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A&B’S ALAKEA CORPORATE TOWER SOLD OUT
Downtown Office Tower Now Fee Simple Home to Businesses
HONOLULU – (March 17, 2005) – Two years after A&B Properties, Inc., the
real estate subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALEX),
acquired a 31-story office tower in Honolulu, it has transformed the
building into a class “A” office condominium and sold out all 31 floors
of fee simple office condominiums to an impressive group of new owners.
“A&B recognized the building was a high quality asset and knew we could
reposition it as class ‘A’ fee simple office condominiums,” explained
Michael Wright, senior vice president of investments & acquisitions for
A&B Properties. “At the time A&B purchased the building, in March 2003,
we began improvements and upgrades, and then commenced marketing in
October. While the building was more than 50% vacant, it allowed us the
opportunity to sell units unencumbered by tenant leases to owner users.
We believed that conversion condominiums would provide a rare
opportunity for downtown professionals to purchase their own office
space; we knew the interest rate environment was very favorable; and we
knew there was an unmet need in the market. In fact, the response was
tremendous.”
The condominium apartments were marketed as full-floor units (5,500
square feet) or half-floor units. The average sales price of a full
floor unit was more than $1 million. The buyers include some of Hawaii’s
most prominent real estate professionals and business owners, such as AM
Partners, Barnwell Industries, Cavanah & Associates, Cutter Management,
Dorvin Leis and Company, Jeff Long and Associates, Kobayashi Group,
Ko’Olina Ocean Marina Estates, Stanford Carr Development, and Queen
Liliuokalani Trust.
A&B Properties Project Manager Dean Hirabayashi, responsible for
overseeing project sales, said, “A&B’s repositioning of the Alakea
Corporate Tower is an excellent example of providing important options
for Hawaii’s business community, with savvy business owners and
investors jumping at the opportunity. And, by teaming with an
exceptional brokerage team at CB Richard Ellis of Hawaii, we had an
incredible sales pace. We are very pleased with the outcome.”
Upon purchase of the fee simple property, A&B Properties renamed the
building Alakea Corporate Tower. It contains 170,000 square feet of
area, including office and ground floor retail space; a high-tech
conference room; six glass exterior elevators; and extensive granite and
marble throughout. The building is located at 1100 Alakea Street in
downtown Honolulu.
A&B owns 91,000 acres in Hawaii, making it Hawaii’s fifth largest
private landowner. A&B Properties is one of Hawaii’s most active real
estate companies. The majority of A&B’s recent acquisition and
investment activity has been focused on Hawaii where, since 1999, A&B
Properties has acquired or invested in 23 Hawaii properties outside its
core land holdings on Maui and Kauai. These transactions represent a
total capital commitment approaching $500 million. A&B also has a leased
portfolio comprising more than 5.1 million square feet of leasable
retail, office and industrial space on the Mainland and in Hawaii.
Additional information may be found at its web site:
www.abprop.com.
A&B Properties, Inc. is the real estate
subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc., a diversified corporation
headquartered in Honolulu. A&B’s major lines of business are ocean
transportation (Matson Navigation Company, Inc.); real estate (A&B
Properties, Inc.); and food products (Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar
Company, Kauai Coffee Company). Additional information about A&B may be
found at its web site:
www.alexanderbaldwin.com.
# # #
NOTE TO EDITOR: For a digital photo/scan of
this property, please contact
lhowe@abinc.com.
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