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HAWAII
Penney's Maui site bought by Macy's
Macy's has purchased the former J.C. Penney building at the Queen Kaahumanu Center on Maui.The move was announced by Scott Crockford, Vice President of Maui Land and Pineapple Co. Ltd., the general partner of the center.
"We are looking forward to seeing an outstanding new Macy's store in this building as soon as renovation is complete," Crockford said.
Crockford said Macy's will retain its existing location as the anchor tenant at the Wailuku mall. The 86,000-square-foot former Penney spot will bring Macy's total sales space to 167,000 square feet. Crockford said he had no details on Macy's plans for the space. Representatives of Macy's parent Federated Department Stores and its local public relations contractor, Communications Pacific Inc., declined to comment yesterday.
The move follows the closure of all J.C. Penney Co.'s remaining Hawaii stores at Wailuku, Hilo, Ala Moana and Pearlridge last week. Inspiration Home & Office Furnishings took over the Pearlridge space. There has been no word on the future of its spaces at Ala Moana or Hilo's Prince Kuhio Plaza.
Queen Kaahumanu Center comprises more than 100 businesses, including retail stores, theaters and restaurants. A $60 million renovation in 1993-94 included the addition of the J.C. Penney wing.
Queen's Court finds buyer
Ahi Harbor LP has sold the downtown Queen's Court building to two real estate investors for $3.63 million.The buyer, QC Partners LLC, is represented by Richard Emery, president of real estate management company Hawaii First Inc. in Pioneer Plaza, and Richard Weiser, a South Carolina businessman who has developed real estate in Hawaii.
The six-story, 45,089-square-foot building at 800 Bethel St. originally was built in 1994 as part of the Harbor Court development project and has never been occupied. The building is on 16,513 square feet of city and county leasehold land.
CB Richard Ellis Hawaii Inc., which represented the seller, said the building is zoned for both commercial and residential uses. The new owners plan to resell the space as office condominiums and keep the top floor as a personal residence.
The transaction was financed through Central Pacific Bank.
MAINLAND
CNN head Isaacson resigns
NEW YORK >> Walter Isaacson, the head of CNN, stepped down yesterday, just 18 months after taking the job to restore the pioneering all-news network's ratings dominance that it had lost to upstart Fox News. The news chief's resignation added to the turmoil at media powerhouse AOL Time Warner, which only 24 hours early had seen its chairman, Steve Case, quit.Isaacson, 50, a veteran Time magazine journalist, said his resignation was not linked to Case's departure, but he admitted he was never fully comfortable as the head of a TV network. He will become the head of the Aspen Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that counts former AOL Time Warner CEO Gerald Levin among its trustees.
