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Former Kodak
building gets
sales push

The broker handling the
property says that the demand
for Kapiolani sites has been growing

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

The Japanese owner of the 3.4 acres of Kapiolani Boulevard land that houses the former Kodak Building has hired a new broker to expedite a sale of the fee-simple property.

"After an eight-year decline in land values along the Kapiolani corridor, demand for Kapiolani Boulevard development sites has finally exceeded supply," said Douglas A. Pothul, senior vice president for capital markets at Colliers Monroe Friedlander, the real estate broker.

Pothul cited a string of purchases along Kapiolani by automobile dealers and other businesses that have been pushing ahead with developments.

No price has been set. Instead, the broker is inviting prospective purchasers to make offers. The property is owned by a Japanese firm, Fukuoka Jisho.

The Kodak site, which once was the headquarters of Eastman Kodak Co.'s operations in Hawaii, is across from McKinley High School and mostly bounded by Kapiolani, Kamakee and Waimanu Streets, although the package also includes a parcel makai of the main property, between Waimanu and Kawaiahao Street. In addition to the three-story, 57,000-square-foot main building built in 1939, there are six other buildings on the property. Zoning on the property includes mixed use-commercial and mixed use-residential.

In 1995, plans were announced to tear down the buildings and build a 30-story condominium apartment building, but a year later the idea was dropped and the Japanese owner listed the property for sale at an asking price of $30 million. Although the property has been for sale, it hasn't been actively marketed until now. Pothul said land values along Kapiolani peaked in the early 1990s at about $400 a square foot, dropped to between $95 and $100 a square foot late in the decade and have now begun to rise again due to the lack of inventory and the returning strength of the Asian and Hawaii economies.