Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
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Maui County to build affordable housing
The Maui County government intends to develop a 40-unit affordable housing project for seniors in Kahului.The development will share the grounds of a new county administration office facility that will include a two-story and a one-story building, most of which will be occupied by the county's Housing Division.
Units in the low-rise housing project will be available for rent to seniors who make between 50 percent and 80 percent of the median state income. The Department of Housing and Human Concerns will be the developer of the combined project and will foot the $12 million to $14 million bill.
Department Director Alice Lee said applications for the requisite approvals will be submitted in the fall and ground-breaking is targeted for early next year.
The county also is seeking to fast-track approvals for a separate 12-unit affordable housing subdivision near Lahaina. The three-bedroom, two-bath homes will sell for between $200,000 and $225,000.
The project site is a 1.7-acre parcel in the Kahua Tract subdivision, built in the 1930s to house employees of the adjacent Pioneer sugar mill. It seeks to reclaim an area that has long been a dumping site for household debris and other refuse.
Castle Resorts snags Island Colony
Castle Resorts & Hotels has been awarded a management contract to oversee the Island Colony Hotel's rental program, beginning June 1.The transaction fits into Castle's plan to acquire new properties and management contracts that fit its corporate brand and product strategies, said Alan Mattson, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Castle Resorts.
The company manages 19 hotels and condominiums in Hawaii, Micronesia and New Zealand.
Another lease extension sought
Hawaiian Airlines and Boeing Capital Corp. asked federal Bankruptcy Court yesterday for an expedited hearing tomorrow to grant a 10th extension on ongoing lease-restructuring talks between the two sides.The existing extension, which encompasses 14 aircraft, expires Monday. The new extension would expire June 30.
Without the extension, Boeing would have the right to repossess its planes under federal bankruptcy law. However, it is unlikely Boeing would make such a move since it supports a Hawaiian reorganization plan that includes a restructured lease deal.
Separately, Hawaiian and Delta Air Lines have introduced joint electronic ticketing for their mutual customers to make travel between the carriers paperless and to eliminate standing in airport lines. Previously, e-ticketed customers had to convert to a paper ticket when transferring between the airlines.
The e-tickets are available now through the Hawaiian and Delta reservation centers and will be available from travel agencies by June 7.
JOB HUNTING
Employers and employees
converge at WorkForce fair
Raymond Galdeira held son Zakariah and talked on his cell phone while looking for full-time work yesterday at a job fair at Blaisdell Center. This year's WorkForce fair drew more than 120 organizations looking for workers, including the hospitality industry.
[ BRIEFLY ]
Carlyle Group in talks to buy stake in DDI
Carlyle Group, the investment firm that is buying Verizon Hawaii, may pay about $2 billion for a 60 percent stake in a cell-phone affiliate of KDDI Corp., Japan's second-largest phone company, people familiar with the transaction said.KDDI is in talks to sell part of DDI Pocket Inc., which provides cell phone and wireless Internet access services, to Carlyle and Kyocera Corp., spokesman Haruhiko Maede said. KDDI may assume 135 billion yen of DDI's debt, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported earlier. Carlyle said it is in talks on DDI, according to a faxed release.
Carlyle, Ripplewood Holdings LLC and other buyout companies are seeking profit as Japan's telephone companies reorganize to cut debt and invest in new technology. KDDI wants to invest more in its latest network, which is winning share from NTT DoCoMo Inc.
Japan retail sales drop as firms cut back gifts
Japanese retail sales fell in April for the second month in three as corporations cut costs by spending less on gifts for clients and consumer prices extend a six-year slide.Retail sales dropped a seasonally adjusted 1 percent from March, the Trade Ministry said in Tokyo. That compares with a median 0.2 percent decline forecast by five economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Sales were unchanged in March. From a year earlier, retail sales fell 0.8 percent in April.
Consumer demand accounted for more than a third of Japan's 5.6 percent annual pace of economic growth in the first quarter. The rebound has left out retailers, which have been hurt by falling prices and lower corporate spending on fruit baskets and other gifts.
