HPU seeks lease of Aloha Tower area
HONOLULU - Hawaii Pacific University is negotiating with a developer to convert a largely vacant part of Aloha Tower Marketplace into lofts for 250 students.
The dorm proposal is among a variety of renewal ideas being considered by Hawaii Lifestyle Retail Properties LLC, the owner of the open-air mall next to Honolulu Harbor's historic tower.
The state owns the land under the complex, and the plan would need a rule change from a state Department of Transportation board to go forward.
The dorms would help HPU expand while adding new activity and life to the marketplace, which is about 70 percent empty.
Ed Bushor, a Hawaii Lifestyle principal, said HPU is a "prime candidate" for leasing much of the empty space, though others are in the running.
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Big Island property to be auctioned
HONOLULU - The owner of 660 acres above Kealakekua Bay plans to auction the property.
Racebrook Marketing Concepts of New York and its affiliate Sheldon Good & Co. will handle the auction of Keopuka Lands. The opening bid is set at $5 million. The deadline for bids is March 22.
The property last sold for $26 million.
Pacific Star, the owner, planned to build a golf course and 125 homes on 1- to 5-acre lots at Keopuka more than a decade ago.
But it withdrew its plan in 2001 after running into opposition from environmentalists and Hawaiian groups. The company said then it would propose building fewer homes in environmentally sensitive coastal areas.
Developer Lyle Anderson of Scottsdale, Ariz., was the principal investor in both Keopuka and the neighboring Hokulia subdivision.
