THE most attractive building in the Moiliili-University commercial area is First Hawaiian Bank's new branch, adjacent to Stadium Park. First Hawaiian Bank’s
attractive buildingsIt happens to be at a former drive-in site where First Hawaiian's CEO, Walter A. Dods Jr., used to solicit drag races in his youth, but that's coincidence.
The new branch has an airy two-story atrium lined with art, lighted at night, and enjoyable both inside and from outside.
It also has $350 million in deposits, whereas the two branches consolidated into it had only $200 million. Besides its good looks it has ample parking and parallel drive-in teller lanes. It cost $4.1 million.
For years I have been asking two questions: (1) How much more does it cost to build an appealing building rather than a drab minimum-cost one? And (2) is the extra cost worth it to the developer?
Dods, like others I've asked, doesn't have firm mathematical evidence on either score but believes (1) the extra cost is moderate and (2) it's worth it to the bank.
Let me add that it is a not-on-the-books benefit to us passers-by, too. My spirits lift a bit every time I drive by this attractive structure. Closer inspection shows its mural and memorabilia recall the glory days of the old Honolulu Stadium, which stood where the park is now.
Both Dods and his predecessor, John Bellinger, have wanted good-looking office structures for their bank. They still are No. 2 in Hawaii but close to Pacific Century/Bank of Hawaii when only local domestic banking deposits are considered, Dods says.
Dods made the call to build downtown Honolulu's tallest structure, the 30-story First Hawaiian Center, completed in 1996. That building's irregular shape and upper level prow hanging out toward Bishop Street stirred plenty of controversy, in part because mainland architects were employed.
But its floor-level 44-foot atrium with exhibit space for the Contemporary Art Museum is winning converts as it ages. The per square foot cost of the $99 million headquarters structure was $2.37, Dods says, versus $2.08 for the tower on Fort Street built five years earlier and rented for its temporary headquarters during construction. He thinks the difference is minimal weighing in five years of inflation and finds the results immensely more satisfying.
Attractive buildings have another advantage, Dods says: They are easier to rent.
First Hawaiian has 60 branches in Hawaii. Dods has been in on active planning for 20 of them. Bellinger oversaw the big Kapiolani branch, also a winner in attractiveness. But the Dods stamp is on Haleiwa, Kahului, Kona and Pearl Ridge, all of which he is proud of along with quite a few others. He works closely with the architects on all branches.
"We don't try to do junk," he says. What he wants is something fitting the neighborhood it serves. He has used a variety of architects.
THERE won't be many more big branches built, Dods says, because the market is pretty well saturated and technology favors more at-home banking. An instrument no more complicated than our basic telephone can be used to pay bills direct. Convenient 24-hour ATM machines deliver us cash.
The branches, however, will still fill the need of providing full-service amenities -- teller windows, safe deposit boxes and personal customer counseling and service.
Kapolei may get the last big First Hawaiian branch. You can bet on it to be a beauty.
A.A. Smyser is the contributing editor
and former editor of the the Star-Bulletin
His column runs Tuesday and Thursday.
