California developer
looks to purchase
Maui mall from A&BThe prospective buyer would add
a senior housing component
at Kahului Shopping Center
A California developer who worked with Kaiser Aetna in Honolulu in the early 1970s says he hopes to buy the 103,000-square-foot Kahului Shopping Center, rebuild it and add some housing for senior citizens.
Paul Quong, head of Quong Enterprises, based in Orange, Calif., said he will spend about $30 million on the project, including the price he will pay Alexander & Baldwin Inc. for the center and the redevelopment expenses.
Alexander & Baldwin, whose A&B Properties subsidiary has been looking for a buyer for the 52-year-old center, said it has no contract with Quong, although it is in discussions with him. Spokeswoman Linda Howe said there was a formal agreement with Quong but it lapsed and A&B Properties has been approached by other possible buyers.
However, no agreement has been reached with any of them, she said.
Quong said he wants the deal to go through as part of his plans for Maui. He is looking for a home on Maui where he intends to retire. He also has agreed to purchase 10 acres at the master-planned Kehalani development at Wailuku from developer Stanford Carr's Hawaii Land & Farming Co. He intends to build a neighborhood commercial center on that property.
Kahului Shopping Center, which opened in 1951, is the oldest of three shopping centers in the area. "It's an excellent location but it needs a lot of work," Quong said. "We are going to redevelop all the buildings and reposition the center," ending up with a commercial area of about 130,000 square feet. Macy's anchors the nearby Queen Kaahumanu Center, which has 570,000 square feet.
In addition, Quong wants to provide 30,000 square feet of low-cost rental housing for senior citizens in a new second floor area, Quong said.
He said he hopes to close the deal in February and expects it to take about a year to complete the redevelopment and bring in new tenants. He hopes to retain most of the existing tenants, he said. Major tenants include Ah Fook's Market, a Salvation Army Super Thrift Store and Ichiban, a Japanese restaurant and sushi bar.
