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
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
www.myhawaiicondo.com
www.myhawaiidreamhome.com

Ihilani Resort Will Probably Be Converted into a Condominium

While developer Jeff Stone has not officially announced what he plans to do with the JW Marriott Ihilani hotel at Ko Olina Resort & Marina, a condominium registration report has been filed by one of Stone's subsidiary companies  with the Hawaii Real Estate Commission.  The report states that the 387-room hotel will be converted into 206 residential resort units and the sales of the units will be managed by the Ko Olina Realty LLC, a brokerage firm affiliated with Jeff Stone.  Additional work may be completed to the Ihilani, including demolishing part of the banquet pavilion to build a new residential tower or towers. It is generally believed that the Four Seasons will take over as the management company for the Ihilani once it finishes its condominium conversion process, through, neither Jeff Stone nor the Four Seasons has confirmed that.  However, in the designs provided in the condominium registration report, it does specifically list drawings that state "new exclusive Four Seasons entrance" would be located along the Ihilani's entry road.

No price range for the units have been mentioned, though industry experts believe that they will be similar to those of the Ritz Carlton Waikiki Project, which ranged from $568,800 for a studio to $20 million for a penthouse unit.  The report did note that the majority of the units would be studios ranging from 428 sq ft to 929 sq ft in size.  There will also be 12 one-bedroom suites, and a presidential suite that will have 2,948 sq ft of living space.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 10-15-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Principal Broker, REALTOR®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
www.myhawaiicondo.com
www.myhawaiidreamhome.com