KAPOLEI, HAWAII — Highridge Costa, in partnership with Honolulu-based Coastal Rim Properties, has completed the first phase of Hale Moena Kupuna, a $130 million affordable seniors and multifamily rental community in Kapolei on the island of Oahu. The first phase is a 13-story high-rise designated for seniors, featuring 153 affordable apartments in a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom floor plans. Upon full build-out, the three-phase Hale Moena Kupuna will offer two 13-story residential towers with ground-level retail and commercial space. Communities amenities include a community meeting room, picnic area and a community workspace with high-speed internet access. The development is being financed with a combination of tax-exempt bonds, tax credit equity and a $10.7 million rental housing revolving fund loan from the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. Citibank is serving as the construction lender and Aegon is the tax credit investor.
Hawaii
Coastal Rim Properties Acquires Land Parcel for 20-Story Seniors Housing Development in Honolulu
by Amy Works
HONOLULU — Coastal Rim Properties has purchased a 12,842-square-foot land parcel in downtown Honolulu from an affiliate of Next Realty for an undisclosed price. The buyer plans to develop a 20-story affordable seniors housing tower on the property, which is located at 1192 Alakea St. The site currently houses a vacant parking lot. Steven Sofos of Sofos Realty Corp. represented the seller, while Matt David and Terry Jackson of Cushman & Wakefield’s Land Advisory Group in San Diego provided advisory services for the transaction.
HONOLULU — Swinerton Builders has signed a 91-month lease to occupy office space at Davies Pacific Center, a 23-story office tower located at 841 Bishop St. in Honolulu. The lease is valued at $3.2 million. The Hawaii-based contractor will relocate its local headquarters to a 12,000-square-foot space on the office tower’s fifth floor. Swinerton provides commercial construction and construction management services throughout the United States. Built in 1972 and renovated in 2006, Davies Pacific Center features 375,742 square feet of commercial office and retail space. San Diego-based Parallel Capital Partners, in partnership with Honolulu-based The Shidler Group, took over asset management of the property last year and has completed nearly $4 million in elevator modernizations and speculative suite upgrades. Additionally, another $1 million in renovations, including lobby improvements, is currently underway. Keenan J.S. Sue of JLL brokered the deal.
Howard Hughes Secures $356.8M Construction Loan for Residential, Mixed-Use Project in Honolulu
by Amy Works
HONOLULU — The Howard Hughes Organization has received a $356.8 million construction loan for Kō’ula, the sixth residential mixed-use tower at Ward Village in Honolulu. The loan features a three-year initial term with a one-year extension. US Bank and seven other participating lenders provided the capital. Total project costs are estimated at $485.1 million, exclusive of land costs. Developed by The Howard Hughes Corp., Ward Village is a 60-acre, master-planned community in Honolulu. At full build-out, the development will include approximately 1 million square feet of retail and thousands of residential homes. Current mixed-use residential towers at Ward Village are Waiea, Anaha, Ae’o and Ke Kilohana. New residential buildings that are in development or under construction include A’ali’I, Kō’ula and Victoria Place. Ward Village is the first-ever LEED-ND Platinum-certified master-planned community in the country and the only in Hawaii.
George Smith Partners Secures $51.7M Construction Loan, $16.2M Mezzanine Debt for Niumalu Marketplace in Hawaii
by Amy Works
KONA, HAWAII — The Davies Group at Los Angeles-based George Smith Partners has arranged both a $51.7 million senior construction loan and $16.2 million in mezzanine debt for the ground-up development of Niumalu Marketplace, a shopping center in Kona. The borrower is Commercial Real Estate Development Enterprise (CREDE). Safeway will anchor the 204,275-square-foot retail property, which is slated for completion by fourth-quarter 2020. Malcolm Davies, Zachary Streit, Evan Kinne, Alexander Rossinsky, Rachael Lewis, Aiden Moran and Maxwell Shedlosky of George Smith Partners facilitated the transaction. Centennial Bank provided the construction financing portion and Pearlmark Real Estate Partners provided the mezzanine debt.
Alaka’i Development Selects Moss Construction for $82M Multifamily Project in West Oahu
by Amy Works
EWA, HAWAII — Alaka’i Development, a Hawaii-based developer, has awarded Moss Construction an $82 million contract for The Element, a multifamily community located in Ewa in West Oahu. Designed by KTGY Architects, the 325,000-square-foot project will include 13 three-story residential buildings, offering a total of 318 units. Amenities will include a clubhouse with leasing and maintenance offices, a swimming pool and two-story fitness center. The Element will also have affordable housing options and easy access to the new Honolulu Authority Rapid Transportation (HART) station at the University of Hawaii West Oahu, which will allow residents to commute via rail to downtown Honolulu. The project is scheduled to begin leading in fall 2010 with completion in 2021. The Element is one of the first two rental apartment projects planned for D.R. Horton’s 11,750-home master-planned community called Ho’opili, which is located on 1,550 acres in Ewa.
KAILUA-KONA, HAWAII — Pearlmark has closed on a $16.2 million mezzanine investment for the development of Niumalu Marketplace, a retail property in Kailua-Kona. Situated on 20 acres of fee-simple land, Niumalu Marketplace will feature 204,275 square feet of retail and commercial space, as well as 711 parking spaces. A 63,000-square-foot Safeway grocery store with a 27,000-square-foot gas pad will anchor the property. The sponsors, CREDE and two institutional equity capital partners, started construction on the site in October 2018 and are expected to complete the project in October. Pearlmark originated the investment on behalf of Pearlmark Mezzanine Realty Partners IV. Centennial Bank provided a senior construction loan. George Smith Partners represented the borrower in securing the financing, while Bill Swackhamer arranged in the transaction in-house for Pearlmark.
Honolulu’s office market has remained relatively unchanged for the past decade, but recent events have led to a dramatic shift in the direction of the Downtown submarket. Office vacancy rates in Downtown Honolulu have increased consistently in recent years, and steady leasing activity has led to declining vacancy. The Downtown office market is currently the tightest it has ever been. The vacancy rate in Downtown Honolulu decreased 70 basis points to 12.1 percent in the third quarter of 2019, which is the lowest vacancy rate for the submarket in more than nine years. The average gross asking rate in Downtown decreased slightly from $2.94 per square foot to $2.90 per square foot in third-quarter 2019. A significant amount of movement within the Downtown office market is driven by government need. The federal government, IRS, and city and county of Honolulu, as well as other engineering firms tied to civil projects, are some of the most active employers when it comes to leasing office space in the area. Non-governmental office-using job growth has stagnated in the past four years, which has hindered more growth in the overall office market. Unemployment statewide was at 2.7 percent for October 2019, according to Hawaii …
Like so many markets nationally, the Hawaii retail real estate market was firmly in a state of flux in 2019. Despite more new vacancies than new openings — and limited new development — the Hawaii market held its own amidst challenging times. Investment sales demand and fundamentals remained strong, new and prominent retailers entered the market, and existing operators continued to expand and innovate. Last year brought both closings and openings to the Hawaii retail sector. Bucking historic trends, store closures outpaced new store openings. The closings that did occur were all related to corporate downsizing decisions, versus poor store performance by the Hawaii locations. Hawaii stores consistently post strong sales performances when compared to same-store national averages. In most instances, the Hawaii locations were the last to fold, given their consistently strong sales. Sears closed its 128,000-square-foot Windward Mall in Kaneohe, Oahu, in May. Kmart closed its last Hawaii location, a 119,000-square-foot store in Lihue, Kauai, in September. There are currently five vacant Kmart buildings and one vacant Sears location throughout the state. Early 2020 will follow suit, with the anticipated February closure of all seven Pier 1 stores on the islands. Brighter news included the return of Marshalls, …
As one of the premier global tourist destinations in the world, the Hawaii market is dominated by condos and hotels. It is also home to mega investment deals. A review of Hawaii’s investment market over the past three years shows that the hotel industry has made up the following percentage of the top 10 deals for each year: • 91 percent in 2017 • 55 percent in 2018 • 23 percent in 2019 The total sales volume for these deals has also seen a decline from more than $1.5 billion in 2017 to less than $926 million in 2019 as a result of a decline in foreign investors. In case you’re wondering, yes, there are multifamily properties in Hawaii. In fact, apartment sales represented 37 percent of the total sales volume for the top 10 deals in 2018. The largest investment deal was the $540 million portfolio recapitalization of Project Europa on Ewa Beach in Oahu. This was larger than the $505 million Global Hyatt Portfolio sale, which included the Grand Wailea in Maui. Institutional sales in 2018 were in the range of $371,000 per unit to $395,000 per unit, with cap rates in the 4.5 percent to 5 percent …