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Saturday, October 25, 2014

Ko Olina Resort Redevelopment to Cost $500 Million

Real estate developer Jeff Stone has announced that he will be unveiling his new vision to change the existing JW Marriott Ihilani hotel at Ko Olina into a Four Seasons resort. Jeff Stone will be partnering with Westbank, a Canadian company, to acquire the property for $250 million and to redevelop the property for another $250 million.  Under the proposal, a new 15-story tower with 150 luxury homes will be built and will be branded as Hawaii's first Four Seasons' Estates.  The existing 401 room hotel will be closed for about a year starting in January and will be converted to 195 rooms dedicated for hotel rooms and 206 resort condominium residences priced at $1.5 million to $5 million.  There will also be a new wedding chapel, two new main pools, seven new private pools, a coconut grove and a water promenade.  Stone stated, "This is the fulfillment of a long-held dream for Ko Olina. The economic impact of the project, the return to the state and county, is over $1 billion. This is a real hotel with real residences that are part of the hotel. No brand has ever come and done this."

For the 500 employees currently working at the Ihilani Resort, they will receive one week's pay and one week's medical coverage for each year of service.  Stone stated that he expects to rehire about 800 workers once the renovation is completed in a year and added, "We're expecting every single person to reapply. These are very valuable people. We're going to do everything we can to keep them."

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 10-25-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Principal Broker, REALTOR®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
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