Shimogawa Scoops

ProtoHUB Honolulu, a co-working space that was once located in the Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako, is coming back to the area with a lease signed to open at the building that formerly housed World Gym. Honolulu-based Hawaii Commercial Real Estate LLC represented the state's Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. — the landlord — in the lease for ProtoHUB's "Impact Hub Honolulu." ProtoHUB was once located on Keawe Street, but closed and moved to Downtown Honolulu. Its new space is located at 1050 Queen St., which formerly housed a World Gym location. There had been an attempt to use space at this building as a co-working space, although that effort fell short. Co-working spaces, which have been popular on the Mainland for many years, have been popping up on a consistent basis in Honolulu. Existing co-working spaces, which have had an impact on the current office real estate market in Honolulu, include BoxJelly, Real Office Centers Honolulu, Regus Busines

Famous Hawaii chef Peter Merriman is nearing the opening of his first Merriman's restaurant on Oahu that will be located in the Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako. The major venture also now has a name that fits like a glove. Merriman's Kakaako will open in a roughly 6,000-square-foot ground floor space at The Howard Hughes Corp.'s Anaha mixed-use condominium high-rise tower along Auahi Street. On Tuesday, Merriman filed a $900,000 building permit with the City and County of Honolulu's Department of Planning and Permitting, signaling that the restaurant is being built soon. Hawaii's Davidean K.K. Young is listed as the architect for the project. Merriman's Kakaako has yet to be registered as a trade name, according to public records. Merriman's Kakaako, which is scheduled to open later this year, joins his other restaurant venture in the neighborhood called Moku Kitchen, which is a partnership with Hawaii restaurateur Bill Terry. Merriman and Terry, t

The development team of a planned 111 micro-unit affordable rental housing project in the growing Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako hopes to close on financing of the $33 million development by next spring with construction starting soon after that, according to public documents. In an update to the Ala Moana-Kakaako Neighborhood Board last month, an official with EAH Housing, which is part of the development team along with New York's Bronx Pro Group LLC, revealed details regarding the Nohana Hale project that's located at 630 Cooke St. It will include 14 floors of residential units with eight units per floor. The project is expected to be financed with tax credits, bonds and state subsidy funding, according to minutes from the board's meeting. The project is scheduled to take about 18 months to build. Maximum monthly rents would be set at about $1,053 for part of the project. Another part of the project would involve monthly rents at no more than $503. The transit-or

Crabtree & Evelyn, the popular international bath and body products retailer, is returning to Hawaii with a new store at the International Market Place in Waikiki, according to public documents. Founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts and now owned by Hong Kong's Nan Kai Corp., the company filed a $210,000 building permit Monday with the City and County of Honolulu's Department of Planning and Permitting for its new store at the newly-redeveloped shopping complex that's anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue. Crabtree & Evelyn closed its lone Hawaii store in 2009 at Ala Moana Center. Nan Kai purchased the personal care brand for about $175 million in 2015. There are more than 200 company-owned stores in over 65 countries selling such items as fragrances, bath and shower gels, soaps, home spa products, body lotions, hand creams and home fragrance, according to its website. Crabtree & Evelyn will join other International Market Place tenants such as Sand People, Seafolly

The San Diego-based developer that built the Symphony Honolulu and Pacifica Honolulu mixed-use condominium projects may be working on another development on Oahu, according to public documents. Last month, OliverMcMillan Inc. registered a new business called "OliverMcMillan Kuhio LLC" with the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. The developer registered new businesses called "OliverMcMillan Pacifica LLC" and "OliverMcMillan Symphony LLC" for its two previous high-rise condo towers along Kapiolani Boulevard. OliverMcMillan once was in negotiations to join the development team to build the long-delayed 37-story, 117-unit Aloha Kai development at the site of the YMCA of Honolulu Central Branch across from Ala Moana Center. The developer also has been chosen to develop a nearly 27-acre parcel of land in Kapolei in West Oahu into a 400-unit mixed-use project.

Let the theater wars begin. The Regal Theaters at Windward Mall in Kaneohe and at the Pearl Highlands Center in Central Oahu are getting upgrades to match the glitz and glamour of the new luxury theaters recently developed in Kapolei in West Oahu. Regal Theaters officials confirmed these projects to Shimogawa Scoops. The renovations include reducing the seating at these theaters. For instance Windward Mall's theater will reduce seating by about half to 924 seats from 1,822 seats, public records show. Kamehameha Schools, which owns Windward Mall, recently filed a $650,000 building permit with the City and County of Honolulu's Department of Planning and Permitting for the project, which also involves remodeling the 10 auditoriums, remove seating, renovating 11,160-square-feet of the total 26,111-square-feet of the theater, new seating, aisle stairs, handrails, aisle lighting and upgrading the break room. Donna Olsen Ballard, president and principal architect of California-

"Jurassic World 2," one of the most prominent movie franchises to shoot scenes in Hawaii, is scheduled to film key scenes next month in the Heeia Pier area in Windward Oahu, according to public documents. At last month's Kahaluu and Kaneohe Neighborhood Board meetings, officials with the Hawaii Film Office and the Honolulu Film Office gave an update about how they plan to deal with possible traffic issues that the film may cause. Film Office officials did not specify the "Jurassic World 2" film name but only referred it as "Ancient Futures." Laura Sode-Metteson, who worked on "Jurassic World" that was shown in theaters in 2015, who was at the Kaneohe board meeting, said the filming is for a major Universal Studios production. "Jurassic World," which reported opening weekend box office figures of $204.6 million in the United States alone, is a Universal production, and also shot scenes in Hawaii. Published reports show that &quo