Shimogawa Scoops

Another bar and restaurant is opening in the growing Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako. This new establishment will be headed by veteran Hawaii restaurateurs Pat Kashani and Keith Kawaharada. Public records show that both restaurateurs filed new businesses and trade names called “Tropics Ale House Kakaako,” with the address being 747 Queen St. that is at the corner of Queen and Cooke streets. Kashani is known for his Tropics Tap House and Tropics Ale House restaurants, while Kawaharada is the operator of Mr. Oji-san on Kapahulu Avenue near Waikiki. He also heads the former establishment at 747 Queen St., Hush Bar & Grill. Tropics Ale House Kakaako joins a crowded field of bars and restaurants in the area, including Aloha Beer Co. and Waikiki Brewing on Queen Street, as well as Village Bottle Shop & Tasting Room, Moku, Doraku, Chai’s, as well as two new restaurants at Alexander & Baldwin’s The Collection and REAL a Gastropub that’s opening at Gerding Edlen’s Kea

A husband-and-wife team from Japan has paid $22 million for a condominium unit at the $1 billion Park Lane Ala Moana, setting a new record for the price paid for a condo unit in Hawaii, according to the sales deed obtained by Shimogawa Scoops Thursday. Akihito and Chihiro Awaji, who hail from Sapporo City in Hokkaido, Japan, recently snatched up unit 3800 in Park Lane, which is located at Ala Moana Center in Honolulu, the state’s largest shopping center. The deal closed on September 29 with the Awaji’s paying a whopping $275,000 in conveyance tax. The 5,668-square-foot unit that has 1,188-square-feet of lanai space was listed for $22 million, and includes four bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms. It also comes with four parking stalls and a hefty $7,410 monthly common area maintenance fee. Park Lane, which was developed by Kobayashi Group, The MacNaughton Group, General Growth Properties and BlackSand Capital, opened to its first residents this Spring. The row seven eight-sto

Hawaii, the state in the U.S. that’s most-dependent on its tourism industry, could break the 10 million visitor mark, which would be a record mark for the Aloha State, according to the head of the state’s economic development agency. The state nearly hit the 9 million mark last year, and is on track to surpass 9 million visitors in 2017. Luis Salaveria, director of the state Department of Economic Development and Tourism, speaking recently to a small group comprising some of the most influential real estate industry leaders in Hawaii, talked about the strong momentum that the state’s tourism industry is enjoying in a wide-ranging, causal question-and-answer session in Honolulu. He said that the state could get to the 10 million visitor arrival mark, although there are challenges that stand in the way, including infrastructure issues that need to be addressed. Salaveria noted that a growing trend called “glamping,” a cross between camping and glamour, could be an opportun

A fast-food restaurant chain based in the Netherlands is expanding to Hawaii with a new location at the Royal Hawaiian Center in Waikiki. Wok to Walk, which features wok stir-fried Asian cuisine, filed a $300,000 building permit with Honolulu regulators on Thursday for a new restaurant at the Royal Hawaiian Center. Honolulu architect Takao Ugai of Focus Labo LLC is listed as the architect for the project. Founded in 2004, Wok to Walk, whose food is served in oyster pails, has locations all over the world, including in such cities as London, Berlin, Madrid, New York City and Lisbon. The Amsterdam-based restaurant joins other restaurants at the Royal Hawaiian Center such as The Cheesecake Factory, Doraku Sushi, Ezogiku and Noi Thai Cuisine.

The California company planning to build a big wind energy farm on Oahu's North Shore filed building permits on Wednesday, signaling that the long-delayed project is finally moving forward. Na Pua Makani Power Partners, headed by California's Champlin, filed a $3.1 million permit with Honolulu regulators to build four wind turbines and a meteorological evaluation tower. Hawaii Engineering Group is a consultant on the project. Another permit filed Wednesday was for the development of a maintenance and operation building. The 25-megawatt wind farm, which is being built in Kahuku, joins two other wind projects on the North Shore.

A California real estate investment firm has purchased a shopping center on the Big Island of Hawaii for about $13.6 million. The nearly three-acre Coconut Grove Marketplace in Kailua-Kona, which includes nearly 30,000-square-feet of building space, is home to such tenants as Outback Steakhouse, Bongo Ben's Island Café and Humpy's Ale House. The seller of the shopping center on Alii Nui Drive was Texas-based Lone Star Funds. The shopping center has a total assessed value of about $6.9 million, public records show. The sale comes out to a purchase of $104 per square foot.

Dunkin' Donuts is opening a new shop inside at food court facility at the University of Hawaii Manoa campus in Honolulu. The East Coast donut and coffee giant filed a $50,000 building permit with Honolulu regulators on Thursday for its new shop at the Paradise Palms Cafe at UH Manoa. Aloha Petroleum is the exclusive franchisee for Dunkin' Donuts in Hawaii, which recently re-entered the Hawaii market with a location near the Honolulu International Airport. Several other donut shops are planned for the Islands. Paradise Palms is managed by UHM Food Services, and is located on the upper campus next to Hamilton Library and Kennedy Theater. It currently includes more than five food vendors, an air-conditioned dining room and an outdoor seating area.  Founded in Massachusetts in 1950, the company has grown to become one of the largest of its kind in the world with over 12,000 locations in more than 35 countries. Dunkin' reported revenues of $829 million in 2016. Its par