Alexander & Baldwin Inc., which this week closed on the purchase of a seven-story warehouse and office building in the Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako for $39 million, plans to operate the property as industrial space for the foreseeable future.
“The investment in Kakaako Commerce Center expands our commercial portfolio focus on Hawaii,” Suzy Hollinger, spokeswoman for A&B, told PBN in an email this week. “Kakaako is an increasingly supply-constrained market given the conversion of commercial properties to residential development.”
Joe Leonardo of Honolulu-based Joseph C. Leonardo & Co. brokered the transaction for both the buyer and seller, the California-based real estate investment firm Fowler Property Acquisitions LLC.
“Kakaako is the California gold rush,” he told PBN. “That is where to place your money. I think it’s a stable asset that just has a great deal of opportunity now and in the future. The overall market for quality product is just extremely hard to find. There are right now, more buyers than sellers. Kakaako is really just the place to be.”
Located at 875 Waimanu St., the 204,000-square-foot center built in 1971 is home to roughly 45 tenants, including StorQuest Self Storage.
The property, which is located between Waimanu and Kawaiahao streets and has five floors of warehouse space, topped by a sixth floor of office space and a seventh-floor parking deck, has a total property assessed value of about $17 million, according to tax records.
The California firm bought the Kakaako Commerce Center for $15.9 million in 2003.
In 2006, Hawaii developer Peter Savio said he was buying the center, with plans to sell units as commercial condominiums. However, that deal fell through, he told PBN on this week.
Duane Shimogawa Reporter – Pacific Business News