An Ala Moana property ripe for redevelopment has just hit the market.
Located across from Ala Moana Center at 1646 Kapi‘olani Blvd., the parcel is about 32,805 square feet — a little more than three-quarters of an acre.
The fee simple property is being marketed by a CBRE team that includes Yasuyuki Kojima, senior vice president for CBRE Capital Markets, and Andrew Reenders, vice president of Advisory and Transaction Services.
Toho Co., a Japanese entertainment company that produced the original "Godzilla," has owned the property since the 1960s, Kojima told Aloha State Daily on Friday.
Currently vacant and being used for parking, Kojima says the parcel is zoned BMX-3, which allows a number of uses, but it's in a transit-oriented development zone that allows for greater density.
Kojima says they retained an architect to determine how many housing units could be built there. There's potential to develop 363 units in a 400-foot-tall building under TOD guidelines and the 201H affordable housing program, he noted.
"There [is] a lot of demand still in this area," Kojima says. It's "very convenient," with many people working in Ala Moana Center and in Waikīkī, "so I think this is the perfect location to add this kind of affordable housing project. ... That's a potential buyer we are thinking about."
Kojima says there's not a specific asking price but he anticipates pricing to be north of $20 million.
When asked what makes Ala Moana attractive as a neighborhood for buyers or developers, Kojima noted again the convenience.
In real estate, location is always No. 1, he said. And with no place to build residences in nearby Waikīkī, Kojima says housing in this area would attract buyers from outside the state or even Neighbor Islands.
"It's really the convenience to everything," Reenders told ASD of the property. "Waikīkī is five minutes one way. Downtown's five minutes the other way. All the medical facilities are right in that area, schools, employment opportunities. It's convenient and close to everything. ... It's a deep market for demand. It's a safe place to either live or buy as an investment."
Learn more about the property here, and read more about the Ala Moana TOD plans here.
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Stephanie Salmons can be reached at stephanie@alohastatedaily.com.
