MacNaughton will rebuild
Moanalua Shopping Center

The MacNaughton Group will demolish and redevelop the Moanalua Shopping Center, located near Pearl Harbor and Hickam Air Force Base.

The company has signed a 40-year lease of the property from the Navy, described as "the very first (lease) of its kind in the Department of Defense ... allowed by recent legislation passed by Congress," said Rear Adm. Michael Vitale, commander of the Navy Region Hawaii.

The deal will give the Navy new facilities while the MacNaughton Group's MSC LLC, formed for the venture, will shoulder the job of development, but will also collect lease rents from tenants.

Construction will begin in June, said Jeff Arce, chief financial officer and partner in the MacNaughton Group.

The existing mall has a walking corridor down the middle of the property, with retail on both sides, surrounded by a circular perimeter of fast-food restaurants and a gas station.

The central corridor will come down in June. "In its place, in that center of the doughnut, is going to be a two-story, 55,000-square-foot Navy building," said Arce. It will house a community support services center for Navy personnel and their families, consolidating offices on Oahu that provide programs into a single location.

In addition, the company will build approximately 25,000 square feet of single-level retail space next door, Arce said.

Construction is to be complete by next fall.

Existing tenants, including fast-food restaurants, retailers and service providers, have been told they can stay until May, he said.

"We'll be entering into long-term leases with most of the current tenants although there may be some changes," he said.

"In all likelihood there will be a Jamba Juice and a Starbucks," joining the Moanalua Shopping Center tenant mix.

The MacNaughton Group has a majority interest in the local Starbucks-Jamba Juice partnership.