KITV-article

November 25, 2013

Beloved newspaper salesman gives thanks to supporters, friends

George Ligman has long been a familiar face in his community

 George Ligman could easily be in an in-care home.
at home, doing next do nothing.
Nobody would fault him. Nobody would bat an eyelash.
Considering what he's been through, most people would expect it.
But not George Ligman.
Ligman has sat in the same spot across from Castle Medical Center for decades selling newspapers.
His limp is obvious, his location is dangerous, but still, he smiles on.
"I always have a special wave for him," said one motorist.
"I always get a paper from George," said another.
"He's got a lot of girlfriends there, too," said his wife, Jane.
She keeps a watchful eye on him.
About two and a half years ago, Ligman was struck by a truck. The driver lost control, ran him down and then drove into some shrubbery, dragging Ligman with him.
"Folks cried. Oh, my God. I was very emotional," his wife said.
Ligman was hospitalized in critical condition, but just a week and a half later, he was back on the job.
As a teenager, Ligman was involved in a very serious motorcycle crash that split his head open and landed him in the hospital for a solid year. So, for him, being here is something of a miracle.
"(The) doctor calls it therapy for him. It keeps his mind occupied," Jane said.
Through it all, Ligman holds close things like a letter from Sen. Fred Hemmings called "The Gift."
"Walking alone was a man about my age. His rugged face was of a thousand years," Ligman reads from the letter.
It is something special. Much like those who have wished him well along the way.
Ligman and his wife give thanks to them all.

StarAdveriser-article

November 24, 2013

Sharing the wealth

Alexander & Baldwin's purchase of land in Kailua gives millions to heirs of the man who transformed the town and ends an era of ownership

By Andrew Gomes 

 

Castle Junction. Castle High School. Castle Medical Center.

The Castle family that integrally transformed Kailua from an agrarian outpost to a residential community over the past century has left lasting reminders of its work.

"Castle was always part of the community," said James W.Y. Wong, a 91-year-old local businessman who developed grocery stores and a post office in Kailua on land leased from the Castle family.

Now the sale of most of the Windward Oahu town's commercial core to Alexander & Baldwin Inc. will end the kamaaina family's concentrated ownership in the area after several generations of stewardship.

Roughly 40 descendants of Harold Kainalu Long Castle will share most of $260 million in proceeds from land being sold by Kaneohe Ranch Co. in the $373 million deal announced Wednesday and scheduled to close next month.

Another $113 million is going to the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, a charitable grant-making organization.

Castle died in 1967 and his will called for 25 percent of his assets to go to his charitable foundation, 30 percent to his children through a trust and 45 percent to his wife, Alice Hedemann Castle.

When Alice Castle died in 1980, her assets were passed down through three more trusts — one for each of three children — managed by Kaneohe Ranch.

It's not been publicly disclosed how much each Castle family member will receive in the sale. However, Bank of Hawaii, one of three trustees, estimated that sale proceeds for one trust established for John C. Baldwin, a late grandson of Harold and Alice Castle, would be $11.3 million before taxes, according to a recent lawsuit that questioned the sale but was settled.

Of the roughly 40 Castle family descendants, more than half are minor children — mostly great-great-grandchildren of Harold Castle, according to other recent court filings.

If the proceeds of the sale were divided equally among the adult descendants, the estimated payout after selling costs would be about $14 million per person.

The decision to sell nearly all the assets of the company and the foundation was prompted by an unsolicited purchase inquiry, according to Mitch D'Olier, Kaneohe Ranch president and CEO.

D'Olier said the trustees had a responsibility to consider the unsolicited bid, and did so by retaining real estate brokerage and investment banking firm Eastdil Secured to determine the value of the assets and solicit potential competing bids.

At least 10 offers emerged, and the trustees elected to sell to A&B.

D'Olier believes there was no better buyer than A&B, given what he said are the company's deep kamaaina roots, understanding of island culture and long-term commitment to improving Hawaii.

D'Olier also has great respect for Harold Castle, who he said had the intellect and generosity to seed Kailua with various cornerstones that make it a special place.

"Every day that I sit in my office I am more staggered by the things he did," D'Olier said. "He's done a great thing for this community."

Harold Castle had a vision that the farming and ranching town of Kailua would be a nice place for people to live. So he began making pieces of ranch land and farm land available for housing and commercial development.

To help facilitate community development, Castle donated millions of dollars worth of land for uses including several churches that line part of Kailua Road, the hospital, parks, Pali Golf Course, Kainalu Elementary School, the high school named after his father and Hawaii Loa College, which later merged with Hawaii Pacific University.

Land for the Marine Corps base in Kaneohe was sold by Castle in 1943 in conjunction with World War II efforts, but after the war Castle rebuffed an offer to take back the land because he viewed continued military use as a benefit.

The schools, churches, golf course and retail development along with Kailua's beaches were used to attract homebuyers to the area. "Far-lying hamlets have become thriving modern communities," said a 1951 ad by Kaneohe Ranch reproduced in the book "Kailua" by the Kailua Historical Society. "Windward Oahu is truly the Land With A Future!"

Outside Kailua and Kane­ohe, Harold Castle isn't too much of a household name, in part because many longtime local residents associate the Castle moniker with Castle & Cooke.

Castle & Cooke is one of Hawaii's historic Big Five companies that dominated commerce in the islands with the rise of sugar plantations, and still operates today mainly as a developer of master-planned communities that include Mililani, Royal Kunia and Koa Ridge. Castle & Cooke also owned the island of Lanai until selling it last year to billionaire Larry Ellison for a reported $300 million.

Harold Castle's grandfather, Samuel Northrup Castle, was a missionary settler who arrived in Hawaii in 1837 and co-founded Castle & Cooke in 1851.

But it was Harold Castle's father, James Bicknell Castle, who put down expansive roots throughout Windward Oahu as part of establishing sugar plantations stretching from Waimanalo to Kahuku.

In Kailua, James B. Castle bought a big piece of a 20,000-acre ahupuaa, or mountain-to-sea tract of land, once belonging to Queen Kalama, wife of King Kamehameha III.

Harold Castle, born in 1886, later added to the family land holdings with a purchase in 1917 of 9,500 acres in Kailua and Kaneohe. At that time, the area was expansively agrarian with fields of pineapple, rice, taro and other crops along with ranching.

But with Harold Castle's vision and efforts to attract more residents, Kailua began to grow. By the early 1950s, Kailua's population reached 7,740. After another decade and a residential development boom led by Castle and partners, the community swelled to 25,622 residents.

Castle had fulfilled his vision.

In a 1964 newspaper interview, he was quoted as saying: "My original feeling toward this general area has stayed with me through many years and is still with me today. I feel we have a combination of beneficial elements that are unequal anywhere in the islands."

Three years later, in 1967 at age 81, Castle died.

At the time of his death, Castle solely owned Kane­ohe Ranch. His estate included more than 8,500 acres of land, including thousands of parcels under homes, along with roughly $12 million in stocks and bonds, according to media reports at the time.

Kaneohe Ranch continued operations initially under trustees who included family members and later under a corporate structure, all the while managing company assets for the benefit of Castle heirs. The company also managed the assets of the foundation.

Under the latest trust setup, management decisions for the assets are left to three trustees. Initially the trustees were Alice's son, James C. Castle; one of two sons-in-law, James Gordon McIntosh; and Hawaiian Trust Co. (now known as Bank of Hawaii).

Today, the trustees are Bankoh, D'Olier and a grandson of Harold and Alice Castle, James C. McIntosh.

Interestingly, A&B also has a family tie to Harold and Alice Castle. One daughter, Virginia "Tootie" Castle, married Asa Baldwin, a descendant of the family who established A&B as a sugar cane plantation on Maui.

Asa Baldwin was manager of the plantation and grandson of A&B co-founder Henry Perrine Baldwin. Today, there are close to 20 Baldwins descended from Harold and Alice Castle, representing about half of all the family heirs.

After the sale, Kaneohe Ranch will still exist. The company is retaining a portfolio of commercial real estate on the mainland roughly valued at $160 million, according to the Bankoh report disclosed in the lawsuit.

Kaneohe Ranch also is retaining a few Kailua properties: its headquarters at Castle Junction, Kapaa Quarry, some leased-fee parcels under homes and the land under the Koolau Farmers store on Kailua Road.

For the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, sale proceeds boost its endowment value by about $30 million to $200 million, thus enhancing its power to award grants benefiting education, marine ecosystems and other causes largely for Windward Oahu communities.

The foundation, described as the largest private foundation in Hawaii, awards about $6 million a year in grants. Since it was created, grant awards have totaled about $180 million.

D'Olier said that while an era for Kailua under Castle influence is ending, he prefers to view it as a new era for the legacy of Harold Castle. "Here comes Harold Castle phase two."

PacificBusinessNews-article

November 21, 2013

Work on Target’s Kailua store starts, opening planned for early 2015

By Duane Shimogawa

Construction recently started on the long-delayed $40 million Target store in Kailua, which will be the retailer’s third location on Oahu and is now scheduled to open in early 2015.
The new store will create about 550 jobs, including 250 construction jobs and 300 permanent positions, according to a website Minneapolis, Minn.-based Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) set up for the project.
When reached by PBN, a Target Hawaii spokesman referred all questions about the project to the website. In May, a company spokesman said that the new 130,000-square-foot Target store would open in October 2014, but the website gives an updated opening date as early 2015.
Click on the photo for a slideshow of renderings provided by Target.
Target, which bought the seven-acre parcel at 345 Hahani St. from Castle Family LLC for $22.5 million in January 2011, recently received the building permit for the new store, according to public records.
Demolition work, which includes taking down the former Don Quijote building, has begun with the estimated value of work at $13 million by general contractor Honolulu-based dck pacific construction LLC, according to the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Planning and Permitting.
The project, which is expected to create 250 construction jobs, is expected to take about 10 to 12 months to complete, the Target website said.
“There was a lot of site work [to be done],” dck pacific Senior Vice President and General Manager Eric Tessem told PBN. “To Target’s credit, they really acknowledged culture issues and did a good job at that.”
Target and dck pacific are very familiar with one another, as the contractor built both the Kapolei and Kailua-Kona Target stores.
Last year, Target changed its plans for the store after an archaeological study found ancient Native Hawaiian remains at the proposed site.
But it said it completed its field tests required for the archaeological inventory survey, which required trenching, and a ground blessing was held about a month ago.
Through the site, Target addressed traffic concerns by noting that in its traffic study, it will be reducing the number of driveways on Hahani Street from five to two; installing a new traffic signal at the intersection of Hahani and Hekili streets; building new, dedicated turn lanes, constructing another crosswalk and conducting a post-opening traffic study.
Target has four stores in Hawaii, in Honolulu and Kapolei on Oahu, and in Hilo and Kailua-Kona on the Big Island. In addition to the Kailua store, another store is planned for a site in Kahului on Maui.
Meanwhile, Kailua is still buzzing over Wednesday’s announcement that Alexander & Baldwin Inc. is acquiring the Hawaii commercial real estate portfolio from Kaneohe Ranch and the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation for $373 million, which includes much of the town, including the parcels on either side of the new Target store.

PacificBusinessNews-article

November 22, 2013

Kaneohe Ranch’s Kailua lands attracted interest from 80 buyers

By Duane Shimogawa

Kaneohe Ranch President and CEO Mitch D’Olier said Friday that more than 80 potential buyers were interested enough in purchasing the Kailua-based firm’s commercial real estate assets in Hawaii to sign confidentiality agreements.
This week, Honolulu-based Alexander & Baldwin (NYSE: ALEX) said it is acquiring the Hawaii properties from Kaneohe Ranch and the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, including commercial properties in Kailua town, for $373 million.
Earlier this year, an unnamed, substantial buyer approached Kaneohe Ranch to possibly purchase its commercial real estate holdings, and that’s when D’Olier talked to the board of directors, as well as Eastdil Secured, its investment advisor.
He told PBN that the valuation of the properties by Eastdil Secured came back higher than Kaneohe Ranch anticipated.
“We were surprised,” he said. “That’s because the interest-rate market is very unusual now. The low interest rates allow people to provide higher prices for real estate cashflow. That’s what I think what’s going on.”
The combination of favorable interest rates and the fact that the Hawaii real estate market seems to be ripe for the picking from investors all over the world, contributed to the major interest in the Kaneohe Ranch real estate portfolio, D’Olier said.
“If you look at Hawaii right now, there is a lot of good news,” he said. “The hotels have increased revenue periods [and] we are still living in the hallow of Sen. [Daniel] Inouye’s largesse. There is a lot of military construction coming and already started, [so] the story is pretty good about Hawaii right now.”
As the purchase process rolled out, D’Olier said that the original 80 interested parties turned into 10 serious buyers, including A&B.
“Then we settled on A&B,” he said. “I’m really happy about the outcome. I think Chris [Benjamin, president and COO of A&B] and Stan [Kuriyama, chairman and CEO of A&B] really understand the Hawaii situation. The guy that’s got it, understands it all.”

StarAdvertiser-article

November 21, 2013

 

A&B buys swath of Kailua town

 

By Andrew Gomes

 

A Hawaii public company with major financial power and development experience is going to be the new dominant owner of commercial property in Kailua, though the firm said it won't be moving fast to redevelop what is still largely a bedroom community.

Alexander  &  Baldwin Inc. is buying nearly all the Oahu real estate owned by Kaneohe Ranch Co. and the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation -- roughly 650 acres -- in a $373 million deal announced Wednesday.

 

The sale is scheduled to close by the end of the year and will provide $260 million to Kaneohe Ranch and $113 million to the charitable foundation.

Most of the land in the sale, 585 acres, is zoned for preservation and agriculture and has little value. Some commercial property is in urban Honolulu and Kaneohe. The primary value of the portfolio is 36 acres in Kailua town.

A&B  said it is acquiring 70 percent of the commercial-zoned land and 90 percent of the retail property in Kailua.

"It is a portfolio that cannot be replicated," Stan Kuriyama, A&B chairman and CEO, said on a conference call with stock market analysts Wednesday. "An acquisition of this scale and quality rarely occurs in Hawaii."

As the dominant landlord for Kailua businesses, A&B will be in the position to benefit from rising rents and redevelopment in an area becoming more of a regional retail destination and tourist magnet.

A&B  said it sees redevelopment opportunity for Kailua's business district in the long term, and that it plans to take the time to meet with community members to find out what they want and need.

"Kailua is a thriving and vibrant community, and we intend to partner with the community in maintaining the livability, desirability and beauty of Kailua town," Chris Benjamin, A&B president and chief operating officer, said in a statement. "We take a long-term perspective on our community development efforts and strive to work closely with communities to meet their changing needs."

A&B's stated approach mirrors a similar one taken by Kaneohe Ranch in a major redevelopment effort for parts of downtown Kailua that included establishing a Whole Foods Market that opened last year and a Target store slated to open late next year. Those changes were welcomed by many Kailua residents, though others opposed bringing new national retailers into a community that grew up as a sleepy beach town.

Some residents are wary of a new round of development by a public company without the historical ties to Kailua that Kaneohe Ranch had as a family business that turned ranch and crop land into a residential community.

Donna Wong, a Kailua Neighborhood Board member, said that while she hopes there will be no big changes in Kailua town, she doesn't want to judge A&B  because it hasn't yet met with residents.

Edward Lewis, a 32-year Kailua resident, welcomes more improvements and new retailers to the town area. "I'm not against smartening up the town,"  he said. "I  think it's a good thing."

Mitch D'Olier, Kaneohe Ranch president and CEO who is also president of the foundation, said in a statement that A&B  will be good stewards of the property, its businesses and tenants from what he knows of the company's "careful and sensitive"  approach.

"I don't believe we could have found a better buyer than Alexander & Baldwin," he said. "A&B is such a respected kamaaina business institution with a similar history to that of the Castle family. They both grew from island roots with a strong understanding of island culture and a true, long-term commitment to improving Hawaii."

A&B said it will look for redevelopment opportunities that maintain the community's character. The company also is looking to capitalize on what it said is a community that is underserved by retail  while at the same time becoming more of a regional shopping destination with new retailers such as Whole Foods.

Kailua has 13 square feet of retail store space per resident, about half the national average of 24 square feet, A&B  said.

The company also noted that Kailua retailers average about $700 per square foot of store space, double the average on Oahu or for national regional malls.

A&B  said it expects to increase its commercial property rent revenue in Kailua by improving the mix of tenants, renovating existing buildings and redeveloping property.

A&B  also expects gains as rental rates on ground leases reset based on higher land values. The company said 45 percent of ground leases in the portfolio will reset rents in the next three or four years.

 

The deal furthers A&B's strategy to acquire more Hawaii commercial real estate producing rental income from tenants after spinning off former subsidiary Matson Navigation Co. last year. A&B  has been selling commercial real estate on the mainland to finance Hawaii acquisitions that include Pearl Highlands Center and Napili Plaza in Lahaina.

A&B plans to finance the Kaneohe Ranch and Castle Foundation land purchase mostly by selling mainland commercial properties, many of which are already under contract.

Kaneohe Ranch and the foundation marketed their real estate portfolios  through a broker earlier this year after an unsolicited purchase inquiry. D'Olier said more than 10 purchase offers were received.

One portion of the ranch portfolio, a collection of property on the mainland valued at $160 million, is not part of the sale to A&B.

D'Olier said Kaneohe Ranch will undergo some restructuring but continue to manage the mainland real estate and some Oahu property, including its head  quarters at Castle Junction. D'Olier said restructuring could involve some employees staying with Kaneohe Ranch and some joining A&B.

Proceeds from the sale for Kaneohe Ranch will be mainly distributed to descendants of Harold Castle, who converted what was largely ranch land into a residential community.

D'Olier is expected to receive an estimated $13.2 million from the sale, according to a summary of the transaction provided to Castle family members. D'Olier said the figure is not accurate but would not provide another. Other company employees would share $1.8 million, the summary said.

Proceeds to the foundation will enhance its endowment and ability to award grants benefiting education, marine ecosystems and other causes for Windward Oahu communities.

KITV-article

November 21, 2013

Alexander & Baldwin buys part of Kailua

Land purchase includes 15 downtown acres

By Paul Drewes

Honolulu - Downtown Kailua will get a new owner as a big name in Hawaii real estate adds to its island portfolio.
Fifteen acres of downtown Kailua and hundreds of other windward Oahu acres have been sold to a company many in Hawaii are already familiar with: Alexander and Baldwin.
"We're very excited, not just about buying these assets, but about becoming a part of the Kailua community and the stewardship responsibilities that entails," said A&B President Christopher Benjamin.
"I do have expectations they will serve the community better overall. They understand our diversity and history. So it is positive expectations instead of concerns at this point," said Kailua resident Jaime Eustaquio.
A&B bought the more than 600 acres of land because its leaders believe the commercial district around Kailua has a lot of value.
Benjamin said A & B has no immediate plans for any more projects in the already bustling community..
"We haven't made the assumption there would be near-term development. We can be patientand we can base it on what the community needs," said Benjamin.
A number of Windward Oahu residents feel their voice has not been heard when it comes to past development for Kailua town.
"Being a local company hopefully A&B will be interested in hearing what the community has to say about what we want for Kailua," said Lanikai resident Wendy Ferri.
A & B will pay Kaneohe Ranch and the Castle Foundation $373 million for their share of Kailua, a town with international appeal and its own charm.
"We are going to do what is right to enhance and preserve the charm of Kailua," added Benjamin.
Some residents feel even without future development for Kailua, the town's charm has already started fade.
"I live in Kaneohe now. I feel like I was pushed out. I'm wondering what they are going to make of the sale. There have been so many changes over the years, some of them good for businesses. Now this place is really starting to look like the mainland," said former Kailua resident Peni Puaauli.
The sale is expected to close by the end of the year. To pay for the purchase, A & B is selling off several mainland properties.
Benjamin said one of the reasons for that is because the company knows the Hawaii market better, another is because this prime portfolio of real estate rarely comes on the market.

StarAdvertiser-article

November 20, 2013

A&B to buy Kaneohe Ranch and Harold Castle land for $373M

By Star-Advertiser Staff

 

Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. is buying the Oahu land assets of Kaneohe Ranch Co. and Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, including most of Kailua's retail district, for $373 million. The transactions are expected to close in late December 2013.

The sale includes two parts. Kaneohe Ranch is selling its Oahu land holdings for $260 million and will continue to own and manage some Oahu properties as well as its mainland land assets, the company said. At the same time the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation will sell all of its properties to A&B.

The total sales price for both the Kaneohe Ranch and Harold K.L. Castle Foundation land assets is $373 million.

The combined sale includes 36.4 acres in downtown Kailua.

"I don't believe we could have found a better buyer than Alexander & Baldwin," said Mitch D'Olier, Kaneohe Ranch president and CEO, and president of the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation. "A&B is such a respected kamaaina business institution with a similar history to that of the Castle family. They both grew from island roots with a strong understanding of Island culture and a true, long-term commitment to improving Hawaii. I know that Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Stanley Kuriyama, President and Chief Operating Officer Christopher Benjamin and their team will be good stewards of this property, its businesses and tenants, because I've witnessed their careful and sensitive approach over many years."

A&B said it will fund the purchase with proceeds from the planned sale of several commercial properties it owns on the Mainland.

"With this purchase, we will be acquiring one of the state's largest and finest retail portfolios, in an excellent market. This is an opportunity that rarely arises in Hawaii, and our decision to purchase is a reflection of our confidence in and commitment to Hawaii's future," said Stanley M. Kuriyama, A&B chairman and chief executive officer. "This acquisition dramatically accelerates our strategy of migrating our Mainland portfolio to Hawaii, diversifies our holdings with a major investment in the Windward side of Oahu, and improves the quality of earnings from our overall commercial portfolio. We look forward to working with the Kailua community in meeting the community's needs and building upon the successes achieved by Kaneohe Ranch and HKL Castle Foundation."

"We take a long-term perspective on our community development efforts and strive to work closely with communities to meet their changing needs," said Christopher J. Benjamin, A&B president and chief operating officer. "Kailua is a thriving and vibrant community, and we intend to partner with the community in maintaining the livability, desirability and beauty of Kailua town."

StarAdvertiser-article

November 18, 2013

Public should shape the future of Kailua

On any given day in Kailua, the streets are busy with tourists, some arriving by bus from Waikiki. Rented yellow kayaks ply Kailua Bay. Rented bicycles roam Kailua streets. Retail stores sell Kailua-branded beach towels and honu keychains and coffee cups.

The transformation of this Windward Oahu town from a sleepy bedroom community into a full-blown tourist attraction was neither accidental nor inevitable. Turning Kailua into what some derisively call "Kaikiki" required the efforts of many people who want to profit from Kailua's natural beauty — B&B operators (legal and illegal), kayak vendors, tour companies, souvenir-selling retailers and the Hawaii Tourism Authority, to name a few.

But perhaps the most influential players have been the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation and Kaneohe Ranch Co., which now intend to make their own tidy profit off Kailua by selling a big piece of it — 38 acres of valuable commercial real estate in the center of town, upgraded in recent years by Whole Foods, Pier 1 Imports and California Pizza Kitchen.

That land is part of a $262 million deal to sell about 600 acres of foundation and ranch real estate assets; the deal with an unidentified public company has until Dec. 31 to close.

Kaneohe Ranch endured much criticism for its role in Kailua's transformation. Nonetheless, its president and CEO, Mitch D'Olier, made no apologies, saying that surveys and public meetings showed that Kailuans needed and wanted more retail stores, so they would not have to drive over the Pali to do their shopping.

There's truth in that argument; Kailua's retail scene is more vibrant than it has been in years, and Kaneohe Ranch deserves credit for that. There also remains a mix of large and small businesses in the portfolio, including locally owned establishments that don't cater to tourists, such as auto body shops.

With a new, as-yet-unnamed landowner, however, comes uncertainty about how Kailua's future will be shaped.

According to the marketing materials from Kaneohe Ranch's broker, the new owner will enjoy the potential for substantial future profit through redevelopment. Aside from the property already redeveloped, the broker says, there is lots of money to be made through "contractual ground lease market rent resets, land value appreciation, sales of non-strategic parcels, rental rate increases upon lease rollover and, as the town center is further enhanced, consolidation of CAM (common area maintenance) expenses in downtown Kailua, and more."

The materials also noted that since Kailua boasts a Whole Foods and a soon-to-be-built Target store, the town "is now on the national retailers' radar screen."

Developers can have an outsized influence on communities, deciding what businesses will be allowed on their properties, and often seeking variances and rezoning to maximize the return on their investment — housing projects in Kakaako and Laie being two prime examples. Such moves could be particularly tempting in Kailua, where commercial property is scarce, expensive and capable of generating enormous long-term profits.

Nonetheless, decisions about the future of Kailua — or any residential community, for that matter — ultimately belong to those who live there. For Kailua, those decisions can be found in city zoning laws and the Koolaupoko Sustainable Communities Plan. The latest plan, finished in 2000 and up for review, sets certain standards and restrictions for commercial and industrial development. The new owner of Kaneohe Ranch's portfolio should be sensitive to those plans, which are intended to ensure that Kailua remains what it has been for generations — not another Waikiki, but a place where people live, work and call home.

NBCNews-article

 

November 16, 2013

Hawaii town to state: Stop sending tourists here

By Audrey McAvoy The Associated Press

 

People from across the world are drawn to the coastal town of Kailua. Its white sand beaches are among the nation's best. Some recommend the Honolulu suburb for its laid-back vibe. And President Barack Obama vacations there with his family each Christmas.
But now, the neighborhood board is asking a state tourism agency to stop encouraging visitors to stay overnight in their town.
It's the latest salvo in a long-running battle over how much tourism Kailua wants and should allow — a dispute that's popping up around the state as more of the increasing numbers of visitors who arrive want to experience island life like a local rather than a tourist.
The board is upset about a thriving industry of bed-and-breakfast and vacation rentals that are leased out short-term without permits. The board says these places deplete Kailua's already limited supply of housing, inflating costs and putting homes out of reach of those born and raised in town.
Neighbors don't like having a stream of strangers staying next door. "It doesn't feel like a neighborhood when you don't know the people there," board member Lisa Marten said. "If there's any sort of safety issue, there's no one to ask for help because you don't know them."
Two of the three houses next to Marten are currently vacation rentals. Earlier this year, a large group of renters in their 20s staying in one of the homes was "doing drugs from morning till night," she said. Marijuana fumes wafted into Marten's yard and she could hear them spouting foul language.
"I would say to them, 'I've got teenagers. I've got very young kids. I'm trying to teach them to stay away from drugs. You must have nieces and nephews, please take it inside and be discreet,'" she said. They ignored her pleas, noting that they had medical marijuana licenses.
It's hard to pinpoint exactly how many vacation rentals are in Kailua, but one website, Vacation Rentals by Owner, lists 289 vacation rental units in the town. The Hawaii Tourism Authority estimates there may be about 500. Statewide, there are between 7,000 and 10,000, regulated based on different local laws in each county.
But only a few dozen in Kailua actually have permits: 35 bed-and-breakfasts and 30 vacation rental units, according to Board Chairman Chuck Prentiss. The rest are illegal. Rules are tight on Oahu, where the county hasn't issued new permits since 1990.
So when the board noticed the tourism agency's website suggested that "a Kailua vacation rental can be the perfect solution" for those planning a family vacation or traveling in large groups, they decided to push back.
By a 12-2 vote, the board in September passed a resolution requesting that the agency "stop promoting Kailua as a tourist destination and alternative to Waikiki" — the bustling beachfront neighborhood in Honolulu.
Marten said it wasn't right for one government agency — the tourism authority — to promote vacation rentals while another — the city — struggles to enforce the law against illegal operators.
The neighborhood board doesn't have any power to pass laws and is only an advisory body. But Ikaika Anderson, who represents Kailua in the Honolulu City Council, said the resolution is "an embarrassment" and doesn't reflect the opinion of most residents.
"It's a signal to those folks who do not live in Kailua that Kailua residents do not welcome them," Anderson said.
Defenders of vacation rentals and bed-and-breakfasts say they support the economy and provide jobs, noting they've helped many boutiques and restaurants that have cropped up in Kailua over the past decade or so to flourish.
Those who operate vacation rentals and bed-and-breakfasts say renting their homes to tourists allows them to earn extra income, pay the mortgage and stay in Kailua, where housing prices are among the state's most expensive.
The median sales price of home in Kailua and neighboring Waimanalo hit $794,500 last year, according to Honolulu Board of Realtors data.
Angie Larson, a board member of the Hawaii Vacation Rental Owners Association, said many people already know about Kailua without the tourism authority telling them about it.
"It's a little too late to keep Hawaii in a box. Everybody wants to go. Not everyone wants to stay in a hotel," said Larson, who operated an unpermitted bed-and-breakfast in Kailua.
Mike McCartney, the head of the tourism authority and a Kailua resident, said community leaders need to come together to have a conversation about finding the right balance. He said what's happening in Kailua is happening on all the islands.
"How do we care for our land, our people, our places, our culture and respect it all, together," he asked. 

StarAdvertiser-article

November 14, 2013

Challenge settled, sale of Kailua land advances

A Castle descendant's claims on the merits of the real estate sale have been sorted out

By Andrew Gomes

 

The $262 million sale of Oahu real estate assets of Kaneohe Ranch Co. and the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation moved forward Wednesday after one beneficiary settled a legal petition that raised concerns that the deal was being rushed and hadn't been properly vetted.

The sale involves roughly 600 acres, including about half of downtown Kailua, Kaimuki Shopping Center, Windward City Shopping Center and Pali Palms Plaza and agricultural land.

The petition filed by Jeremy C. Baldwin in Circuit Court was settled without a hearing Wednesday after about two hours of private talks involving Judge Derrick Chan.

The settlement allowed the descendants of Harold K.L. Castle to go ahead with a vote on whether to accept the offer from an unidentified public company, according to Michael Rudy, a local attorney representing Baldwin. It was not clear whether the vote took place Wednesday nor the result of the vote.

Rudy said Baldwin was pleased with the petition's resolution. "We're happy with the settlement," he said. "Our needs were addressed."

Baldwin filed the petition seeking postponement of the vote, alleging that Bank of Hawaii, the trustee for 26 local family trusts with stakes in the real estate assets, didn't do enough independent analysis on the merits of the proposed sale to an unidentified public company.

The petition said the bank, which recommended sale approval and gave beneficiaries just a few days' notice to decide, relied too heavily on an analysis and recommendation by Kane­ohe Ranch, whose employees stand to be rewarded greatly in the sale.

Mitch D'Olier, president and chief executive officer of Kaneohe Ranch Management Ltd., would receive an estimated $13.2 million through the sale, according to a summary of the transaction. Other company employees would share $1.8 million. Carlton Au, the firm's chief financial officer, would receive $298,122, the summary said.

Bank of Hawaii declined to comment on the petition. D'Olier declined comment.

A collection of mainland real estate also marketed for sale is not part of the $262 million deal. The transaction summary said Kane­ohe Ranch is retaining the mainland portfolio valued at $160 million at this time.

The land being sold stems from the assets of Harold Kainalu Long Castle and his wife, Alice Hedemann Castle. Harold Castle bought 9,500 acres in the Kailua area in 1917, and helped establish the town by donating land for churches, Castle Hospital, schools including Castle High School and Hawaii Loa College, and the land that became Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

Castle died in 1967 and left some of his assets to a private charitable foundation in his name, while other assets were passed to descendants in the form of Castle family trusts.

PacificBusinessNews-article

November 9, 2013

Kaneohe Ranch selling Hawaii real estate, Kailua town for $262M

By Duane Shimogawa

Kaneohe Ranch is selling its Hawaii commercial real estate portfolio, which includes much of Kailua town in Windward Oahu, to a public company for $262 million in a deal expected to close by the end of the year, according to a petition filed by a beneficiary seeking to postpone a vote on the sale scheduled for next week.
A source has confirmed to Pacific Business News that Alexander & Baldwin Inc. is the buyer.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports, however, that the public company was not identified in the petition filed by Jeremy C. Baldwin in 1st Circuit Court on Friday.
Baldwin said in the petition that a notice from Bank of Hawaii, which is a trustee for the trusts that hold the Hawaii assets, received on Thursday required a response with "yes" or "no" vote on the sale by Monday, the newspaper reported.
Mitch D'Olier, president and CEO of Kaneohe Ranch, declined to comment on the report in an email Saturday morning.
D'Olier told PBN in July that Kaneohe Ranch and the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation expected to make a decision on the sale of the ranch assets by last month.
Chris Benjamin, president and Chief Operating Officer of Honolulu-based A&B (NYSE: ALEX) previously told PBN that A&B was interested in acquiring Kaneohe Ranch properties. Benjamin did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Saturday morning.
Kaneohe Ranch said in May that the rising land values in Hawaii prompted the Harold K.L. Castle family to put its commercial real estate holdings, which include retail and lease fee land interests in Kailua town, Kaneohe and Kaimuki, and nine properties on the Mainland. The Mainland property is reportedly not included in the pending sale.
Local real estate experts had estimated the sale of the entire portfolio could have topped $1 billion, eclipsing the $300 million Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison paid last year to acquire the island of Lanai from Castle & Cooke CEO David Murdock.
A&B recently closed on the purchase of another Hawaii real estate portfolio, the residential properties on Oahu and Maui owned by Japanese billionaire Genshiro Kawamoto, for $98 million. A&B is in the process of fixing up the former Kawamoto homes in Honolulu's Kahala neighborhood and offering them for sale.

StarAdvertiser-article

November 6, 2013

$175 million in contracts awarded for Windward Oahu sewer tunnel

 

By Associated Press & Star-Advertiser

 

Honolulu has awarded more than $175 million in contracts for a sewer tunnel mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Health.

The city announced Tuesday that the contracts were awarded for the Kaneohe-Kailua gravity sewer tunnel project to the joint-venture group of Southland Contracting Inc. and Mole Construction Inc., and local construction management firm Bowers + Kubota.

The sewer tunnel will fulfill a portion of a federal consent decree to implement wastewater remediation projects on Oahu in the next 25 to 28 years.

The project involves constructing a 3-mile tunnel from Kaneohe Wastewater Pre-Treatment Facility to Kailua Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant.

City officials said that over the last two years, they have hosted community meetings about the project and, based on that feedback, the middle portion of the project's alignment was moved further from residences. The tunnel now runs behind the Board of Water Supply Reservoir near Mokapu Saddle Road. 

Southland Contracting is a tunnel excavation and wet-utility installation company, while Mole Constructors is involved in underground civil construction, according to the city.

StarAdvertiser - article

November 3, 2013

Tourism transforms sleepy Kailua suburb

By Allison Schaefers

 

San Diego honeymooners Ramon and Christine Hena­res ventured into Kai­lua on Friday in search of a kayak ride, a shave ice and what they called "the real Hawaii experience."

"Kailua was awesome. It's pretty secluded, and we didn't see that many other tourists," said Ramon Hena­res as he purchased a shave ice at Island Snow. "It seems more authentic."

His recent bride, Christine Hena­res, agreed, saying that when they return to Oahu for their next vacation, they'll try to find overnight accommodations in Kai­lua.

"I'd rather come back here than Waikiki — it's too crazy there," she said.

Increasingly, tourists like the Hena­reses are viewing Kai­lua as an alternative to Waikiki. Tourist interest in Kailua is partially due to Hawaii's maturity as a destination and its high rate of repeat visitors, who go out of their way to seek new experiences on return trips. Positive word of mouth and social media about the destination also have attracted visitors along with mentions in visitor publications across the globe. The state's tourism agency, the Hawaii Tourism Authority, has even gotten in on the act, billing Kailua as a "buzzing beach town" with "turquoise water, white sand beaches, unique boutiques and casual dining." Along with Kailua Beach, HTA's official travel website, www.gohawaii.com, also touts a variety of Kailua businesses including Boots and Kimo's Homestyle Kitchen, Crepes No Ka Oi, Kalapawai Market, Island Snow, Formaggio Grill, Olive Boutique and Global Village.

At Island Snow, tourists make up 60 percent of the business, which has enabled it to expand its store space and, during peak seasons, employ about a dozen workers from Kailua and surrounding communities like Wai­ma­nalo and Kaneohe, said Island Snow Supervisor Karllene Sato.

Business has gotten an added boost because President Barack Obama, who vacations each winter in Kailua, has made Island Snow a frequent stop.

"Tourism is extremely important to us," Sato said. "The more visitors that come, the more people that we can employ. With the tourists here, on average we go through 15 blocks of ice a day. That's anywhere from 200 to 300 shave ice."

That's a good thing, right? Well, that depends on whom you ask.

While many Kailua community members and businesses say that they are glad to welcome visitors like the Hena­reses, who bolster the neighborhood's tourist economy, others say the sheer volume of tourists who are coming has had a negative impact on the quality of life in the once sleepy suburb.

"We are definitely on the map of where the tourists stop. If you look at ‘101 Things to Do on Oahu,' they are marketing Hono­lulu, Pearl Harbor, the North Shore and Kailua," said Donna Wong, who has lived in Kailua for about 30 years and is a member of the Kailua Neighborhood Board.

Wong said increased tourism in Kailua has brought traffic congestion and overcrowding to the community, driven up housing costs, turned residential communities into resorts, attracted tourism-centered retailers who are seemingly unconcerned with providing goods and services for locals, and commercialized the neighborhood's beaches and parks.

"It just isn't your town anymore; it's a resort," Wong said. "Visitor demand has raised housing prices. Workers can't afford to live in Kailua, and my children can't even afford to live in the town where they grew up."

The median price for a single-family home in the Kai­lua-Wai­ma­nalo area was $890,000 in August, up 15 percent from $775,000 a year earlier, according to the most recent neighborhood data from the Hono­lulu Board of Realtors. By comparison, Oahu's median price for the same month was $665,000. It rose even further in September to $675,000.

Wong said that the hometown feel of the community has changed, too.

"Before, you would always see people that you knew, and you would stop and talk, but now it's overcrowded by people that you don't know," she said. "It's losing that friendly atmosphere, and people are agitated all the time. You'll see them at Longs, and they'll say, ‘It took me forever to get here because I got behind all the tourists on their bikes.'"

Wong said the last straw was when HTA began advertising Kailua's short-term vacation rentals on its public-funded website. She and other members of the Kailua Neighborhood Board overwhelmingly adopted a resolution Sept. 5 asking the HTA "to respect the zoning and quality of life in the residential neighborhood and immediately stop promoting Kailua as a tourist destination and alternative to Waikiki."

On Thursday, HTA CEO and President Mike McCartney said the agency does not encourage or promote illegal vacation rentals that are not properly licensed. McCartney said that the agency would continue to market Kailua and its businesses and short-term rentals because it is responsible for "authentically and fairly promoting destinations and businesses throughout the Hawaiian Islands."

At the same time, McCartney said that the agency intends to work with Kailua stakeholders to balance community interests with tourism, which is estimated by HTA to pump more than $100 million annually into the neighborhood.

"It's our job to work with communities to figure what kind of host that they want to be," said McCartney, who grew up in Windward Oahu. "Some places are proud (to have the mining or automobile industries), and in Hawaii I hope that we're proud that we have visitors to learn about Hawaii's people, place and culture."

But there are signs that Kailua tourism has dampened since the resolution was made public, said David Uchi­yama, HTA vice president of brand management.

"What's gone out publicly about Kailua has already damaged them. Visitors won't go where they aren't welcome," Uchi­yama said. "It is a concern when you have a community make a statement like what they made."

HTA Chairman Ron Williams, who runs Atlantis Submarines in Hawaii, said failing to resolve the debate in Kailua could affect tourism for all of Hawaii.

"It doesn't just affect Kailua; it affects all of us," Williams said. "It has a lot to do with the well-being of our entire state of Hawaii."

McCartney said the success of tourism this year alone has generated nearly $10 billion in visitor spending statewide and contributed $1.04 billion in state tax revenue during the first eight months. Tourism also supports about 170,000 jobs statewide and has brought Hawaii air access to 50 cities around the world.

Barbara High, who owns a short-term Kailua rental called Pillows in Paradise, added that there are many businesses in Kailua that would not survive without visitor support.

"I have three children that work in Kailua, and if tourism wasn't there, I don't think that they could maintain their jobs or that those businesses would stay open," High said. "I'm really not sure how the Kailua Neighborhood Board decided what they did."

Wong said the board heard from many Kailua community members before deciding to pass the recent resolution and will probably take additional action if it's warranted.

"We need tourism dollars, there's no doubt about it," Wong said. "But when you look at tourism, you have to also look at the costs to the community and its carrying capacity. I don't think that this action will be our last."