Shimogawa Scoops

A partnership involving a California real estate investment firm and a former Hawaii hotel executive is buying a boutique Waikiki hotel, Shimogawa Scoops has learned. Kennedy Wilson and Ben Rafter’s purchase of the 72-room Hotel Renew represents the partnership’s second purchase of Hawaii real estate in the past several months. In August, they purchased a Japanese college’s vacant high-rise tower along Kapiolani Boulevard in Honolulu for $35 million. Arizona-based investment firm Atrium Holdco LLC purchased the nine-story Hotel Renew for $23.5 million in 2013. Aston Hotels & Resorts LLC is the hotel’s management company. Located at 129 Paoakalani Ave., the hotel underwent a $7 million renovation in 2008, which turned the 50,000-square-foot property into Honolulu’s first designer boutique hotel. Rafter is the former chief of Aqua-Aston Hospitality, while Kennedy Wilson’s Hawaii properties include the exclusive residential Kohanaiki community on the Big Island. The firm...

Ice Monster, the popular Taipei ice cream chain that has gained quite a following in Asian countries, such as Japan and China, is expanding to the United States with its first location opening in Hawaii, Shimogawa Scoops has learned. Founded by Taipei’s Frank Lo in 1997, Ice Monster plans to open in Hawaii in the next few months with locations in the works in Seattle and Los Angeles. Ice Monster Hawaii has recently been registered as a new business in the state, and the company filed a building permit Friday to open its new location near Waikiki along Kalakaua Avenue. The ice dessert giant is known for its fresh fruits and tasty flavors including its famous Mango Sweet Cotton Ice dessert. Ice Monster is utilizing a partnership with a Japanese restaurateur to operate its new Hawaii store, something it has done at its locations in Japan. Ice Monster is so popular in Japan that it once won top honors for the longest line for any shop in Japan.

U-Haul’s sister company has purchased the land under the former Kmart store on Maui for $26.8 million, according to public records. Amerco Real Estate, a subsidiary of Reno, Nevada-based Amerco, recently closed on its purchase of the seven-acre parcel that includes the 108,000-square-foot former Kmart building located at 424 Dairy Road in Kahului. The purchase price comes out to about $88 per square foot. The seller was Wisconsin-based Hendricks Commercial Properties LLC, which purchased the land under what was the island’s lone Kmart store in 2015 from San Francisco-based SPI Holdings for about $20.5 million. The building is owned by KM Maui Partners, which has ties to Honolulu-based developer The MacNaughton Group. Besides U-Haul and Amerco Real Estate, Amerco’s other subsidiaries include Republic Western Insurance Co. and Oxford Life Insurance Co. The Maui Kmart store closed earlier this year, following others across the state, leaving only two other Neighbor Island s...

HomeGoods, the hugely popular home fashions retailer that’s owned by T.J. Maxx’s parent, is expanding to Hawaii with a new store at West Oahu’s Kapolei Commons shopping center. The Target-anchored center already has HomeGoods’ sister retailer, T.J. Maxx, as well as several other new additions including Dunkin’ Donuts and Hawaii chef Roy Yamaguchi’s Eating Housing 1849. HomeGoods’ expansion to Hawaii signals a continued interest from Mainland retailers in making the scary jump over the vast Pacific Ocean to the Islands, although there have been many to do so in the past few years, including H&M, Urban Outfitters, Bloomingdale’s and Five Guys Burgers & Fries. Kapolei Commons, which is owned by the The MacNaughton Group and Kobayashi Group, has been ramping up recently, adding more significant tenants to match its counterpart in the area, the new Macy’s-anchored Ka Makana Alii shopping center that is owned by Florida’s DeBartolo Development. The two dueling shoppi...

A partnership between Honolulu-based Trinity Investments and Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Management is buying the world's largest Hilton Garden Inn that's located in Waikiki, according to a CBRE Hotels report. The purchase price wasn't immediately known. The 623-room hotel, which opened last year after a $115 million renovation, was formerly known as the Ohana Waikiki West hotel. The hotel includes TR Fire Grill and Holoholo Cafe and Market.  Honolulu-based BlackSand Capital and Boston-based Rockpoint Group purchased the leasehold hotel in 2013 for about $33 million. The Queen Emma Land Co. owns the land under the Hilton Garden Inn Waikiki Beach. In August, Trinity and Oaktree announced a joint venture to invest $3 billion in hotel properties in certain markets including Hawaii.  The partnership has already purchased the long-term leasehold interest in The Westin Maui Resort & Spa. 

Jesse Souki, who recently left his position as head of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, the stage agency regulating development in the growing Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako, is taking a general counsel position at the University of Hawaii, Shimogawa Scoops has learned. Souki, who took the executive director's position with the HCDA about a year ago, is scheduled to start his new gig as university associate general counsel on December 1. His monthly salary is tabbed at $11,460, which comes out to $137,520 for the year. Souki replaced longtime HCDA chief Anthony Ching, who left the position for health reasons. He held executive positions with the state Office of Planning, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation. The HCDA has kicked off the process to select a new executive director, and expects to name an interim executive director soon.

Jeff Probst, the Emmy Award-winning host of the reality television series “Survivor,” has purchased an estate within the Hualalai Resort on the Big Island of Hawaii’s west coast for $4.85 million, Shimogawa Scoops has learned. Probst and his wife, Lisa Russell, closed on their big purchase on November 1, which includes 19,864 square feet of land and a four-bedroom, 5.5-bathroom home with an office within Kulanakauhale, the newest residential community in the Hualalai master-planned resort community. The 3,770-square-foot home was built by Aina Ola and furnished by award-winning designer, Gina Willman. It has gourmet kitchens with granite counter tops, custom African mahogany cabinetry, travertine flooring and Madeira concrete shake roofs. Hualalai Realty represented both sides of the transaction. Member amenities for this property include the Keolu Clubhouse and Hualalai Canoe Club, according to Hualalai Realty. The luxury resort community includes the Four Seasons-bra...