Honolulu-based real estate development firm ProsPac Holdings got its start a decade ago.
Tony Chen, a statistician and recently appointed director of the company, said it began with his brother, William, and their late father.
"It really started with my father, Mr. Chen's vision, when he first visited Hawai‘i and it was just very apparent to him that there was a real need for housing of all types, really, in Hawai‘i," he recently told Aloha State Daily. "He was a very entrepreneurial man and saw that there was a great opportunity to do what we do here."
The core of the company's founding is in its name, one Chen says his father challenged the brothers to come up with. The name ProsPac — a combination of Prosperity and Pacific — "really gets to the heart of what we do and I think it speaks to our mission."
"It's about developing real estate and seeing real estate development as an engine of economic growth," he says. "When we develop, it means building homes for people. It means building spaces for businesses, and it's this common denominator across every thriving economy. That's where we saw we could provide the greatest benefit to where we are today."
Chen was promoted to director of ProsPac Holdings in June. In that role, he oversees key development initiatives and supports the company's long-term vision, an announcement at that time noted.
According to that announcement, Chen was a senior statistical officer at the Valuation Office Agency of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, before joining ProsPac in 2023. He holds degrees from Queen’s University, Peking University and the London School of Economics and Political Science; serves on the board of the Boys & Girls Club of Hawai‘i; and is an active member of NAIOP Hawai‘i and Statisticians for Society, a pro bono entity that connects professional statisticians with charitable organizations.
The Honolulu-based ProsPac developed Azure Ala Moana, a mixed-use project in Honolulu's Ala Moana neighborhood with 330 condos, 78 rental apartments and commercial space.
Its next project is Kali‘u, a boutique luxury condo in the works in Kaka‘ako.
Kali‘u — whose name is derived from the Hawaiian word for “well-seasoned”— will be constructed adjacent to SALT in Our Kaka‘ako, Kamehameha Schools’ mixed-use community. ProsPac was chosen to redevelop the block, bordered by Ala Moana Boulevard, and Auahi, Coral and Cooke streets, in 2022.
Kamehameha Schools’ Kaiāulu ‘ō Kaka‘ako Master Plan was approved by the Hawai‘i Community Development Authority in 2009. The Our Kaka‘ako Master Plan encompasses 29 acres across nine city blocks of KS land in the neighborhood, its website notes.
The redevelopment of Our Kaka‘ako’s first four blocks have already been completed as part of Increment I. That includes Keauhou Place and Keauhou Lane on Block A; The Flats at Pu‘unui and 400 Keawe on Block B; The Collection on Block E; and SALT at Our Kaka‘ako and 680 Ala Moana on Block F.
Development partners have been chosen for four of the five remaining blocks in Increment II, KS notes.
In addition to Kali‘u on Block G, KS previously announced that Kaka‘ako Block C LLC, an affiliate of Stanford Carr Development, will develop Kahuina on Block C, Koa Partners and Castle & Cooke Hawai‘i will develop Waiakoa on Block D and Kobayashi Group will develop Ālia on Block I.
Kali‘u will offer 285 one-, two- and three-bedroom units.
As ASD reported at the start of the year, health and wellness are set to be at the forefront of Kali‘u. The development will offer several new wellness technologies, including an intelligent robotic massage system from Aescape, the Ammortal Chamber, zero-gravity flotation tubs and other amenities.
Chen says the developer hopes to break ground on Kali‘u in early 2027, although some infrastructure work has already started. Work is anticipated to take about 30 months. Units went on sale to the public in early 2025.
Joining a bevy of local developers in Hawai‘i, Chen says, as expected, it wasn't easy for ProsPac to enter the development sphere here.
"Hawai‘i has every right to be questioning towards people who think they can just move here and start a development company," he told ASD. "I think from early on, the key behind our initial success was how deferential and respectful Mr. Chen was to the way things were done here and I think that earned us a lot of credit — and it is a lesson that still sticks with us today. Instead of trying to come in and change the way things are done, to be mindful and to understand the way things are done."
The company's goals are simple.
"Fundamentally, we want to build great things and housing is, right now, something we want to build," Chen says. "And for Kali‘u, as you may have already seen with the programming of the building, the experience we're trying to deliver, as you can see with what we did with our showroom, is to create something that hasn't existed here before — a boutique, wellness-centered living experience. We believe in this mission that we're on because I think we've done our research, we've looked at the data and we understand this is what people want."
Stephanie Salmons can be reached at stephanie@alohastatedaily.com.
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