Think Howard Hughes Corp. is Kakaako’s largest landowner? Guess again

Sep 6, 2013, 12:52pm HST Duane Shimogawa  |  Reporter- Pacific Business News Who owns the most land in Kakaako? If you answered Dallas-based The Howard Hughes Corp. or Kamehameha Schools, you’d be dead wrong. I actually thought the same thing, too. Instead, there are nearly 200 small landowners, mostly industrial-type businesses, that own about 20…


Sep 6, 2013, 12:52pm HST

Duane Shimogawa  |  Reporter- Pacific Business News

Who owns the most land in Kakaako? If you answered Dallas-based The Howard Hughes Corp. or Kamehameha Schools, you’d be dead wrong.

Nearly 200 small landiowners own the majority of the land in Honolulu's Kakaako neighborhood, which is undergoing a major redevelopment.
Nearly 200 small landiowners own the majority of the land in Honolulu’s Kakaako neighborhood, which is undergoing a major redevelopment.

I actually thought the same thing, too.

Instead, there are nearly 200 small landowners, mostly industrial-type businesses, that own about 20 percent of Kakaako.

By comparison, Howard Hughes Corp. (NYSE: HHC) owns 19 percent and Kamehameha Schools owns 17 percent of land in Kakaako.

And with the major redevelopment of Kakaako into the “Third City” on the horizon, with some 17 or so high-rise condominiums planned, these small landowners are facing a bit of a quandary — do they sell, stay or even a better question, how much will it take for them to sell?

Most owners I spoke with say that they’re not willing to sell and would like to be in Kakaako through its redevelopment stage.

Some will change their business models to include more services that are needed by some of the new residents to the area.

Besides these landowners, which also occupy their spaces with their businesses, there are also tenants who lease their spaces.

Take, for instance, Linda Kano, owner of Interior Showplace Ltd. at 956 Queen St., whose lease is up next year with The Howard Hughes Corp., which owns the land and building in which she runs her business.

She told PBN that her lease will be renewed for at least another five years.

After being in business for 35 years and at the same location for a little more than a decade, Kano feels that change is inevitable and that it will make the entire area very different.

In her case, she hopes to stay in Kakaako, but not so much so she can cater to the new residents, since her firm caters more to businesses.

“We go to customers,” Kano said. “I have to have a showroom, but don’t cater to residents.”

Nearly 200 small land owners own the majority of the land in Honolulu’s Kakaako neighborhood, which is undergoing a major redevelopment.