Aug 26, 2013, 2:24pm HST
Duane Shimogawa | Reporter- Pacific Business News
There’s Keola Lai, Waihonua, One Ala Moana and The Collection, four Kakaako high-rise condominium projects either developed, or being developed, or financially backed by Honolulu-based Alexander & Baldwin Inc.
Note that only one, The Collection, doesn’t share a Hawaiian name like the other three.
Some in the real estate industry and others have been wondering why A&B chose to go with a name like The Collection as opposed to a Hawaiian name.
That’s why I decided to bring the topic up during a recent one-on-one interview with A&B Chairman and CEO Stanley Kuriyama.
He told me that the company’s first instinct was to go with a Hawaiian name, but they ultimately felt it was time to be different.
“[We] were trying to create a new sense of place,” Kuriyama said inside a boardroom at the historic A&B Building in Downtown Honolulu. “[It’s] a little bit of a break from our tradition, [as we tried to] create a more hip, modern, urban living environment.”
Thus far, The Collection has had a good response with buyers, with nearly 70 percent of the 397 units for the 43-story condo project already sold.