A&B PROPERTIES INC.
An artist's rendering of the Port Allen center,
which is scheduled to be completed next year.

A&B to build
Port Allen
retail center

The $4.5 million complex will
cater to the tour-boat business

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By Anthony Sommer
Kauai correspondent

PORT ALLEN, Kauai >> Work on a $4.5 million, 32,000-square-foot retail center at Port Allen is set to begin this summer with completion scheduled for the summer of 2002, A&B Properties Inc. announced yesterday.

To be called the Port Allen Marina Center, it is designed to provide retail spaces for tour- boat companies and businesses offering souvenirs and services to tour-boat customers.

The commercial harbor at Port Allen has been the center of the Na Pali Coast tour boat industry since the state closed Hanalei Bay to boating companies in 1998.

A&B PROPERTIES PHOTO / STAR-BULLETIN GRAPHIC
An aerial photo of the site.

Five companies each operate two boats. The State Harbors Division estimates about 500 visitors take tours from Port Allen every day. In addition, fishing charters and scuba diving boats operate out of the adjacent small boat harbor.

The largest single tenant is the U.S. Navy, which docks the boats used at the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands at Port Allen.

Four tour boat companies and one T-shirt company have signed letters of intent to lease space in the facility, according to Linda Howe, A&B Properties spokeswoman.

The two-story center will be built on a 1.7-acre parcel by Unlimited Construction of Kauai. It will be on the northwest corner of Waialo Road, the road leading to the commercial harbor, and Small Boat Harbor Road.

A&B Properties, a subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin Inc. is a major property owner at Port Allen. It owns three warehouses and owns land leased to tour boat companies for parking. Another warehouse and a restaurant are planned for the future.