Shimogawa Scoops

A fast-food restaurant chain based in the Netherlands is expanding to Hawaii with a new location at the Royal Hawaiian Center in Waikiki. Wok to Walk, which features wok stir-fried Asian cuisine, filed a $300,000 building permit with Honolulu regulators on Thursday for a new restaurant at the Royal Hawaiian Center. Honolulu architect Takao Ugai of Focus Labo LLC is listed as the architect for the project. Founded in 2004, Wok to Walk, whose food is served in oyster pails, has locations all over the world, including in such cities as London, Berlin, Madrid, New York City and Lisbon. The Amsterdam-based restaurant joins other restaurants at the Royal Hawaiian Center such as The Cheesecake Factory, Doraku Sushi, Ezogiku and Noi Thai Cuisine.

The California company planning to build a big wind energy farm on Oahu's North Shore filed building permits on Wednesday, signaling that the long-delayed project is finally moving forward. Na Pua Makani Power Partners, headed by California's Champlin, filed a $3.1 million permit with Honolulu regulators to build four wind turbines and a meteorological evaluation tower. Hawaii Engineering Group is a consultant on the project. Another permit filed Wednesday was for the development of a maintenance and operation building. The 25-megawatt wind farm, which is being built in Kahuku, joins two other wind projects on the North Shore.

A California real estate investment firm has purchased a shopping center on the Big Island of Hawaii for about $13.6 million. The nearly three-acre Coconut Grove Marketplace in Kailua-Kona, which includes nearly 30,000-square-feet of building space, is home to such tenants as Outback Steakhouse, Bongo Ben's Island Café and Humpy's Ale House. The seller of the shopping center on Alii Nui Drive was Texas-based Lone Star Funds. The shopping center has a total assessed value of about $6.9 million, public records show. The sale comes out to a purchase of $104 per square foot.

Dunkin' Donuts is opening a new shop inside at food court facility at the University of Hawaii Manoa campus in Honolulu. The East Coast donut and coffee giant filed a $50,000 building permit with Honolulu regulators on Thursday for its new shop at the Paradise Palms Cafe at UH Manoa. Aloha Petroleum is the exclusive franchisee for Dunkin' Donuts in Hawaii, which recently re-entered the Hawaii market with a location near the Honolulu International Airport. Several other donut shops are planned for the Islands. Paradise Palms is managed by UHM Food Services, and is located on the upper campus next to Hamilton Library and Kennedy Theater. It currently includes more than five food vendors, an air-conditioned dining room and an outdoor seating area.  Founded in Massachusetts in 1950, the company has grown to become one of the largest of its kind in the world with over 12,000 locations in more than 35 countries. Dunkin' reported revenues of $829 million in 2016. Its par...

Castle & Cooke plans to start construction on its 3,500-home Koa Ridge project in Central Oahu by the end of the year. The 576-acre project in Waipio near the Costco Wholesale store is expected to deliver its first homes and commercial spaces in 2019.  Last month, a consultant for the developer gave a brief update to the Pearl City Neighborhood Board, noting that road improvements are expected to be done prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy for any development within the long-planned project. Koa Ridge is expected to include a mix of housing types as well as retail and restaurant spaces, among other things. Towards the west in the Ewa plain, another major housing project — D.R. Horton Hawaii's 11,750-home Hoopili project has recently started construction. Despite these projects, and the condominium towers being built in Honolulu, the island of Oahu continues to be plagued by the lack of housing inventory, which has driven prices higher than they have e...

The Denver company that recently purchased Hawaii-based Outrigger Hotels and Resorts' portfolio of 37 properties has acquired another Hawaii hotel — the 311-room Courtyard Kaua'i at Coconut Beach on the eastside of the Garden Isle. The sale of the hotel, which was traded for $61.6 million, or $198,070 per room, closed last month. The 169,787-square-foot hotel occupies nearly 11 acres of land along Waipouli Beach, and has a total assessed value of $37.7 million. The seller — Kauai Coconut Beach LLC — purchased the hotel for $38 million in 2010. KSL Capital, which focuses on investing in travel and leisure businesses, has raised more than $7.5 billion in private equity and credit funds since 2005. Its investment portfolio includes such businesses as hotels and resorts, clubs, fitness, family entertainment, skiing and resort real estate.

A California-based developer that has three residential projects in the works on Oahu, including two in Honolulu, may be looking to develop another such project in Downtown Honolulu. Franco Mola's Coastal Rim Properties, which is the developer behind the planned 803 Waimanu Street and 929 Pumehana Street projects in Honolulu, as well as another project in Kapolei, filed a sewer connection application Tuesday to check sewer capacity on a Downtown Honolulu surface parking lot that went on the market earlier this year. The 12,842-square-foot lot at the corner of Alakea and Beretania streets, owned by Chicago's Next Realty, is currently being used as a nearly 40-stall parking lot. The possible development scenarios for the parcel include building a residential, hotel, office, retail or parking garage. Coastal Rim's permit includes a job description for "MCXCII Tower" for applicant "Alakea Affordable Housing," a company formed by Coastal Rim. The BMX-...

The University of Hawaii has given the green light on a joint venture involving Hawaii's Stanford Carr Development and Texas-based Hunt Cos. to develop 500 acres at the University of Hawaii West Oahu campus in Kapolei into an integrated campus and university village. Last month, the university executed an exclusive negotiation agreement with Carr and Hunt for a term of 12 months. The project includes mixed-use components including retail, restaurants and housing, among others. The university said a presentation on plan options is scheduled for next month.

More than 100 acres of land at University of Hawaii West Oahu's campus could be turned into a major agricultural venture. The University of Hawaii seeks to partner with a commercial agricultural company that can integrate agriculture education and workforce develop into its Sustainable Community Food Systems program. The plan would involve 120 acres of Class "A" ag-zoned lands on UH West Oahu's Mauka property in Kapolei. The university plans to issue an invitation to submit a proposal by the end of the year, according to recently filed public documents.

The University of Hawaii is looking to find a developer to build a new student housing facility that would replace the old National Oceanic  and Atmospheric Administration building on its Manoa campus in Honolulu. In public documents released earlier this month, the university's leadership revealed details of the project that would be built on the little more than two-acre parcel of land at 2560 Dole St., which is zoned for residential use. The property is assessed at $4.8 million, according to tax records. The land alone is valued at $46.87 per square foot. UH said it is in exploratory discussions with potential developers to determine the interest in developing a graduate/married student or facility housing facility. The project also could involve a child-care facility. The university holds the title of the property in fee. A few years ago, NOAA moved its Dole Street operation to Ford Island as part of a bigger consolidation plan involving its other locations across the isl...

An Atlanta-based investment advisor has purchased 500 acres of agricultural land on the Big Island of Hawaii for $3.5 million. Domain Capital Advisors, which has more than $4 billion assets under management, paid $7,000 per acre on its purchase of the hundreds of acres at the Kealakekua Heritage Ranch on the Kona Coast of the Big Island. The seller was Tom Pace. The land on Greenwell Mountain Road has a market value of about $2 million, public records show. The land has one improvement, a single-story, 1,412-square-foot home that was built in 1972. There have been several big land purchases by notable Mainland investors in the last several years including Oracle Corp.'s former CEO Larry Ellison's $300 million purchase of 98 percent of the island of Lanai in 2012 and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's more than $100 million purchase of hundreds of oceanfront acres on the island of Kauai. Molokai Ranch, which consists of about 35 percent of the island, is currently lis...

A company plans to open two new places for cats to stay while their owners are away, one in Honolulu and another on Maui, public records show. Catnip Hotels LLC was recently formed as a new business in Hawaii. The company is headed by Analie and Craig Weghorst, who also own Off Leash K-9 Training Hawaii LLC. Weghorst also recently formed Catnip Honolulu Hawaii LLC and Catnip Hotel Maui Hawaii LLC. The Honolulu location is scheduled to open soon just outside of the downtown area at the intersection of Queen Emma Street and Iolani Avenue. The catboarding company’s slogan reads: “A place for your cats to stay, while you’re away.” Catnip Hotels joins other such boarding companies on Oahu including The Cat’s Meow Inn, Island Pet Movers, Furever Friends Play and Stay, The Cat Clinic and Cozy Cat Lodge.

A Honolulu general contractor is developing a new mixed-use building on a vacant parcel of land that he purchased earlier this year.  Wai Lun Chan and his wife, Catherine Emiko Chan, purchased the 7,589-square-foot parcel of land at 2114 S. King St. in Honolulu for $1.27 million in February from 2114 S King Corp. The purchase resulted in the couple paying about $168 per square foot for the land. The total assessed value of the land is $1.9 million.  Chan recently filed building permits with Honolulu regulators to build the "James Chan Building" that will include ground floor retail space and storage and a second floor with residential units. The parcel of land, which is one of the only undeveloped parcels in the McCully area, is located next to McCully Bicycle and across the street from a McDonald's restaurant.  Public records show that Chan has ties to Landmark Pacific Builders and JC Building Group.

A newly-opened adventure park in West Oahu is looking to add helicopter tours to its list of attractions. The Coral Crater Adventure Park in Kalaeloa already includes such activities as a full zip line, adventure tower, side-by-side ATVs, King Swing, Free fall and a climbing wall, is the first of its kind on Oahu. Coral Crater Adventure Park, which is located on Hunt Development Co. Land, recently presented plans to the Kalaeloa Public Safety Group regarding its plans to add helicopter tours to its list of activities.  The helicopter is expected to land on an existing 6,000-square-foot AstroTurf area. The adventure park, which was built in a 23-acre former Navy coral quarry owned by Hunt, is headed by James Owen, former president of Discover Hawaii Tours.

I've known Abe Lee for several years now, mainly through my coverage of the real estate market as a reporter for Pacific Business News.  To put it plainly, Abe is truly a special person, possessing that "It" characteristic that only a few in this world are so lucky to have. He makes everyone that he speaks to feel as if they are the only ones in the room. Abe also is a master motivator and communicator, getting the most out of everyone who he comes in contact with.  When I made my decision to take a deeper dive into the real estate industry, becoming one that stories are written about instead of writing stories about people in the industry, I first thought of Abe.  Besides his schools' stellar reputation, Abe himself, is the reason why so many decide to become one of his students. I'm both lucky and blessed to be called one of his students. Abe's experience in the industry as a broker, developer and investor is quite remarkable, and gives him the edge wh...

Opal Thai, which has gained quite a following at its North Shore of Oahu restaurant in Haleiwa, is expanding to Honolulu with a new location in Chinatown. The Thai eatery is opening in the former Scratch Kitchen & Bake Shop restaurant space on Smith Street. In 2011, Opal Thai opened a brick-and-mortar location after operating out of a food truck for several years. The restaurant at the Haleiwa Town Center is owned by a husband-and-wife duo. Its Chinatown restaurant, which is expected to be met with much enthusiasm by the growing restaurant and bar scene in the area, is its second eatery in Hawaii. Opal Thai gained fame when it was featured on the show "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives." Scratch Kitchen recently sold its Chinatown location and closed down. It is now focusing on its other restaurant at Ward Village in the Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako called Scratch Kitchen & Meatery.  Honolulu-based Hawaii Commercial Real Estate was part of this transaction. ...

The partners of a Honolulu commercial real estate company have sold its property along Kalakaua Avenue near Waikiki to another real estate investor for about $6.2 million. Located at 1694 Kalakaua Ave., the 4,511-square-foot building occupies a 12,932-square-foot lot and includes a few tenants including a sandwich shop and a Korean restaurant. The purchase comes out to nearly $480 per square foot for the property, keeping properties in or near Waikiki at a premium. SC King LLC includes companies headed by Standard Commercial LLC partners Linda Gee, Matt Raff and Ian Clagstone. SC King purchased the property that's near the Hawaii Convention Center a little more than a year ago for about $4.4 million, turning a nearly $2 million profit in just a year. Jay Zhu, a real estate agent with Honolulu-based Z Properties LLC, is the buyer of the property. He formed Blue Bay Properties LLC for the purchase. A Japanese conglomerate recently purchased a half-acre parcel nearby for ...

James Campbell Co. LLC has purchased the leasehold interest in the Kmart store property in Kapolei, which is the last remaining Kmart store on Oahu. The store, which is located at 500 Kamokila Blvd., is scheduled to close next month. James Campbell paid about $4.5 million for the leasehold interest in the store's property, utilizing a 1031 Exchange for the purchase. The exchange, which has become increasingly popular these days, allows an investor to sell a property to reinvest the funding in a new property and to defer all capital gain taxes. It's not immediately known which property James Campbell sold to make this exchange possible. The Kmart store property spans 129,418-square-feet of building space on roughly 10 acres of land. Kmart's parent Sears Holding Co. has been closing both Sears and Kmart stores throughout the country including those in Hawaii. There only two stores in the state that's not scheduled to close just yet, one on Kauai and the other on th...

The iconic building in Honolulu's Chinatown that bears the name of the chief villain in the CBS crime drama television series "Hawaii Five-0" has been sold for nearly $4 million. Located at 111 Hotel St., the 16,500-square-foot "Wo Fat Building" was purchased by a Delaware company headed by John Davenport, who lists an Austin, Texas address. The iconic Wo Fat Building, which stands out in Chinatown with its unique architecture, is the company's latest addition to its portfolio. 

American Soul, a Florida-based high-end clothing retailer, is expanding to Hawaii with its first store opening at the Macy's-anchored Ka Makana Alii shopping center in Kapolei in West Oahu. American Soul filed a building permit last week with Honolulu regulators for a new store at the Kapolei mall, which is owned by Florida-based DeBartolo Development. The retailer will join other tenants at the new mall such as Aerie, American Eagle Outfitters, Famous Footwear, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Foot Locker and H&M.  West Oahu is gaining quite a bit of new retailers and restaurants with the expansion and new openings at not only Ka Makana Alii but the nearby Kapolei Commons shopping center that's owned by The MacNaughton Group and Kobayashi Group.

A new Japanese restaurant is opening in a newly-renovated building on South King Street in Honolulu. Akira Japanese Restaurant recently filed a building permit with Honolulu regulators for its new eatery at 1150 S. King St., which is known as the Eleven50 Building. This building, which was recently purchased by Honolulu businessman Duane Kurisu, includes mostly medical office tenants, including a medical marijuana company. There's an Akira Japanese Restaurant in San Francisco, although it's not known if these two restaurants are connected to one another. Earlier this year, Akira Japanese Restaurant LLC was registered as a new business in Hawaii with Taiki Kawai as one of its managers. Kawai, an executive chef, has worked at Sushi Izakaya Shinn restaurant in Honolulu. Akira Japanese Restaurant joins a crowded field of new restaurants in Honolulu, especially in Chinatown and in Waikiki.