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John Pritchett

Government & Politics

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<title>Pritchett Cartoon: Supreme Court rules on basket case</title>

Pritchett Cartoon: Supreme Court rules on basket case

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

 on the second level of Waikīkī Beach Walk in July. This location recently launched a new happy hour that’s exclusive to Waikīkī Beach Walk.

Happy hour at Liliha Bakery’s Waikīkī Beach Walk restaurant is daily from 3 to 6 p.m. The menu features discounted dishes and 50% off beers and cocktails.

The eatery’s 16-ounce prime rib ($38.50, regular price $48.95) is a customer favorite. If you want surf and turf, go for the prime rib and lobster tail ($48.50, regular price $64.95).

The New York steak and shrimp ($35.95) is another popular option. It features a 10-ounce New York steak with four pieces of grilled shrimp. The restaurant’s 10-ounce New York steak ($29.50, regular price $37.95) is also available.

All entrees come with Liliha Bakery’s famous butter roll, rice, corn, and a choice of mixed green salad or potato-mac salad.

Diners can also enjoy 50% off beers and cocktails, including Asahi super dry ($3.50), Kona Brewing ($3.50), pina coladas ($8) and mai tais ($8).

Parking is available at Embassy Suites by Hilton Waikīkī Beach Walk. 

Liliha Bakery Beach Walk happy hour prime rib 101826

<title>Liliha Bakery's new happy hour includes prime rib</title>

The restaurant’s newest store at Waikīkī Beach Walk launched a happy hour menu that’s exclusive to this eatery. Enjoy discounts on dishes like prime rib and lobster tail, and New York steak and shrimp, along with 50% off select beers and cocktails.

Liliha Bakery's new happy hour includes prime rib

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Real Estate

There's been a lot of activity in Ward Village in recent years, and its evolution continues to steadily progress.

and ‘Ilima Ward Village, a pair of residential towers planned for the former Ward Centre site.

Melia and ‘Ilima will bring a combined 369 homes and about 20,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial and retail space to Ward Village, Howard Hughes' 60-acre master-planned community located between Downtown Honolulu and Waikīkī. Meanwhile, landscaped pedestrian connections will link the IBM Building with Ka Lei Park, a recent announcement from Ward Village noted.

"It's been phenomenal," says Doug Johnstone, president, Hawai‘i Region and head of national development for Howard Hughes Communities, 

the real estate platform of Howard Hughes Holdings Inc., says of reaching the milestone. "We've obviously been working on that for a number of years behind the scenes, but the thing that's got us most excited is reaching a bit of a critical mass, particularly in the core of our neighborhood, where we brought Victoria Ward Park online, a number of new retailers and restaurants are starting to open up, and you're starting to see a real community and concentration of people and activity.

"Everybody has memories from Ward Centre over the years — it's had a great run — but I feel strongly that Melia, ‘Ilima and Ka Lei Park, also being flanked by the IBM building, it's going to represent a timeliness addition and an iconic improvement to what we're doing in Ward Village ... ."

Ward Centre, which opened in 1982 and served the community for more than four decades, 

 on June 30 to make way for the new towers. Its demolition is currently underway and is expected to be finished early next year, according to Johnstone.

The 33-story ‘Ilima will have 148 homes while Melia, its 35-story companion, will offer 221 residences. Howard Hughes Communities is partnering with Discovery Land Co. on the residential experience at the two buildings, the announcement notes.

According to the announcement, both Melia and ‘Ilima were designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, with AHL serving as local executive architect and VITA Planning & Landscape Architecture leading the landscape design.

"The architecture draws inspiration from early 20th-century Honolulu landmarks, including the Honolulu Museum of Art, the 

 and the Dillingham Transportation Center," the announcement notes. "Shaded walkways, lanais, landscaped gardens and native plantings connect the design to Hawaiʻi’s climate and traditions of indoor-outdoor living."

As part of the Sept. 28 groundbreaking, $15,000 was donated each to the Hawai‘i Architectural Foundation and Purple Mai‘a Foundation.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The story so far"}]

Ward Village sold out its first eight mixed-use residential towers: Waiea, Anaha, Ae‘o, Ke Kilohana, ‘A‘ali‘i, Kō‘ula, Victoria Place and Ulana Ward Village.

In addition to Melia and ‘Ilima, other new residential buildings in development or under construction include Kalae, which broke ground in 

, and The Launiu Ward Village, which broke ground 

[{"type":"text","text":"Other milestones in the last 18 months or so:"}]

Ward Village marked a record year in 2025, with momentum driven by the launch of Melia Ward Village and ‘Ilima Ward Village earlier that year.

In Hawai‘i last year, Howard Hughes contracted to sell 287 condos, which accounted for roughly $1.6 billion in future revenue, according to a fourth-quarter 

 from Howard Hughes Holdings published earlier this year. Of those pre-sales, 220 units were contracted at Melia and ‘Ilima.

Meanwhile, sales for Mahana Ward Village 

"That's been exciting to get off the ground and round out what we're calling the Park District," Johnstone says of Mahana. "That's where we're seeing a lot of the activation happening, with families playing at the playground, and shops and restaurants starting to come online. That'll be a bit of the commercial hub of the neighborhood."

When asked about a timeline for that project, Johnstone says that Ward Village is progressing Mahana's pre-sales currently and ultimately advancing toward the construction stage.

"[We'll] rely on pre-sale velocity and hopefully in the next year or so be able to get some traction on that," he says.

[{"type":"text","text":"Mahana is the last Ward Village tower that's been announced."}]

"We're always underway with future planning efforts and we have a number of remaining holdings that are commercial operating properties in the near-term," Johnstone explained. "We are always thinking about what's down the road, both within Ward Village but we've also had some interesting acquisition opportunities that we've been looking at a little more deeply and trying to see where else we can fit in in the O‘ahu landscape."

 was approved by the Hawai‘i Community Development Authority in 2009, "setting the groundwork for the development of this community," the Ward Village 

Johnstone says that when projects like Ward Village are initially considered, they're multi-decade efforts.

The reality, he says, is that it likely takes longer than most people think to "bring things forward." You need market conditions, institutional capital, a risk appetite and long-term vision.

Going back to the financial crisis, when a lot of this was initially contemplated, Johnstone says there was a "bit of a perception that it was going to be a lot all at once."

"It was a level of urbanization that Honolulu hadn't seen in recent years, so there was understandably some trepidation around that. I think the reality, as it plays out, is things move more incrementally," he told ASD. "They move with the market, they move with demand."

Johnstone says, too, that Ward Village has been intentional about preserving open space, setbacks, the streetscape and greenery, along with the "complementary aspects of what the retail and community building can be, along with the towers themselves and these pretty significant projects, so it becomes increasingly important to have a human scale to it."

"A lot of that effort has translated into being more palpable over time and less daunting, something that's becoming a lot more accepted and appreciated, particularly as everybody starts to have a friend or two that lives down here or a place they like to go visit," he says. "That's one of the more rewarding things over time. As we turn this next corner and bring more product online, and with it more plazas and exciting gathering spaces, that ultimately becomes our lasting imprint."

Johnstone, who born and raised in Honolulu, attended Punahou School and Stanford University. He joined the Ward Village team in 2012 and was named president of the Hawai‘i Region in 

 head of national development for Howard Hughes Communities.

You can check out the history of Ward Village 

Curious about the other changes that have taken place in Kaka‘ako over the decades? ASD columnist DeSoto Brown highlights the neighborhood's history 

16 Ilima Melia Groundbreaking Courtesy of Ward Village

<title>Progress continues in Ward Village; groundbreaking held last month for two new towers</title>

Late last month, the developer broke ground on Melia Ward Village and ‘Ilima Ward Village, a pair of residential towers planned for the former Ward Centre site. Here's what else has been happening.

Progress continues in Ward Village; groundbreaking held last month for two new towers

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

Punahou School graduate Brandon Finn understands the power of a stare. It is something the actor does as 

when his father, King Kahekili of Maui, orders him to hunt down the main character of the series, Kaʻiana, and bring him back, dead or alive.

“And you see this moment where the camera racks focus and … Prince Kūpule is looking at Kahekili without saying any words, as if: ʻI cannot believe you are asking me to do this. ... And as your son, it is my responsibility to follow your lead.’ ”

The scene was “brutal” but marked his favorite moment to shoot, he told Aloha State Daily. 

King Kahekili was played by the New Zealand actor Temuera Morrison. Finn credits Morrison with encouraging him to hold his stare in that scene. For Finn, the role involved "a lot of homework with what that father and son dynamic was like,” he said.

“And that's a separate thing from the language itself, because obviously I spent a lot of time learning Hawaiian language, learning ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi,” he added. “But in terms of what's happening between the two of them as father and son, that’s something [where] I ended up delving into my own relationship with my own father.”

Written by Thomas Pa‘a Sibbett and Jason Momoa, the Apple TV+ mini-series launched its first episodes on Aug. 1. It follows Kaʻiana, played by Momoa, as he tries to unify the Islands before Western colonization. The eighth episode drops on Friday, Sept. 12, and the season finale comes out on Friday, Sept. 19.

Prior to filming “Chief of War,” Finn had not spoken more than a few sentences in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, he said. To get ready for this role, he worked closely with an instructor.

“His name is Kiawe Goodhue, and we just went lesson after lesson non-stop for a month and a half because I knew it needed to sound the right way," he said. "Let alone it's the right thing to do in terms of responsibility owed to the people of Hawaiʻi, their ancestors, their history and their cultures.” 

Finn was born in Maui. His family moved to Oʻahu when he was about two years old, he said. 

“But Maui is my birthplace,” he added. “And later on in life, all of these things led themselves to where I find myself today, playing Prince 

, the last reigning king of Maui Island in Hawaiian history. I had this pinch me moment. I could not believe I'm born on Maui and in my lifetime, I get to bring Kalanikūpule to life through ʻChief of War’ with Apple TV, let alone the platform that they have with 45+ million subscribers in over 100 countries.”

Finn wants viewers of the show to take with them an appreciation of language.

“You know what's beautiful?” he said. “The one that really gets to me is ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, the language. And there is already a resurgence of the language within Hawaiʻi. But I feel as if ʻChief of War,’ being as big as it's become thus far, will only move that needle further in the direction of having people interested in Ōlelo Hawaiʻi. And not just people from Hawaiʻi — people born and raised, who are of Hawaiian ethnicity — but also people who would love to come, visit, spend time and if it sparks their interest  learn Ōlelo Hawaii, as well, if that's something that interests them. Because that's how the language lives on forever.”

"Chief of War"

<title>Punahou School graduate is in “Chief of War”</title>

Brandon Finn, a graduate of Punahou School, explores complicated father and son relationships in his role as Prince Kūpule in the Apple TV+ mini-series, “Chief of War.” He shares his favorite scene to shoot and how he learned ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi for the role.

Pritchett Cartoon: Supreme Court rules on basket case

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