Hampton Inn Hotel & Suites to Be Built in Kapolei

Hilton Worldwide has announced that they have come to an agreement to build a Hampton Inn & Suites at the planned Ka Makana Ali'i regional mall in Kapolei. The tentative plan is to build a 175-room hotel as part of the mall's 750,000 sq ft first phase.  Construction will begin in mid-2015 and the Hampton Inn would open sometime in 2016.  Hilton currently has six hotels and seven-time share properties in Hawaii, but does not have a Hampton hotel in the islands yet.  Bill Fortier, a senior vice president of development for Hilton, commented, "As one of the world's most sought-after travel destinations, it is only fitting to expand Hampton Hotels to Hawaii, bringing a successful mid-priced product to the market."

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 12-23-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
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Kapolei Lofts Breaks Ground

Developer Forest City Enterprises Inc has announced that the Kapolei Lofts development will break ground this week and is expected to complete its first homes in the fourth quarter of 2015.  Kapolei Lofts will feature 499 rental apartment units and will cost approximately $140 million to complete. Spokesman Dave Rae stated, "We're very excited about it, not just for bringing people to the urban area of Kapolei, but also meeting an incredible need for rental housing."

According to the developer, the Kapolei Lofts will be available at largely market-price rents, though 20 percent of the units will be affordable to lower-income households. Units will range in size from 400 sq ft one-bedrooms, all the way up to 1,200 sq ft three bedrooms and will cost between $1,250 to $3,200 per month.  The complex will feature a resort style pool, a cybercafe, a bike-sharing fleet, a gym, and rooms for meetings and entertainments.  Rental applications will be accepted starting next summer.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 11-2-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
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Hennes & Mauritz to Open Stores in Kapolei and Ala Moana

Hennes & Mauritz, also known as H&M, has announced that they will be building a second Hawaii location in Ka Makana Alii, the new regional mall in Kapolei, as would eventually like to build a third location in Ala Moana Center.  Ka Makana Alii is scheduled to open its first phase in 2016 and developer DeBartolo Development is excited to have H&M as one of their anchor tenants. Edward Kobel, the president and COO for DeBartolo stated, "H&M will provide easy access to contemporary fashion for area families, who will enjoy the convenience of having such a sought-after brand just minutes away."

H&M's first Hawaii location was built in the Waikiki Business Plaza earlier this year.  The store is reportedly doing very well.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 7-30-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
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Regal Entertainment Group to Open 12-Screen Movie Theater at Kapolei Commons

The Regal Entertainment Group has announced that they will be opening a 12-screen theater at Kapolei Commons. According to their announcement, the 52,000 sq ft theater should open next year and will feature electric reclining seats and upgraded menu options.  Jerry Grewe, the vice president of real estate for Regal Entertainment Group, stated, "Regal is thrilled to be adding another fantastic entertainment option for our loyal customers on the island of Oahu. Regal Kapolei Stadium 12 will feature a new level of amenities for moviegoing." Regal currently operates nine cinemas in Hawaii and about 570 throughout the U.S.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 7-11-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
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Ka Makana Alii Mall Update

DeBartolo Development LLC, the developer for the Ka Makana Alii Mall which is being built in Kapolei, has announced that they have signed Macy's to be one of their anchor tenants. The $500 million Ka Makana Alii project will have over 100 shopping, dinning and entertainment-related tenants as well as two hotels and office space when completed. Edward Kobel, the President and COO of DeBartolo Development, stated, "Demand for leasing space at Ka Makana Alii has been overwhelming with over 80 percent of space either in lease or active negotiations. We are confident that the addition of Macy's will only heighten interest from local and national retailers.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 5-30-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
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Mokulele Airline Prepares for Service Out of Kalaeloa Airport on Oahu

Mokulele Airlines hopes to start the first-ever commercial flight service from Kalaeloa Airport on July 1, 2014. Kalaeloa Airport, located on the west side of Oahu, was previously known as the Barbers Point Naval Air Station. There are still a lot of hurdles for Mokulele Airlines to overcome, including finalizing a lease with the state to rent the property. However, officials for the airline are confident that everything will fall into place.

Tentatively, the airline plans to fly two to three daily flights from Kalaeloa Airport to Kahului (Maui), Molokai and Lanai, as well as possible service to Kapalua (West Maui). Mokulele current operates more than 120 flights per day and connects Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Maui and Hawaii (Big Island of Hawaii) island.  According to a previous press release, they plan to purchase two of three more small Caravan planes to help meet demand.

The majority of the West Oahu residents are delighted by this news. Dean Capelouto, the transportation committee chairman of the Makakilo/Kapolei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board, commented, "There's a lot of people looking at this as an option of flying from the neighbor islands to get directly to Ko Olina, which is only a hop, skip and a jump from Kapolei. We're supportive of this as a neighborhood board because it promotes business of all sorts. It actually adds potential jobs in our community either via the connector taxi service picking people up from Kalaeloa and taking them where they need to go or at the ticket counter."

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 4-20-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
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54-Acre Commercial Land in Kapolei Purchased for $24 Million

Avalon Development Co. LLC, a local development firm, has announced that they have purchased the second phase of the Kapolei Business Park for $25 million.  The tentative plan is to divide the 54-acre industrial subdivision into 17 smaller lots to sell to businesses that have industrial needs. Avalon also plans to retain a total of 26-acres into a commercial complex with space available for businesses to lease.  President and CEO of Avalon, Christine Camp, stated, "This is an unprecedented time for growth of construction-related industries on Oahu. With limited land available for private ownership, Kapolei Business Park will be a beacon for small-business empowerment." Camp added that she plans to start sales soon, and hopes to be able to deliver the lots to buyers by the end of this year.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 4-11-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
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Honolulu Rail Project - Mock-Up of Rail Car on Display at Kapolei Hale

The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) has announced that a life-size mock-up of the rail cars that will be used for the Honolulu Rail Project are now on display at Kapolei Hale. The model will be available for viewing during regular business hours from now until the end of April for anyone who is interested in seeing what the rail cars will look like.  The building will be also open from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Saturday and Sundays for the public.  The first real rail cars are expected to arrive on Oahu in 2016.  The first section of the rail project is expected to be completed in 2017.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 2-14-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
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Update on Ka Makana Ali'i Shopping in Kapolei

DeBartolo Development LLC held a blessing ceremony at the site of the planned Ka Makana Ali'i shopping mall in Kapolei despite not having signed an official lease agreement with the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, which owns the 67 acre site.  The DHHL has provided a contract with DeBartolo to pay them $600 million in base rent over 65 years and a percentage of the rent that the mall would receive from their tenants, which would amount to approximately another $400 million. DeBartolo hopes to work out the final details of the lease shortly, as they have stated that they would like to begin construction of the 1.4 million sq ft mall by the end of this year.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 1-24-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
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Plans for Kapolei's Olive Garden Restaurant Put on Hold

Darden Restaurants, the parent company of Olive Garden, has announced that it will be suspending the opening of all new restaurant locations in an effort to boost value for its shareholders.  This is bad news for Oahu residents who were hoping that the first Olive Garden would be built in Kapolei in 2015.  While it is possible that Draden has simply decided to "pause" the construction for a while, the company has declined to make an definitive answer about the fate of the Kapolei Olive Garden.  There are currently 834 Olive Gardens in the United States and Canada.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 12-20-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
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Construction To Resume for Honolulu Rail Project

The Honolulu City Council has given their approval to resume construction of the Honolulu Rail Project after more than a year of delays.  Permits have been issued for construction crews to erect concrete columns in East Kapolei, and the areas under the maintenance and storage facility in Waipahu will be regraded.  Executive Director for the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, Dan Grabauskas, stated that he is very happy about the City Council's approval.  Grabauskas had previously stated that the city is losing about $200,000 per day while construction has been halted.  In total, Grabauskas estimated that the city has lost between $30 million to $35 million since construction was halted in 2012.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 9-12-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
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Four New Condominiums Proposed in Kapolei

Developer Franco Mola and his company, Coastal Rim Properties Inc., has proposed building four new condominium towers in the downtown business district of Kapolei, on the Western Coast of Oahu.  According to Mola's plan, each of the four towers will be between 10 to 12 stories tall, and there will be a courtyard in the center of the buildings.  One of the towers will be "affordable senior housing" while the other three towers would be considered workforce housing.  There will also be some ground-floor retail space planned for each of the towers as well as a community garden, recreation areas, and an open-air pavilion.

Kioni Dudley, the chairman of the Kapolei Neighborhood Board's planning and zoning committee, seems to support the idea in general and commented, "Kapolei is supposed to be a city, but they've never built it.  These are the first buildings in the new business district that are of any height whatsoever. It turns out to be condo buildings. Our whole problem out here is that all we get is bedroom communities and we have to depend on jobs in Honolulu rather than in our second city. Our freeway just gets more and more crowded with people going into Honolulu because there's no real business center.  The downtown business district of Kapo­lei is currently pretty much of a ghost town, a skeleton grid of cross streets surrounding 60 blocks of empty property. The city itself is entirely empty. It's a bunch of cross streets with no buildings in them."

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 8-21-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
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State Plans to Build New Elementary School in Kapolei

The state of Hawaii government has announced that they will be building a new elementary school in Kapolei and expanding an existing elementary school in Ewa.  Kapolei II Elementary School will cost approximately $40 million to build and will be located on a 12-acre site just west of Kapolei High School on Fort Barrette Road.  The new elementary school is scheduled to be completed prior to the 2015-2016 school year and would be able to take in 750 students.  The land was donated to the state by developer D.R. Horton.  Currently existing Ewa Elementary School will be receiving a new $9.6 million building.  This building would have seven classrooms, a computer lab, a faculty center, restrooms and utility/mechanical spaces.

State Representative Sharon Har stated, "I'm ecstatic the governor released this money because I think it's an acknowledgement of our ever-growing population.  We need to keep up with the investments in infrastructure.  The Kapolei region is the fastest-growing region in the state of Hawaii, that's a fact.  But I feel like we often get the short end of the stick. Government created this ‘Second City' concept and residents did their part by moving out here, but government hasn't kept up with the infrastructure, and that includes schools.  Now we have ourselves in a situation where Kapolei Elementary and Kapolei Middle have to be run year-round as multitrack schools, with six or seven different tracks, in order to accommodate the population because you have such an overload in capacity of students."

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 6-30-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
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Kapolei Real Estate – Ka Makana Ali’i Regional Mall Update

DeBartolo Development LLC has announced that they will be increasing the first phase of the Ka Makana Ali’i regional mall in East Kapolei from 200,000 sq ft to 700,000 sq ft due to improving market conditions. The first phase would include a total of 75 tenants, a department store, a movie theater, restaurants and a hotel. A second phase is also being planned to increase Ka Makana to a total of 1.4 million sq ft in a few years. This will make the Ka Makana the third largest shopping center in Hawaii behind Ala Moana and Pearl Ridge.

Construction is expected to begin in January 14, 2014 and the first tenants could be in place as quickly as Fall of 2015. The two phases would cost approximately $500 million to build, or $260 million and $240 million respectively. Other than the construction jobs that would be created to build Ka Makana, it is expected that the shopping center will generate 8,000 long-term jobs.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 5-3-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
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Hawaii Real Estate – State to Sell Two Affordable Housing Rental Projects

The Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. has agreed to sell two affordable housing rental projects to the Vitus Group.  The two projects are Kekuilani Gardens located in Kapolei on Oahu, and Nani o Puna located in Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii.  Under the agreement, Vitus Group would buy the two apartment complexes for approximately $9.5 million and then lease the land from the State of Hawaii for the next 75 years.  Vitus would also stated that they would spend about $3 million to renovate Kekuilani Gardens and $2.2 million to renovate Nani o Puna.

Over the last few years, the state has suggested selling its nine affordable-housing projects to private investment groups.  The idea being that the private sector would be able to do a better job maintaining the projects due to the fact that they would not be bound by procurement rules and other bureaucratic issues.  However, there has been a concern from the public regarding oversight of these private property management companies.  The Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. felt that the Vitus Group would be a good fit, since they currently manage over 7,000 affordable units in 14 states, including six projects in the Hawaiian Islands.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 4-13-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
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New Affordable Housing Project in Kapolei Accepting Applications

The Mutual Housing Association of Hawaii has announced that they will now be accepting applications for the Ko’oloa’ula Apartments, a new affordable housing project in East Kapolei.  The initial phase of the $35.4 million community will contain 120 apartments within three-story townhouse buildings.  There will be one, two, three and four bedroom units in the complex and rents will be between $519 and $1,550 depending on the size of the apartment.

Applicants can go to www.mutual-housing.org or call 550-3800.  Applications must be in by January 14, 2012 and a lottery will be held on January 19, 2012.  Restrictions include having a maximum annual income of $43,260 for a one-person household, $49,440 for a two-person household, and $61,800 for a four person household.  There are other maximum limits depending on the size of the household.  The project will serve individuals, households and seniors with incomes between 30 an 60 percent of Honolulu’s median incomes as established by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 12-8-2012, www.staradvertiser.com
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Developer Peter Savio to Expand Pagoda Brand

For the past several years developer Peter Savio has worked hard to create his Pagado brand of Hotels which caters towards kamaaina (local Hawaii residents) and college students who are looking for clean but economical rooms.  At a recent press conference, Savio has announced that he will be expanding his Pagoda hotel brand to two additional locations, in Kapolei on the island of Oahu and in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii.  Both sites are located extremely close to the University of Hawaii’s West Oahu Campus or the University of Hawaii Hilo Campus, respectively, and Savio believes that students will help to keep the occupancy rates high.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 11-6-2012, www.staradvertiser.com
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Foodland Super Market to Open Store

Foodland Super Market Ltd. will be opening a new store at the Kapolei Village Center.  The store will be located at 4850 Kapolei Parkway and will be approximately 36,000 sq ft in size.  Chairwoman and CEO of Foodland, Janai Wall, stated, “After many months of preparation and planning, we are excited to finally be opening Foodland Kapolei.  As a locally-owned company, we truly care about the communities we serve, and know that we will be a great community partner in Kapolei. Many of our customers have told us they want and need a locally-owned supermarket in Kapolei, and we are excited to open this brand new store to serve them.”  The store will hold their grand opening on October 17, 2012 and will be open daily from 5 am to 11 pm.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 10-6-2012, www.staradvertiser.com
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Honolulu Rail Project – City Under Attack for Construction on Land Not Yet Owned

Opponents of the Honolulu Rail Project are criticizing city officials for starting construction this past summer on land that the city did not own. According to rail documents which were made public, there were two sites in Waipahu and Kapolei where crews started putting in guideway columns and grading land in an effort to keep the rail project on time and on budget. However, while the city intended to acquire both properties at a later date, they did not own the land at the time of construction.  City officials argued that this is a “standard practice for larger parcels where we gain a legal right of entry pending closing on the sale.” Officials also noted, “On a project of this size it is critical to keep things moving so that we are on time and on budget.”

Currently, the city has stopped all construction after the Hawaii Supreme Court had ruled that an archaeological survey of the entire 20-mile route was needed before construction could resume. It is estimated that this delay, which could last eight to ten months, will cost tax payers $7 million to $10 million per month.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 9-30-2012, www.staradvertiser.com
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Hawaii Real Estate – Ka Makana Ali’i Development Pushed Back to 2013

DeBartolo Development LLC has previously hoped to start the construction of Ka Makana Ali’i Regional Shopping Center by the middle of 2012, but has now announced that construction will start in 2013.  Ka Makana Ali’i will be built in East Kapolei and will cost an estimated $350 million to develop.  DeBartolo has stated that many tenants have already signed on for the first phase of development including Walgreens, 24 Hour Fitness, and State Farm Insurance.  McDonald’s is also in their final lease negotiations with the developer.  These stores would probably begin opening in 2014.

The 67-acre mall site is actually being leased from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.  The DHHL is expecting to receive more then $140 million in lease rent over the first 25 years of the development.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 6-14-2012, www.staradvertiser.com

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