Plans revived for medical building near Chinatown
Montecito Medical Investment Co. has revived plans to build a new medical office building near Chinatown, estimated to cost $80 million, the company said.
The Santa Barbara, Calif.-based company, in a joint venture with PM Realty Group, is under contract to purchase the site, a 65,000-square-foot lot downtown at 230 N. Beretania St. It plans to break ground this fall on a building that will have 200,000 square feet of medical office space, retail on the ground floor and 740 parking stalls.
"We love the demographics and growth in Hawaii," said Chip Conk, Montecito's chief executive officer. "With the demand that's going to be coming for medical services because of baby boomers and the aging demographics, we think this is going to be a great market for medical real estate."
Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in 90 days, are not being disclosed, he said. However, the lot, on the fringe of the city's Chinatown redevelopment district across from Aala Park, had been listed for between $14 million and $16 million by Seattle-based developer HighMark Investments LLC, which last year shelved plans for the medical office building to pursue other mainland projects.
Mike Kerby, chief executive officer of HighMark Investments, couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.
Construction is expected to take between 18 months and two years. Montecito, which also owns a medical office building in Hilo on the Big Island, is targeting an opening date of 2010 and is in lease negotiations with a number of physicians, Conk said. The building is expected to accommodate about 100 doctors.