Big Island Real Estate – Royal Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Company Goes Retail

The ML Macadamia Orchards LP had previously sold all of their macadamia nuts in bulk to the Hershey Chocolate Company’s Mauna Loa division.  However, after Hershey decided to go in a different direction, the world’s largest grower of macadamia nuts renamed themselves the Royal Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Company and has decided to enter the retail market for themselves.  The Hilo based company had approximated 5,070 acres of orchards on the Big Island of Hawaii and produced 21.8 million pounds of nut last year.  Company president Dennis Simonis stated, “Macadamias are best known as ingredients in indulgent products such as candy and desserts.  Royal Hawaiian believes marketing macadamias as part of a healthy diet to health-conscious consumers will drive incremental nut category sales and profits for retailers.” The nuts are currently available on the Royal Hawaiian website, and will be available in retail stores throughout Hawaii and on the mainland United States by the end if the year.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 11-14-2012, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
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Kurt Matsumoto is New Chief Operating Officer of Lanai Resorts LLC

In June 2012, billionaire Larry Ellison purchased 98% of the land on the island of Lanai from the Castle & Cooke Foundation.  Ellison, the CEO for software giant Oracle Corp., has just announced that he will be hiring Lanai native Kurt Matsumoto to be his new Chief Operating Officer for Lanai Resort LLC.  As COO, Matsumoto would manage all of Ellison’s Lanai holdings which would include The Lodge at Koele, the Four Seasons Resort at Manele Bay, two golf courses, several luxury home development, utilities and a plan to establish the island as a grower and exporter of organic produce.

Matsumoto was born on Lanai and was once the vice president of resorts and administration on the island for Castle & Cooke.  He was also the general manager for  Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows on the Big Island of Hawaii.  Matsumoto stated, “I never imagined I’d get an opportunity like this.  This job is really important to me. Lanai is my home.  My feeling is (that Ellison) really has the right intent: to take the strengths of the island and use it to an advantage, not just for himself, but for the community, too. This is a really good second chance for Lanai.”

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 11-14-2012, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
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Maui Real Estate – Lahaina Gateway Purchased by TNP Strategic Retail Trust

The Lahaina Gateway is a 137,000 sq ft shopping center that was originally developed by Bilarjo LLC in 2008 for a total of $47 million. Bilarjo struggled during the economic recession and filed for bankruptcy in 2010. Bilarjo lost the property in 2011 to foreclosure. TNP Strategic Retail Trust has just announced that they have purchased the shopping center for $32 million. TNP stated that approximately 81 percent of their units are currently leased to tenants and hopes to fill the remaining 19 percent shortly.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 11-13-2012, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
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Kauai Real Estate – Hanalei Plantation Resort Project Update

Pierre Omidyar, the founder eBay, currently owns a large property on the northeast side of Hanalei Bay on the island Kauai. Omidyar and his development team, Ohana Real Estate Investors, are hoping to convert 63.6 acres of the property into a new development called Hanalei Plantation Resort. The plan calls for building a total of 34 single-family vacation houses and an additional 86 single-story bungalow hotel units. The developer would also build a spa facility, wellness center, meeting rooms, and dining and beach facilities for their residents’ use.

However, the proposed project has already received serious opposition from Kauai residents, who are concerned that the project would ruin the view from Hanalei Bay and transform the natural beauty of the area. Nearly 5,000 residents have signed a petition to preserve Hanalei Ridge. The opposition group is proposing to have Omidyar and his developers set aside a section of his land to become conservation land. They have also requested that 25 out of the 34 proposed houses be relocated so as to not obstruct the view plane.

If you would like to find out additional information about the project, please go to www.hana­lei-­plantation.com or www.savehanaleiriverridge.com

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 11-13-2012, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
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Proposal to Ban Smoking at Five Additional Beach Parks

City Councilman Stanley Chang has introduced a new bill (Bill 72, 2012) which would ban smoking at Kapiolani Beach Park, Duke Kahanamoku Beach, Kuhio Beach, Sandy Beach, and Ala Moana Regional Park. All five beach parks are maintained by Honolulu’s Department of Parks and Recreation. Chang stated, “Cigarette butts are the single largest cause of litter both at our beaches and generally in the community. We’re very concerned about the litter problem that the butts present, as well as the public health and safety issue. When people on the beach are exposed to the lit butts in the sand, that’s a big problem. If this is successful, absolutely there could be a beach park smoking ban island wide.” Chang’s proposal is not without precedence. Currently all public beach parks on the Big Island of Hawaii (Hawaii County) has banned smoking. On the island of Oahu, the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve is already smoke free.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 11-13-2012, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
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Hotel Numbers Strong for Hawaii in September 2012

According to a report released by Smith Travel Research and Hospitality Advisors LLC, hotel occupancy across the state was 73.8 percent in September 2012.  More impressively, the average daily rate had increased by 8 percent to $186.47 and revenue per available room had increased by 7 percent to $137.61 per night.  While these numbers have been strong, industry experts are quick to point out that higher costs have reduced hotel profits.  Chief Executive Officer for Outrigger Enterprises, David Carey, commented, ”The untold story is that while we may be having really positive revenues, we’re also experiencing record cost increases.  Those costs marched along, rising all the way through the period. Profit margins have gone down because costs over the five-year period have grown faster than revenue.”  

President and CEO for Hospitality Advisors, Joseph Toy, added, ”There’s certainly higher labor costs and utilities have gone up substantially. Property maintenance costs overall have increased.  There’s a lot of pressure on earnings. It’s a new norm. Some of these costs are just going to be there.  The whole story of the year has been really the recovery, which in turn was driven by Oahu.  The Oahu market in turn was driven by a sharp increase in Japanese and other Asian markets like Korea and China, which all had double-digit growth. These markets overwhelmingly stay at hotels when compared to U.S. visitors who choose other types of accommodations, including time share and condominiums.”

The island of Oahu had the highest occupancy rate at 84.5 percent with Waikiki in particular having an occupancy rate of 85.9 percent. Maui, by comparison, had an occupancy rate of 65.1 percent and Kauai had an occupancy rate of 68.7 percent.  The Big Island of Hawaii had the lowest occupancy rate of 54.2 percent.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 11-12-2012, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
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Hawaiian Airlines is Financially Strong

On March 21, 2003, Hawaiian Airlines had filed for bankruptcy and stayed there for 26 months until June 2, 2005.  At that point, many wondered if Hawaiian Airlines would ever fully recover and return to its former glory and success.  Fortunately for the company, strong leadership has helped to turn around their operations completely and an improving economy has allowed Hawaiian to add new domestic and international routes.  Since 2005, Hawaiian has increased the number of employees from 3,317 to 4,816 and has plans to add another 300 positions in 2013.

Imperial Capital investment bank’s analyst, Bob McAdoo, stated, ”It’s a very different company since bankruptcy.  In addition to having more money in the bank, they’ve diversified their customer base and gone into a bunch of markets that are a lot less likely to have competition, or where the competition is very different from where they were historically. Historically, their long-haul business was competing against people who were much bigger than them, and they were competing on the basis of price for U.S. customers coming from the West Coast. I think now they have a better book of business, and they’ve spread the risk.”

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 11-11-2012, 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