Shimogawa Scoops

A Japanese company is opening a new restaurant near Ala Moana Center in Honolulu. Day Dream International Inc. has recently registered the trade name "Ke Aloha Cafe" with the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. The company also posted a Craigslist advertisement Wednesday looking for workers for its new cafe. The ad says the cafe is scheduled to open on August 9 at the new 808 Center on Sheridan Street that's near Walmart and Sam's Club stores. Ke Aloha Cafe is scheduled to be open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. It also plans to sell alcoholic beverages, according to the ad.

An office/warehouse building in Kakaako that was built decades ago is being demolished to create open space in the growing Honolulu neighborhood. The project is a rare sight since buildings demolished in the area mainly have been replaced by brand new, shiny mixed-use towers. Located at 620 Coral St. near Lex Brodie's Tire Shop, the 7,297-square-foot building on 13,533-square-feet of land is owned by the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. On Wednesday, the HHFDC filed a $664,000 building permit to demolish the building. Honolulu-based Belt Collins Ltd. is listed as a contractor for the project, which will add open space to the area as part of a requirement from the development of the nearby Pohulani elderly rental project. The project is located across the street from Mother Waldron Park and near Stanford Carr Development's Halekauwila Place rental project.

A long-planned golf course home development along the Kapolei Golf Club in West Oahu is finally moving forward. Gentry Homes' 66-unit Kealii project has been the works for at least a couple of years. It is located on 17 acres of land along Kapolei Parkway between the course and the Kanehili subdivision.  This week, Gentry's subsidiary Gentry KGC LLC filed stormwater permits for the project, which signals the project is moving ahead. Gentry, one of the largest home builders in Hawaii, bought the land from a subsidiary of Pacific Links Hawaii for $7.5 million, public records show. The developer has built several projects in West Oahu, as well as elsewhere in the state.

The New York company that purchased Chevron Corp.'s Hawaii operation last year is already looking to sell 12 gas station and convenience store properties that span from Waipahu to Honolulu on Oahu with an asking price of $49.5 million. A CBRE Hawaii sales listing says that One Rock Capital Partners' subsidiary IES Retail LLC intends to sell these properties that total nearly 5.7 acres and then strike a lease deal with the new owner of these properties. The sale leaseback involves 20 years with three five-year options to renew. The gas stations are being operated under the Texaco brand, and are located in Waipahu, Pearl City, Honolulu and Kailua. CBRE Hawaii says that the net operating income for these stations is about $2.8 million. Late last year, One Rock Capital purchased Chevron Hawaii's assets including the refinery in Kapolei, four production distribution terminals on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island and nearly 60 retail gas stations. The total purchase p

George Zimmer, the famous face and founder of Men's Warehouse, has sold another one of his Big Island of Hawaii properties to a former California wine company executive. Zimmer recently sold his Kamuela property that's on Wailea Beach on the West Shore of the island to Jackrabbit LLC, a company headed by Gregory and Vicki McManus, who once owned Napa Valley Wine Train. The sales price was about $3.5 million, public records show. Zimmer has long owned multiple properties on the Big Island, and made a big splash in late 2015 when he purchased singer Neil Young's estate on the island. After leaving Men's Warehouse several years ago, Zimmer went on to start Generation Tux, which rents suits and tuxedos online.

A teenager who attends Punahou School has recently started his own social media management agency. Scott Nakaoka, a 17-year-old senior from the prominent Honolulu school that includes former President Barack Obama as one of its former graduates, has formed Kakou Communications LLC. He told this blog that his company's goal is to help older mom-and-pop companies to modernize their business to keep up-to-date in today's society. "We want to move their paper advertising to online and help build or refresh their websites," Nakaoka said. "My generation is all about social media. We are constantly on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, etc., and growing up with social media helped me gain knowledge about what, when and how to post." He said it also taught him what types of posts or web designs grab people's attention and what has potential to be shared, liked and reposted. Kakou, a Hawaiian word, translates into English as "everyone" or &

A former owner of Pipeline Cafe is opening a new gastropub at Ala Moana Center's new restaurant complex that's located in part of the former Shirokiya space. Charles Jewitt's Agave & Vine LLC filed a $70,000 building permit with Honolulu regulators Wednesday for his new bar and lounge that is expected to open at The Lanai at Ala Moana in Honolulu. Karen Sakamoto of Honolulu-based Next Design LLC is listed as the architect for the project. In 2013, Jewitt registered the trade name Agave & Vine with the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. The Lanai, which also will include such tenants as Brug Bakery and Hi Tea Cafe, is scheduled to open this fall. The food court is expected to have up to 12 specialty food vendors and indoor and outdoor seating for up to 450 people. Jewitt also co-owned Apartment3 and was part of the group that opened The Republik along Kapiolani Boulevard in 2011.