Shimogawa Scoops

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.