional findings that the reclassification would not substantially impair agricultural production.”
Judge Richard Pollack, associate justice of the state Supreme Court, disagreed with the ruling. Click here to read his 26-page dissenting opinion on the case.

In October, the LUC ruled against reconsidering its 2012 decision to change the use of the land after an appeal had been filed by Friends of Makakilo.

Traffic and the diversion of potential agricultural lands have been the two main concerns that opponents have with the project.

In addition to single- and multi-family homes, Hoopili would also include commercial and light industrial space, community facilities, schools, parks and open space, facilities, commercial farming and utilities.

D.R. Horton also has gifted the Hawaiian Humane Society and the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center for new West Oahu campuses. There’s also a planned 38-acre retail center by The MacNaughton Group and Kobayashi Group.

D.R. Horton, through its top executive in Hawaii, said that it could start construction on the $4.6 billion project in 2016.

Sylvester Stallone’s former Hawaii estate sold to GoPro’s first hire for $5.4M

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Sylvester Stallone's former Hawaii estate sold to GoPro's first hire for $5.4M

Sylvester Stallone’s former Hawaii estate sold to GoPro’s first hire for $5.4M

A Hawaii estate once owned by actor Sylvester Stallone, who is currently starring in the latest “Rocky” series film “Creed,” has been sold to camera maker GoPro Inc.’s first employee, according to public records.

Stallone purchased the four-bedroom, four-bathroom home on the island of Kauai’s North Shore back in 1984 for $1.75 million, and sold it in 1999.

The 3,212-square-foot ” Banana Beach House,” which is located on a 13,801-square-foot parcel in Hanalei, was purchased by Banana House LLC for $5.45 million in a deal that closed in late October. The estate has a total assessed value of about $3.5 million, according to tax records.

Banana House was formed by Neil Dana, a college roommate of GoPro founderNick Woodman, who became the first hire for the publicly-traded company that is based in California.

Banana House’s tax bill address lists an address in Half Moon Bay, California, the initial headquarters of GoPro.

Dana made headlines earlier this year after Woodman stuck to his promise to give him a portion of shares of the company, which is valued at nearly $230 million, according to Bloomberg.

Dana is currently the music director for GoPro.

Woodman himself recently purchased property in Hawaii on the North Shore of the island of Oahu.

Duane Shimogawa
Reporter
Pacific Business News

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Luxury_Oahu_Estates_$8M – 10M
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Japanese investors in Hawaii: Only keen on Oahu

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Japanese tourists were doing more ‘window shopping’ last year than they did the year…

Japanese tourists were doing more ‘window shopping’ last year than they did the year…

While Japanese investors are keen on Hawaii real estate, they are keeping their gazes focused on Oahu rather than the Neighbor Islands, according to a report from Title Guaranty.

Japanese investment in the Hawaii real estate market is surging. It is set to keep up the pace, spurred on by new projects in Oahu and Japanese institutional investors keen to snap up the new products.

However, looking beyond Honolulu, Japanese investors are less active. To the end of August this year, the investors bought just five of the 30 properties on Hawaii’s Big Island, one of the 12 properties sold on Maui and none of the properties on Kauai.

This does not come as a surprise to some experts. Mike Imanaka, Title Guaranty’s senior vice president of data services noted that this is in line with past statistics and so far the Neighbor Islands are not considered as much as Oahu.

To the end of the summer this year Japanese investors have purchased 191 properties in Honolulu or $147.7 million worth, according to data from Title Guaranty. This compares to 197 and 240 for the entire years of 2013 and 2014 respectively.

Kathleen Gallagher
Reporter
Pacific Business News

More details revealed about $16M renovation of iconic Kaiser Estate in Honolulu

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New details have been revealed regarding the iconic Kaiser Estate in East Honolulu, including that plans include the construction of a new house on the property, according to public documents.

Kurt Mitchell, managing principal in Hawaii for Alaska-based RIM Architects, who is working on the project, gave an update to the Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board in July.

He told the board that all residences are being renovated on the estate, and that each needs a special management area use permit, according to the board’s meeting minutes.

Mitchell also noted that the project includes renovation of the boathouse and main house, plus construction of a new house, which is less than 25-feet.

An environmental assessment has been filed with no significant impact found and the project falls within the state Department of Land and Natural Resources requirements for a certified shoreline, he said.

Mitchell told PBN in an email this week that he could not offer further comment on the project.

The Portlock estate, which was once on the market for $80 million, is undergoing a $16 million renovation by its owners Fred and Annie Chan, University of Hawaii graduates who made their fortune in the high-tech industry in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to the environmental assessment.

The 5.4 acre estate, which was once owned by Kamehameha Schools and Japanese businessman Genshiro Kawamoto, was built by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser.

Duane Shimogawa
Reporter
Pacific Business News

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Oahu condo sales jump by 22%, home sales rise 7% in June

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A view of the Kakaako skyline on March 9, 2015

A view of the Kakaako skyline on March 9, 2015

The number of condominiums sold on Oahu in June jumped by 22 percent even as the median sales price fell 6 percent compared to the same time last year, while the median price of a single-family home remained flat as the number of sales rose 7 percent, the Honolulu Board of Realtors said Tuesday.

The median price of a single-family home on Oahu in June was $700,000, unchanged from June 2014, while the number of sales rose to 324 homes sold, a 6.9 percent increase from 303 homes sold during the same month a year ago.

The number of condominium units sold on Oahu last month rose to 500 units sold, a 21.7 percent increase from the 411 that were sold in June 2014. The median price of condos, meanwhile, fell by 6 percent to $338,500 last month, from $360,000 during the same time last year.

“June saw a very high volume start to what is traditionally a busy season for housing sales,” Honolulu Board of Realtors President Jack Legal said in a statement.

Legal said the significant jump in condo sales represented “the highest number of sales in a single month since June 2007.”

“The drop in median price is the result of many of this month’s condo sales being in the lower price ranges, and is in line with our staunch belief that Honolulu’s market needs housing at all price points of the spectrum to remain healthy,” Legal said. “It is unclear whether the median price for condos will remain at that level. What is clear is that demand will continue to outstrip supply for the foreseeable future.”

In all, 1,589 single-family homes were sold on Oahu during the first six months of the year — a 3.4 percent increase when compared to the 1,537 that were sold during the first half of last year. By comparison, condominium sales for the first six months of this year rose 3.3 percent from the same period last year to 2,383 sold, from 2,306 homes sold between January and June 2014.

Darin Moriki
Reporter
Pacific Business News

Oahu condo sales jump by 22%, home sales rise 7% in June

Tenants begin moving in to renovated apartments in Kalaeloa

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New residents of Hunt Companies’ recently renovated Wakea Garden Apartments can move in this week.

The former bachelor officer quarters at the Naval Air Station at Barbers Point underwent a $12 million renovation as part of Hunt Companies’ 20-year plan to redevelop 540 acres in Kalaeloa. On Tuesday, the apartments were blessed by Shad Kane of the Kalaeloa Heritage and Legacy Foundation as part of a ceremony to celebrate the opening.

Rent for one-bedroom, one-bath units will range from $1,200 to $1,500 per month. All of the units qualify as reserved housing due to the rent being lower than than the Hawaii Community Development Authority’s limit of 140 percent of average income of households in the area. Cirrus Asset Management Inc., manager of the Kalaeloa property, said the average rent for one-bedroom apartments in the area is $1,600 per month.

The former bachelor officer quarters were abandoned in 2006, and the renovation is the first part of Hunt Companies’ plan to revitalize the area. Hunt’s Hawaii Division has been active for more than 20 years, renovating underutilized military properties and building homes for more than 6,600 military families. Its projects include Palamanui and Ke Kailani on the Big Island and the Kilauea Lighthouse Village on Kauai.

Shiwani Johnson
Pacific Business News

Palama Supermarket to roll out convenience store in Aloha Tower Marketplace

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Palama Supermarket will likely roll out on-the-go food services for the first time in the Hawaii Pacific University-owned Aloha Tower Marketplace now under renovation, company executives confirmed to PBN on Monday.

“They were looking for a smaller convenience market/prepared food type of vendor to provide a grocery store to the students and faculty members who are going to be living in the dorms over there and provide foods that can be purchased daily and eaten immediately,” said Palama Supermarkets Chief Operations Officer Daniel Lim, whose parents, Hyo Kyu and Hae Joo Lim, founded the Oahu grocery store chain 38 years ago. “For us, it was a good fit. I think working with them will benefit all of us, so we decided to pursue it further. At this point, it’s pretty much a sure thing that we’re going in there, but we’re still in lease negotiations at this point.”

In all, HPU officials last week released the names of seven tenants, including Palama Supermarket, who have agreed to join Hooters, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant, The Cab, and Star of Honolulu in the retail and shopping complex now undergoing a $50 million facelift.

Other retailers and restaurants disclosed by university officials include Nashville Waikiki, which is slated to open during the Labor Day weekend; Taco Del Mar; Subway; Boston Pizza; a ramen shop; and a rotisserie chicken restaurant.

So far, only Nashville Waikiki, a popular country bar that closed in March, has signed a lease to operate in the former Fat Tuesday space between Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant and Hooters.

Though specific details, such as a projected opening date or a specific space in the complex, have not been determined yet, Lim said the decision to have Palama Supermarkets try out a convenience store concept makes sense even though it is more known for its variety of ethnic food options.

“I think part of it is the popularity of Asian food — our niche actually is the Korean market,” Lim said. “We’re seeing that the trend for our customers is starting to blur, so you see a lot of local customers coming in and trying Korean food. Because of that blurring there, we’re also able to create other items and not just the Korean foods that we have … so we’re able to provide breakfast or even like a lunch bento or something like that and it wouldn’t be a problem for us.”

Darin Moriki
Pacific Business News