American Savings
to move headquarters

The bank’s HQ will be
in Pacific Tower as it
expands its space

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By Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.com

By early 2003, American Savings Bank will be in new headquarters with a whole building re-named after it. But few people realize it already has its own 12-story tower, as part of the Financial Plaza of the Pacific complex, said Constance H. Lau, president and chief executive officer.

The bank has arranged to lease the entire 16,200-square-foot 25th floor of the Pacific Tower of Bishop Square for its corporate headquarters. The building, at Alakea and King Streets, will be renamed the American Savings Bank Tower and an ASB branch in the lobby will be redesigned as the "flagship" branch of the savings bank subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc.

The move will begin in December and by the time it is finished the executive offices and the commercial banking departments will be on the 25th floor and the branch in the lobby, to become the main branch, will have easier access from Bishop Square, the company said.

The 25th floor of the Pacific Tower had been occupied by the U.S. Coast Guard, but has been vacant since the Coast Guard's move this year into the Prince Kuhio Federal Building.

The current ASB branch on the ground floor occupies about 8,600 square feet.

Lau said there will be direct entry to the branch from Tamarind Park. The shift should be completed in the first quarter of next year, she said.

"We've actually been growing. We're probably one of the few large companies in Hawaii that have been growing. This year alone we added 76 people," Lau said in an interview.

American Savings said it will keep its current space in the Financial Plaza of the Pacific, the headquarters building of Bank of Hawaii, where it was one of the original owners when the building was completed in 1968.

"We already have a tower of our own," Lau said. That part of Financial Plaza, accessible from Fort Street Mall, will remain American Savings and the space will be renovated so ASB's retail and other lending departments can expand into the downtown location.

Design work for the changes is being done by the Honolulu architectural firm Wimberly, Allison, Tong and Goo and the construction contractor is J. Kadowaki Inc. Both are ASB customers and long-standing Hawaii businesses, ASB said.

American Savings, with assets of $6.2 billion and 71 branches, is one of Hawaii's biggest financial institutions. The 77-year-old company was acquired by HEI in 1988, when ASB's assets were $1.2 billion.