Los Angeles-based developer Robertson Properties Group has purchased the remaining property of the four-story King Kalakaua Plaza building on the Ewa end of Waikiki that used to house such tenants as Niketown, Banana Republic and Official All Star Cafe for $10 million, according to public records.

Robertson Properties, which is owned by Decurion Corp. which also owns Pacific Theatres, ArcLight Cinemas and Hollybrook Senior Living, already owned a majority of the property.

Its latest purchase from Honolulu development and investment company Oceanfront Hawaii Inc., headed by Atsushi Takebayashi, includes a 6,711-square-foot parcel of land at the 2080 Kalakaua Ave. site.

That parcel has a total assessed value of about $3.1 million, according to tax records.

The building opened to much fanfare in 1998, but has remained vacant since its last remaining tenant, Niketown, closed in 2009, although the ground floor space is being utilized as a sales center for the nearby Ritz-Carlton Residences, Waikiki Beach condominium-hotel project.

The complex cost $45 million to build and was a joint venture between Honolulu’s the Honu Group and Lehman Brothers, which financed the project.

Lehman foreclosed on the project in 2006 and sought $79 million in principal, interest and penalties, though Lehman was also the majority owner of the project.

In 2010, Robertson Properties, the landowner, took control of the building and owned a majority of the property up until this recent acquisition from Oceanfront Hawaii.

The Los Angeles developer also has plans to redevelop the site of the former Kamehameha Drive-In across from Pearlridge shopping center in Aiea in Central Oahu into a mixed-use project.

PBN has reached out to Robertson Properties for comment.

Duane Shimogawa
Reporter
Pacific Business News