Sales begin for affordable condo tower on former Honolulu Advertiser site

Sales begin for affordable condo tower on former Honolulu Advertiser site

Staff Pacific Business News  |   Mar 8, 2013, 12:04pm HST

This rendering shows Downtown Capital LLC’s 801 South St. project, which will be built on the site of the former Honolulu Advertiser building in Honolulu.
Courtesy Downtown Capital LLC

The sales process for a $200 million high-rise affordable condominium tower planned for the site of the former Honolulu Advertiser building start on Saturday, when prospective buyers can sign up for a lottery for more than half of the 635 units at 801 South St.

Prospective buyers will be able to pick up packets for the 322 studio, one- and two-bedroom units designated as owner-occupant units, which will be assigned in a lottery on March 23.

That is according to a statement from developer Marshall Hung of Downtown Capital LLC, an affiliate of Island Insurance sister company Tradewind Capital LLC, which bought the former Advertiser property from Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI) last year for $23 million. The sales office for the project is located a block away at the corner of Keawe and Queen streets.

http://realestate.hawaiiamericana.com/i/6351/KAKAAKO_NEIGHBORHOOD

Three-quarters of the units in the 46-story building are designated as “work-force housing” for households earning up to 140 percent of the median income in Honolulu. The project was approved by the Hawaii Community Development Authority in December.

Prices start at $253,200 for a 384-square-foot studio apartment; $305,800 for a one-bedroom unit of between 495 square feet and 522 square feet; $405,800 for a 714-square-foot one-bedroom unit with lanai; $394,000 for a 776-square-foot, two-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath unit with a lanai; and $422,900 for an 816-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bath unit with a lanai, according to a full-page notice in Friday’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Marcus & Associates is handling sales for the project.

“This project addresses the critical shortage of housing that Hawaii’s residents can afford in Honolulu’s urban core,” Hung said in a statement. “We are excited about delivering quality housing in Kakaako in support of Gov. Abercrombie’s pledge to make Kakaako a ‘live, work and play’ community.”

The site is currently being used by the CBS television show “Hawaii Five-0” as a soundstage. Production on the show’s third season is scheduled to finish in May. The show is moving to the state’s Hawaii Film Studio at Diamond Head next month, state Film Commissioner Donne Dawson told PBN.

Construction on the project will begin this summer. Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. is the general contractor, and Kazu Yato AIA & Associates Inc. is the project’s architect.

http://realestate.hawaiiamericana.com/i/6351/KAKAAKO_NEIGHBORHOOD