Economists Believe that Demand Will Be There for All the New Condominiums

A total of 5,000 new condominium units and 1,000 rental units have been planned to be developed in Oahu’s urban core over the next decade. While some people are questioning if there will be enough demand for these new buildings, many local economists and real estate experts believe that the increased supply won’t even be noticed. Paul Brewbaker, the chief economist of TZ Economics, commented, “It’s not a question of will there be enough buyers. The problem is, will there be enough condos?”

Below is a list of the planned buildings:

Waihonua, located on Queen Street, is being developed by Alexander & Baldwin Inc. Currently 321 of their 341 units have been sold. The building is scheduled to be completed in March 2015.

One Ala Moana, is located above the Nordstrom parking garage at the Ala Moana Center. The 210 units have been sold out. The MacNaughton Group and the Kobayashi Group are the local developers in partnership with the Howard Hughes Corp.

801 South Street was marketed as moderately priced building. All 635 units have been sold through a lottery drawing. At that time 300 lottery entrants did not secure a unit. Marshall Hung is the developer of this building.

Symphony Honolulu is located on the North West corner of Ward Avenue and Kapiolani Boulevard. Sales are expected to begin this summer.

404 Ward Avenue is the address of a new moderately priced condominium tower that the Howard Hughes Corporation will be building. Prices have not been specified as of yet. Sales are expected to begin this year. The building will have approximately 400 units.

1108 Auahi Street is the address of a new mid-luxury condominium tower that the Howard Hughes Corporation will be building. Prices have not been specified as of yet. Sales are expected to begin this year. The building will have approximately 300 units.

1140 Ala Moana is the address of a new luxury condominium tower that the Howard Hughes Corporation will be building. Prices have not been specified as of yet. Sales are expected to begin this year. The building will have approximately 200 units.

The Collection is a project being done by Alexander & Baldwin. Located at the site of the former CompUSA store on the corner of South Street and Ala Moana Blvd, the project will include 466 units including several townhouses. Sales are expect to begin later this summer.

803 Waimanu is a project being developed by Franco Mola and will be located on Waimanu Street near Cooke Street. The project will feature 217 units. Sales are expect to begin later this summer.

Aloha Kai is a planned project on Atkinson Drive on the property that is currently being occupied by the Central YMCA property. The developer is still seeking a city zoning change. The building would have 128 units.

Halekauwila Place is a rental project with 204 units being developed by Standord Carr.

690 Pohukaina is also a rental project with 804 units. The project is being planned by Ohio-based Forest City Enterprises Inc.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 6-3-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
www.myhawaiicondo.com
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Waihonua Construction Crew Finds 19 Additional Hawaiian Burials

Another 19 sets of ancient Hawaiian human remains were found during the excavation for the foundation of the new Waihonua at Kewalo condominium in Kakaako. Developer Alexander & Baldwin had previously discovered 27 burials on the property when they had conducted an archaeological survey in 2010 and lead A&B to redesign the building size and footprint. Six more iwi or burials were discovered in 2011 during an exploration of a layer of ground to recover Hawaiian cultural artifacts. Those iwi were allowed to be moved to another location on the property.

It is still unclear if these 19 newly discovered remains would force addition delays or create new changes. One additional challenge is that the new burials are believe to be be alii or royalty due to whale-tooth necklaces that were found with them. The State Department of Land and Natural Resources’ State Historic Preservation Division will be determining the treatment of the burials. The Oahu Island Burial Council and cultural descendants of the area will also be allowed input in the decision making process.

The Waihonua condominium project currently has binding contracts for 239 of their 341 units. The project is expected to be completed in April 2015.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 10-12-2012, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
www.myhawaiicondo.com
www.myhawaiidreamhome.com

Seven New Residential Towers Planned in Honolulu

A recovering real estate market on the island of Oahu has created a new push by developers to plan the construction of a total of seven high rise residential condominiums for Honolulu.  The first building to be built will be a 340-unit tower in Kakaako named Waihonua.  Alexander & Baldwin is the developer for Waihonua and has already started to accept nonbinding reservations.  Chris Benjamin, who is in charge of Alexander & Baldwin’s real estate division, stated, “We’re encouraged by the positive response we’re seeing.”  Construction for Waihonua is expected to start by the end of 2012.

The Symphony project was also recently announced by developer OliverMcMillan in partnership with local landowner Joe Nicolai.  They are hoping to build a 400-unit residential tower across the street from the Neal Blaisdell Center on the corner of Ward and Kapiolani.  The partnership is still waiting for state approval, but has stated that once that is given, sales would begin as early as the summer of 2012.

The MacNoughton Group will be co-developing a tower to be built over the Nordstrom parking garage at the Ala Moana Center.  The time table to build this 210-unit residential tower has not been announced, but a company spokesperson has stated that they would like to begin sales before Thanksgiving.

There are a total of four other towers that are being considered.  Two buildings may be built on the location formerly used by the Honolulu Advertiser in Kakaako.  California developer Jason Grosfeld has purchased a lot in Waikiki which is still zoned for high-rise condominium development.  Finally, Alexander & Baldwin also has stated that they would be interested in building a tower on the corner of South Street and Ala Moana Boulevard in Kakaako which was once occupied by CompUSA.  Alexander & Baldwin did clairfy that they would prefer to finish the sales in their Waihonua building prior to making plans to build another high-rise building.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 2-26-2012, www.staradvertiser.com

Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor

Global Executive Realty, LLC

www.myhawaiihomesearch.com

www.myhawaiicondo.com

www.myhawaiidreamhome.com