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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Hotel could be part of mixed-use project across from Hawaii Convention Center

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A rendering of the proposed "Manaolana Place" mixed-use project at the corner of Atkinson Drive and Kapiolani Boulevard in Honolulu across from the Hawaii Convention Center

A rendering of the proposed “Manaolana Place” mixed-use project at the corner of Atkinson Drive and Kapiolani Boulevard in Honolulu across from the Hawaii Convention Center

A hotel could be part of a new mixed-use project being planned for the corner of Kapiolani Boulevard and Atkinson Drive in Honolulu across from the Hawaii Convention Center and near Ala Moana Center, the developer told PBN.

Jim Ratkovich, CEO of James Ratkovich & Associates Inc., a Los Angeles-based real estate advisory and development firm, who has developed other projects in Hawaii, as well as Bill Witte, president of Salem Partners, a Los Angeles-based investment bank and wealth management firm, have inked a joint venture agreement with Japan-based Kaijima Kagaku USA Inc. on the “Manaolana Place” project.

Ratkovich and Witte, who have formed Manaolana Partners for the development, and Kaijima Kagaku have agreed to combine their properties, which total about 51,000 square feet, to build the 400-foot high-rise project that was first reported by PBN.

Manaolana Partners’ lot is about 36,000 square feet and is located behind the Atkinson Center, which includes such retailers as 7-Eleven, Subway and Supercuts.

Kaijima Kagaku’s lot, which is occupied by the Atkinson Center, is about 15,000 square feet.

“We approached the owners of the property next door and reached an agreement with them to form a joint agreement,” Ratkovich said.

He told PBN that, conceptually, it is a residential project that could have a hotel component.

The current zoning for the property does allow for hotel uses, Ratkovich said.

“We would love for it to have a hotel component if we can figure out how to make it work financially,” he said. “We’re not at that point yet, this is purely conceptual.”

Witte noted that the number of units making up the project is still to be determined.

Ratkovich, who was part of the development team for the Wailea Beach Villas on Maui and once helped raise $75 million in financing for the Airport Industrial Park in Honolulu, said that it is going through the transit-oriented development process right now.

“We have filed our application, and initiated traffic studies, sewer capacity studies, community outreach,” he said. “We have been working with the mayor’s office, visited with every council person and we’re gathering information and opinions, working on a community benefits package.”

Ratkovich pointed out that if everything goes as planned, that process should be completed in the next six months.

Salem Partners is the equity partner on the project. A construction lender has not been decided upon yet.

Honolulu-based Architects Hawaii is handling the design of the development.

No construction firm has been chosen yet.

The development is the second tower being planned for the area.

The proposed 128-unit “Aloha Kai” condominium project, which will also be located on Atkinson Drive next to a newly redeveloped YMCA of Honolulu Central branch, is still going through its development phase.

Duane Shimogawa Reporter – Pacific Business News