The former Royal Brewery building, located on Queen Street in downtown Honolulu, is a historic brick building built in 1900 and is owned by the state of Hawaii and managed by the Hawaii Community Development Authority. In 1996, the building started to undergo a renovation project, but the flooring that was installed started to emit noxious fumes. The former Royal Brewery has been vacant since then and the state is now deciding if they should spend $5 million to fix the problem and make the building habitable again. If they are able to renovate the building, the Hawaii Community Development Authority would move their offices into it, saving their state agency approximately $180,000 in rent for the space that they lease in a converted warehouse several blocks away in Kakaako.
According to state records, the fumes were caused from a termite treatment that was used on beams and flooring installed as part of the 1996 renovation project. The state sued the contractors and materials suppliers in 2004 and eventually settled the case for $1 million in 2011. In 2012, the state obtained new bids to replace the flooring, and the best offer was $4.9 million. The Hawaii Community Development Authority hopes to get $6.1 million from the state of Hawaii to renovated the former Royal Brewery building. HCDA’s executive director, Anthony Ching, commented, “It’s not an inexpensive move. It’s a very agonizing decision. This is something we would have preferred be done right the first time. Do we let (the building) go vacant for another 15 years?”
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 2-17-2013, 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
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
www.myhawaiicondo.com
www.myhawaiidreamhome.com
