YMCA Offers to Sell or Lease Two Residence Halls Next to Manoa Campus

The YMCA of Honolulu has announced that they would like to sell or lease two residence halls that they own on the corner of University Avenue and Metcalf Street next to the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Colliers International, a commercial real estate brokerage firm, will be marketing the property without an asking price, but suggest that a new owner could either renovate the two buildings and keep it as student housing or convert them into either senior housing or condominium units.  Colliers issued a statement that read, "The YMCA board determined that continuing to allocate association funding and staffing to maintain and provide upgrades to the Atherton YMCA residence hall services and buildings was not an efficient way of expanding the Y's mission of strengthening community through programs focused on youth development, healthy living and social responsibility."  The money from the sale of the property will help the YMCA expand services elsewhere.

The City and County of Honolulu values the property for tax purposes at $10.4 million. Colliers commented that the replacement cost of the two buildings is closer to $13.5 million.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 11-18-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Principal Broker, REALTOR®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
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Public Schools Showed Improvement Through "Strive HI" Program

The state Department of Education released their results from their new "Strive HI" system which is designed to better prepare students for success in college and in careers.  The program credits schools for improvement in test scores, attendance, graduation and college-going rates, and works to close the achievement gap between high needs students and their peers.  Ronn Nozoe, the Schools Deputy Superintendent, stated, "The Strive HI system really focuses on a continuum-of-improvement concept. No Child Left Behind was either ‘met' or ‘not met', that's it. It didn't give schools a whole lot of detail about what was working at their schools. Our system is built on multiple measures that allow us to have a very comprehensive and detailed look at a bunch of success factors that we believe are the most critical ones for student success, and measure them."

Under the Strive HI program, schools could earn a maximum score of 400 points.  Manoa Elementary topped the list with 387 points.

To see where a school ranked, go to: http://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/DOE%20Forms/StriveHIIndexReports/2013StriveHISchoolListFINAL.pdf

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 8-20-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, REALTOR®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
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Waioli Tea Room and Bakery Lease to Expire in November

Brian Jahnke, the restaurant operator of the Waioli Tea Room and Bakery in Manoa Valley, has announced that he will not renew his lease with the Salvation Army after November 3, 2013. Jahnke commented, “The lease is up and I had a chance to renew, but decided not to. Gas, water and electric doubled,” he said. Utilities went up by $5,000 a month, and those expenses plus rent, maintenance and insurance make the operation “not profitable for me.” Jahnke reminisced, “I took over (in 2003) because it was my favorite restaurant and I’d heard that it was closing. (I called the Salvation Army to complain about the planned closure) and six weeks later I was running the place. You have to be careful what you complain about. It’s part of Hawaii’s history, like the last holdout of old Hawaii. It’s just been a great run for me.”

The land beneath the property is owned the the Salvation Army, and representatives of the non-profit organization have announced that they plan to keep operating a restaurant on the site, but have released no additional specific information. On possibility is that the Salvation Army will run the facilities themselves, which is something they did between 1922 and 2003.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 2-7-2013, 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