New York firm buys Honolulu Prince Hotel
The Japan-based seller sold the 134-room hotel for $7.75 million
The Honolulu Prince Hotel in Waikiki has been sold for $7.75 million to an affiliate of New York-based Ramsfield Hospitality Finance.
CR Nahua LLC, the local entity that purchased the 134-room budget property at 415 Nahua St., has not determined long-range plans, but will continue to operate as a hotel, said Erik Warner, Ramsfield managing director.
"We're evaluating the market and evaluating the property, and hopefully relatively soon we'll have some idea as to what our plans will be," he said.
The Japan-based seller, Prince Co. Ltd., which bought the property in December 1997 for about $8.6 million, sold the 10-story hotel to focus on developing a golf course in Japan, said Kohei Hakamada, international real estate advisor with NAI ChaneyBrooks, who brokered the sale. The company has no other assets in Hawaii.
The transaction was particularly complicated due to multiple layers of subleases, perpetual tenant leases and encroachment issues, according to ChaneyBrooks.
The hotel, built in 1960, has two retail tenants and sits on 21,397 square feet of leasehold land, owned by the Queen Emma Foundation. A management contract with hotel operator, ResortQuest Hawaii, will terminate in March, Warner said.
Ramsfield, a hotel investor and real estate lender, also owns the Aqua Waikiki Wave, which it purchased in late 2006 for $40 million. The company was the lender for the former Courtyard by Marriott on Kauai and Coral Reef Hotel in Waikiki.