Aloha Tower
operator sues state

AHI Aloha LP claims a state
agency thwarted efforts to make
the retail site profitable

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By Rick Daysog
rdaysog@starbulletin.com

The owner of the Aloha Tower Marketplace is suing the state agency which oversees the waterfront restaurant and retail project.

In a 33-page lawsuit filed in state Circuit Court yesterday, AHI Aloha LP said the state Aloha Tower Development Corp. stymied its efforts to make the 162,000-square-foot property profitable by charging excessive rents and by taking away much-needed parking stalls.

AHI -- which leases the land under the property from the state agency -- said it is seeking $10 million in damages as well as rent relief.

"By their actions , they have frustrated ... efforts to make the marketplace profitable and have otherwise diminished the value of the marketplace," the suit said.

Ron Hirano, executive director of the Aloha Tower Development Corp., could not be reached for immediate comment.

AHI, which is controlled by Trinity Investment Trust LLC, said that business has been hit hard by the Sept. 11 economic downturn. The developer said that some of its tenants have gone out of business and many continue to struggle, prompting the developer to cut lease rents.

Visitor traffic from Japan, which averaged about 1,000 per day, has been cut in half since Sept. 11 while business from ms Patriot and SS Independence cruise ships that docked nearby ceased operation in October, the suit said.

Cruise ship operator American Classic Voyages -- which supplied thousands of visitors to the marketplace each week -- recently filed for bankruptcy protection.

The suit said the economic turmoil came after AHI spent more than $6 million on renovations since taking over the marketplace in 1997.

It also alleged that the state withdrew about 200 much-needed parking stalls at adjacent piers 10 and 11 when cruise ships were moored in that area.