Whole Foods Market has announced that they will be opening up a grocery store in the Ward Village redevelopment in Kakaako. According to Whole Foods, they will be demolishing the former Nordstrom Rack, the existing Office Depot and the surrounding surface parking lot to build a 50,000 sq ft store at the corner of Queen Street and Kamalee Street. A parking garage with 500 stalls will be built above the store. This newest location will be the largest Whole Foods in the state of Hawaii and will become its flagship location. Claire Sullivan, who is in charge of coordinating, purchasing and public affairs for Whole Foods' Hawaii, stated, "It's a fantastic site. We've been really interested in having a Whole Foods in the Kakaako area. It's a vibrant area. We think we'll be well received there."
Nick Vanderboom, the Senior Vice President for Development for Howard Hughes Corp which owns and operates Ward Village commented, "The whole block will be redeveloped. We'll be putting in a road on the Ewa side of the block and a road between Ward Entertainment and the redeveloped project. By adding roads, we'll be providing improved access to not only the mixed-use project, but Ward Entertainment Center and future projects in Ward Village." Howard Hughes Corp owns the entire 60-acre Ward Village and plans to build 22 residential towers with as many as 4,300 residential units.
Stephany Sofos, a local retail analyst, stated, "This Kakaako development is going to be a city within a city. And where do people go when they're in a city? It's to the grocery store to get food. This is over an acre of land, and it's going to have a restaurant, a deli and a bar, so it's actually going to become the center of socializing as well as buying your groceries in a safe, convenient atmosphere. You're going to have an awful lot of residential and commercial bodies running around the area, and this is perfect for the area. I think Whole Foods will do extremely well in that location."
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 5-7-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Principal Broker, REALTOR®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
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