Shimogawa Scoops

A Japanese conglomerate has purchased a half-acre parcel of land near the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu for 8.3 million. Kinoshita Real Estate LLC, a subsidiary of Tokyo's Kinoshita Group, which has companies in such industries as film and music production, cosmetics and broadcasting, closed on its purchase of the Hawaii property in June. The property, which is located on Kalakaua Avenue, could be developed into a high-rise condominium tower. The seller was 1700 Kalakaua LLC, which is headed by Mark Borneleit, who purchased the 22,664-square-foot parcel in 2016 from a Japanese company for $7 million. Soon after that purchase, he put the land up for sale with an asking price of $8.6 million. Located at 1617 Fern St., the vacant lot is at the corner of Kalakaua Avenue and Fern Street. The sale includes highly coveted sewer credits that total more than $1 million. In the past, there were plans to build a high-rise mixed-use project on this parcel.  The Kinoshita Group

 Ross Dress for Less is opening a new store at Windward Mall in Kaneohe. The discount retailer filed a $2.5 million building permit with Honolulu regulators on Thursday for its new store at the largest shopping mall on the Windward side of the island. Ross, which recently opened a new store in the Honolulu neighborhood of Iwilei as part of a project involving Longs Drugs and PetSmart, already has a store in Kaneohe at the Windward City Shopping Center. It’s unclear as to whether this would be a second store for Ross in Kaneohe or if the retailer is moving to Windward Mall. The permit lists space “P02” as the location Ross will be opening at Windward Mall. The Sports Authority space is still vacant, although this may be where Ross is moving to. Ross, which also recently opened a new store at Ala Moana Center in Honolulu, has 16 stores in the Islands with another opening in October in Kihei on Maui.

Lululemon's children's active-wear retailer has closed its only Hawaii store at Ala Moana Center in Honolulu. Ivivva opened its first store in the state in 2014 at the corner of Kapiolani Boulevard and Pensacola Street in Honolulu but moved its store to Ala Moana Center nearby. On Sunday, Ivivva by Lululemon closed its store at the state's largest shopping center on the mall's third level of the new Ewa wing near Bloomingdale's. Another Lululemon brand — Kit & Ace — also closed its store at the mall's Ewa wing after being open only for a short period of time. The Ivivva brand, created by the popular women's active-wear retailer, has been around for about five years. Canada-based Lululemon still has a big presence in Hawaii with stores at Ala Moana Center, the Waikiki Shopping Plaza and one at Whaler's Village in Lahaina on Maui.

Burger King is opening a new restaurant near Ala Moana Center in Honolulu. The fast-food giant is taking over the former Hawaiian Telcom space on Kapiolani Boulevard that's next to Thank Q Pocha restaurant. Burger King currently has 21 locations on Oahu alone, making this restaurant the 21st of its kind on the island. The Miami, Florida-based company, known for its flame-broiled hamburgers, has more than 15,000 locations in more than 100 countries.

Geolabs Inc., a Honolulu-based geotechnical engineering firm, has purchased The Madden Corp.'s headquarters in Waipahu for $10.8 million. The deal closed in July with Colliers International Hawaii representing the seller — The Madden Corp. Located on Koaki Street, The Madden Corp. put its headquarters up for sale in 2016. The Hawaii-based company sells such souvenir items as calendars and mugs under its Island Heritage brand. The 47,680-square-foot building that's situated on more than 57,000-square-feet of land in the Mill Town Center Business Park, has a replacement cost of about $16.5 million. Geolabs, which has three locations, including one in Honolulu on Kalihi Street, as well as on Maui and in Oakland, California, was established in 1975.  The company has worked on many high-profile projects in Hawaii, including the International Market Place in Waikiki, Ala Moana Center, Moana Pacific high-rise condominium and Kahului Airport.

The owners of Scratch Kitchen & Bake Shop, the popular brunch spot in Honolulu’s Chinatown, are putting his restaurant up for sale. Honolulu-based Hawaii Commercial Real Estate LLC has been tapped to look for a buyer for the restaurant. The asking price for the Smith Street restaurant is $180,000, according to the listing. Scratch, which usually has lines snaked outside of its door, especially during breakfast hours, specializes in scratch-made comfort foods. Brian Chan and Aimee Miyahira-Chan, owners and chef of Scratch, recently opened a second location at The Howard Hughes Corp.’s Ward Village’s South Shore Market in the Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako. It’s unclear as to what will happen to Scratch’s Chinatown restaurant once it has been sold. This restaurant has been open since 2014. Some of its popular menu items include its bst benny, “milk & cereal” pancakes, the brunch-wich, creaole shrimp ‘n grits and the calentado.

Kua Aina Sandwich Shoppe, known for its tasty hamburgers, has closed another one of its locations, leaving just one eatery open for the popular local restaurant chain. On Sunday, the owners of Kua Aina announced that it was closing its Kapolei Commons restaurant in West Oahu at the end of the day.  "We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause," the company said. "It has been an honor and a pleasure serving all of you these past four years." No reason was given for the restaurant's closure, although the company said that all gift certificates and cards may be redeemed at its Haleiwa location on Oahu's North Shore. In 2015, Kua Aina closed its Ward Village location in the Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako, which former President Barack Obama once visited. Its Ward location had been open for about two decades and was replaced by The Pig & The Lady's Piggy Smalls restaurant. Earlier this year, Kua Aina closed its Northern Ireland restau