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To free up cash for hotel purchases, Hawaii hotelier Andre Tatibouet is selling the Aston Waikiki Beachside, the small boutique hotel he developed on Kalakaua Avenue in the 1960s. Aston Waikiki put
on selling blockBy Tim Ruel
Star-BulletinTatibouet has picked real estate firm Colliers Monroe Friedlander to market the property, located next door to the Hyatt Regency Waikiki, directly across from the Duke Kahanamoku statue at Kuhio Beach Park.
The fee-simple offering includes the 5,000 square feet of land under the hotel and could fetch up to $19 million, although there is no asking price, said Douglas Pothul, Colliers senior vice president.
As part of a sale, Tatibouet would keep a long-term lease on the 12-story, 80-room hotel. The sale would allow the hotelier to remain in control of the property, while creating liquidity.
"We have identified a number of investment opportunities in Waikiki and are making plans to make additional financial investments in the Waikiki market," Tatibouet said in a statement. Pothul noted Tatibouet is also looking for properties on the mainland and in Canada.
Tatibouet built the Aston Waikiki Beachside in 1966, two years before he founded hotel management firm Aston Hotels & Resorts. He sold the company three years ago for nearly $29.5 million plus stock to Memphis, Tenn.-based vacation rental company ResortQuest International Inc.
Tatibouet, who used to be ResortQuest's largest shareholder with a 7 percent stake, is now the second-largest after Boston-based Par Capital Management Inc. bought 1.49 million shares in December, giving the firm a total of 1.71 million shares, or 9 percent of ResortQuest.
Tatibouet, who briefly served as a ResortQuest director, has been on administrative leave as Aston's president since mid-May. ResortQuest sued Tatibouet and competing hotel operator Cendant Corp. on May 26 after Tatibouet agreed to license the Aston name to Cendant. Tatibouet's attorney said the suit has no merit because the hotelier never sold ResortQuest the Aston name, only the company. The lawsuit is pending.
Among other Waikiki investments, Tatibouet also owns the 247-room Aston Coral Reef Hotel on Kuhio Avenue. There are no plans to sell that property, according to Pothul.