Myers plans Ward retirement project
An architect's rendering of the Symphony Park project

The developer changes the focus for his Symphony Park site

By Peter Wagner
Star-Bulletin

Honolulu developer Jack Myers has new plans for his three-acre lot on the corner of Ward and Kapiolani - a $143 million retirement community for senior citizens.

Bowing to an "evaporated" real estate market, Myers said he's scrapped plans for a luxury condominium at the site, but kept the name: Symphony Park.

"What we've been doing in the past year is designing and preparing Symphony Park as a continuing care retirement community," Myers said yesterday.

Two other nearby projects, the recently completed One Kalakaua and the planned Emerald Tower, made similar reversals from luxury condos to tap an emerging market for senior housing.

The new Symphony Park is to be a 41-story tower with 420 units for independent living, 70 for assisted living, and 102 skilled nursing beds. An entrance fee would be required as well as a monthly fee for meals, services and amenities.

"What we've elected to do is an entry fee rather than condominium ownership to avoid the conflicts we believe are inherent in the condo style of doing business in the retirement community," Myers said.

Financing is being negotiated and construction could begin next year, he said. Construction would take 28 months. Architect for the project is Group 70 International Inc.

Continuing care combines independent living for active seniors, assisted living services for the frail, and 24-hour nursing facilities for the infirm.

Such communities - Arcadia, Pohai Nani and One Kalakaua among them - offer meals, maid service, and a range of activities and amenities.

Like Arcadia and One Kalakaua, Symphony Park targets affluent seniors.

But Myers said his units will be larger, more affordable, and offer a refundable fee. The unique fee also would include health insurance, he said.

According to Todd Saunders, project manager, a refundable contract would return 70 percent of entrance fees to a resident's estate upon death. Half of any appreciation of the unit would also be refunded when the unit is resold.

The fee schedule is yet to be determined.

At Arcadia, a flagship among Hawaii's handful of retirement communities, entrance fees are nonrefundable. Instead, residents paying as much as $250,000 are guaranteed care for life - including costly assisted care or 24-hour nursing.

One Kalakaua, by contrast, offers fee-simple equity in apartments that belong to residents and can be sold, rented, or passed on to heirs.

The Vancouver-based One Kalakaua Partners says its upscale project - with two-bedroom apartments priced at nearly $600,000 - has attracted equity-conscious seniors.

If Symphony Park meets expectations, Myers said, he'll look to the neighbor islands.

The Symphony Park site is a block away from One Archer Lane, Myers' high-rise condominium project currently under construction on King Street near Ward Avenue.