ERS invests $25 million
in new condo towerThe retirement system will loan
$25 million to the Hokua project
The Employees' Retirement System board of trustees has approved participation in a $130 million construction loan to build a luxury residential condominium development in Honolulu.
The state's biggest pension plan will lend $25 million to the Hokua at 1288 Ala Moana project, a 40-story, $210 million tower that is slated for construction later this year. It is targeted for completion by late 2005. Bank of Hawaii and First Hawaiian Bank are the two co-arrangers of the credit and are putting together several lenders.
"We think it's a great investment for the retirement system," said Rick Humphreys, chairman of ERS' investment committee. "It's a project that's in our own back yard and we're able to understand it much easier than investing outside the state of Hawaii.
"We are selective, but we're comfortable with real estate here in Hawaii and think that the investment is a conservative investment and gives us the overall yield that we want."
The project is a joint venture between MK Management LLC, which is owned by the MacNaughton and Kobayashi groups, and A&B Hokua LLC, which is owned by A&B Properties Inc. A&B Properties is a subsidiary of publicly traded Alexander & Baldwin Inc.
Hokua means crest of the wave in Hawaiian.