Target's bid for Ewa Beach property fails
A deal that would have given Target Corp. one of its first Hawaii stores has fallen apart.
The nation's second-largest discount retailer did not complete a deal to buy the 20-acre site of the proposed Laulani Village retail and office complex along Fort Weaver Road in Ewa Beach.
The retail giant had been in escrow until Jan. 28 to purchase the site, said Arthur Howard, president and CEO of Hawaiian Asset Management and Investments Corp., also known as Hamico. Hamico is planning to develop the 250,000-square-foot Laulani Village with San Francisco real estate investment firm Bristol Group Inc.
Roger Lyons, the local broker for Target, declined to comment.
Target was the first of five prospective buyers for the commercial property, which has been on the market since October. Howard declined to specify why the deal with Target fell through.
"Jan. 28 was effectively the last day for Target in escrow," Howard said yesterday. "Now that Target is no longer involved, we're just going to be in the next 45 days waiting to see what the new buyer does."
Howard declined to disclose the name of the next prospective buyer in line.
Target has declined to make its plans public but is widely known among local real estate agents to be looking for multiple sites for stores on Oahu and the neighbor islands.
Hamico and the Bristol Group bought the 20-acre Ewa Beach property for $12 million in 2004.