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Savio to buy
Waikiki hotel,
resell units

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Star-Bulletin staff

Developer Peter Savio is buying the Diamond Head Beach Hotel in Waikiki and plans to resell its units individually, a deal that could lead to fee-simple conversion of the leasehold property.

Savio signed a contract this weekend to buy the 59-unit condominium building at 2947 Kalakaua Ave. for just under the asking price of $5.5 million. The seller, Sports Shinko of Japan, had bought the hotel for $13.5 million in 1990, according to state records. Sports Shinko listed the property in August with Douglas Pothul of Colliers Monroe Friedlander. The purchase should close Feb. 15, Pothul said.

Savio said today that several owner/occupant buyers have shown interest in the units, and if enough of them follow through, they could form an association and force conversion of the property. The Gold Coast beachfront land under the hotel is held by the trust of Jeanne Chan, which does not want to sell the fee interest voluntarily, Savio said.

Prices for the units range from $69,000 for rental hotel apartments to $515,000 for grand penthouse units.

Buyers will receive discounts ranging from $5,000 to $16,000 because the hotel, built in 1969 and renovated in 1983, needs superficial repairs, Savio said.