Redefining the Row
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Bambu's Bar, formerly the Row Bar, has been renovated with Balinese-inspired wicker chairs and high-definition TVs.
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Restaurant Row takes new direction
CVS Pharmacy will become the first tenant of its kind to occupy a spot at Waterfront Plaza
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Cozy up to Bambu's Bar
STORY SUMMARY »
Waterfront Plaza, the sprawling 1980s complex otherwise known as Restaurant Row, is taking on a new direction.
Under the ownership of the Shidler Group, a new mix of tenants other than restaurants are making the plaza their home, including CVS CarePlus Pharmacy, which will fill the popular bistro once known as Sunset Grill.
The group is positioning Waterfront Plaza not so much as a restaurant row any more, but as a mixed-use complex for offices, services and restaurants.
The Row Bar, one of the plaza's original tenants, also has been reincarnated into Bambu's Bar, which will open starting at 6:30 a.m. to serve coffee, breakfast and lunch, as well as mai tais.
A few other newcomers, including the Bonsai Restaurant and a new club at the former Ocean Club site, meanwhile, plan to open their doors later this year.
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Sunset Grill will be nothing more than a bygone sunset as the space occupied for nearly two decades by the popular restaurant soon will be filled with a specialized pharmacy store.
CVS CarePlus Pharmacy has signed a lease for the 4,700-square-foot space, which is under construction and should be open in the fall, according to leasing agent Craig Neher.
It will offer specialty pharmacy services, but will not be a retail store offering snacks, makeup and greeting cards along the lines of Longs Drugs or Walgreen's.
CVS already has a smaller pharmacy in Kailua, where it has been for eight years.
"Our specialty pharmacies serve patients with complex drug therapies," said spokes-man Mike DeAngelis from Rhode Island headquarters. "Cancer, HIV, organ transplant patients, customers of that nature."
Usually, DeAngelis said, CVS chooses a site close to hospitals for the convenience of customers, and the downtown spot fit the bill.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Al Sieverts, one of the four partners who owns the newly renamed Bambu's Bar, said the bar was "tired" and it was time for a change. Sieverts and his partners invested nearly $250,000.
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He said CVS has no other plans for Hawaii stores at this time.
The replacement of Sunset Grill with a pharmacy marks a change in direction for Restaurant Row, the 1980s complex which the Shidler Group is trying to reposition as not so much of Restaurant Row any more.
Instead, the emphasis is more on the complex's name -- Waterfront Plaza -- and its origins as an office and retail complex.
"I think there's not enough foot traffic there to support that many restaurants," said Larry Taff, managing partner of the Shidler Group, which bought the leasehold property in 2004 for about $72 million. "We're bringing in a nice diversity of uses."
The plaza -- made up of five low-slung buildings sheathed in glass and concrete -- offers nearly 100,000 square feet of retail space, and 425,000 square feet of office space.
The group's strategy is to put banks or other services into sites not suitable for restaurants, according to Taff. Pacific Rim Bank, for example, is where Marie Calendar's used to be. CHOP Hair Salon has replaced Rose City Diner.
It's no wonder the Shidler Group is shifting gears, given that so many restaurants have come and gone there.
Gone are the popular '80s and '90s establishments such as Studebakers and the Black Orchid. Other casualties include Meritage Restaurant, Jose's, Yanni's, Boomerang's, World Cafe and Baci.
More recently, Ocean Club, Carnival Las Palmas and Sunset Grill went by the wayside.
Despite plenty of parking, most restaurants on the inside of Waterfront Plaza don't seem to last. Pasta Basta by Donato is the exception, having lasted at least one year so far.
The outer rim seems to be the longest lasting, with Ruth's Chris Steak House, Vino and Hiroshi Eurasian Tapas holding steady.
At the heart of it all, the Row Bar, now reincarnated into Bambu's Bar, is expected to become a new draw, with its new Balinese look and hours that begin at 6:30 a.m., meaning it will serve Kona coffee, breakfast, lunch and mai tais.
Ruth's Chris Steakhouse also will be undergoing a renovation.
Sunset Grill shuttered its doors in March of last year after a 19-year-run under three different owners. Fred Livingston owned it the longest, from 1990 to 2006.
The infrastructure at Sunset Grill made it difficult to comply with venting and grease-trap requirements, according to Taff, and thus was better suited for another use.
But the Shidler Group hasn't given up on restaurants altogether.
The focus is on either restaurants that support people in the building or destination restaurants that can draw their own customers.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Bambu's Bar, formerly the Row Bar at Restaurant Row, will now be open from 6:30 a.m. until 2 a.m. and will serve breakfast and coffee as well as alcohol.
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Bonsai, a new Japanese restaurant and lounge by Burt Kawasaki, will fill the old Las Palmas space in the fall.
Kawasaki, a nightclub industry veteran, says the modern Japanese restaurant will be an Asian version of Rumfire in Waikiki, serving lunch, dinner and a late-night menu. The space will be renovated to include two full bars, a new upper mezzanine, and a better flow, he sad.
"It was worth the risk," he said of opening at Restaurant Row, fully aware of the hazards. "I think we've got a good chance."
Hawaiian Pau Hana's LLC, led by Gary Derks (owner of Maddog Saloon Waikiki) and Randy Brunett, will be taking over the former Ocean Club space by year's-end.
"I think it's part of the repositioning that began when we bought the place," said Taff, "to upgrade, improve and enhance what worked well and get rid of concepts that didn't work."
The Waterfront Plaza offices and retail combined is just under 90 percent occupied, with the office side lowered, in part, by the departure of Aloha Airlines.
Neher, the plaza's leasing agent, says the quality of restaurants at Waterfront Plaza now rival those of Waikiki Beach Walk.
"We've got a lineup of top-quality brand operators in town that's pretty much unrivaled," said Neher. "I like to tell people that Restaurant Row has not gone away. It's just gotten smaller and better."
Despite its repositioning, its name "Restaurant Row" is also likely to stick.