Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Friday, August 15, 1997

Court confirms sale
of Waikiki parcel

A state judge has confirmed the $6.7 million sale of a Waikiki parcel to a company registered in the Bahamas.

Pristine Hawaii Inc. purchased the 22,700-square-foot property on the mauka side of Kalakaua Avenue between Kuamoo and Keoniana streets. The foreclosure sale was confirmed yesterday by Circuit Court Judge Bode A. Uale.

The foreclosure arose after the previous owner, Honey World Co., formerly known as Daio U.S.A. Corp., became delinquent on mortgages. Honey World owed Central Pacific Bank more than $6.5 million plus interest.

An Asian investor is behind Pristine Hawaii, but Hawaiian Trust Co., which represented the buyer, wouldn't identify the investor. Plans for the site haven't been determined yet, said Fred Ferguson-Brey, a Hawaiian Trust vice president.

The sale price, amounting to $295 a square foot, is being cited as a sign of a real estate turnaround in the area, helped by the soon-to-be-completed state convention center several blocks away.

Unity House to provide
help for UPS strikers

Unity House is providing a $100,000 contingency fund for striking Unite Parcel Service workers in Hawaii.

Unity House is an umbrella organization for island Teamsters, as well as Local 5 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union.

Unity House president Tony Rutledge said yesterday that the organization will match the $55 a week strike benefits paid by the Teamsters International and the Hawaii Teamsters union.

"Because our beneficiaries are in a labor dispute, we want to help them in their time of need," said Rutledge, who heads Local 5.

Cruise-ship line offer
trips for isle residents

American Hawaii Cruises has launched a shorter neighbor island cruise for time-stressed local residents.

The company is offering three-day cruises on the S.S. Independence between Honolulu, Kauai and Maui. A four-night cruise will have stops in Hilo and Kona.

Kamaaina rates start at $663 for couples on the three-day cruise. Four-day cruises start at $850 for local residents, the company said.

The regular, seven-day cruise interary will remain unchanged.

U.S. bankruptcies rise
24% in second quarter

WASHINGTON -- Despite a buoyant economy, bankruptcy filings in U.S. federal courts rose 24 percent in the quarter ending June 30 compared with the same period last year, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said today.

Filings also rose 10 percent from the first three months of the year, the seventh consecutive quarterly increase.

The court agency reported 367,168 businesses and individuals filed for protection from creditors during the second quarter, compared with 335,073 in the previous three months and 297,162 in the year-earlier period.