Whalers Village
on Maui sold
for $175M

General Growth, manager of
the resort retail site, is the buyer

The state's largest shopping center operator will pay more than $175 million to acquire the Whalers Village retail center on Maui, people familiar with the sale said yesterday.

General Growth Properties Inc., which took over management of the oceanfront resort mall earlier this year, recently signed an agreement to acquire the 111,735-square-foot Kaanapali center from the Estate of James Campbell, those people said.

But the deal might not close for up to a year so that Campbell Estate can find a replacement property to avoid tax consequences.

A Campbell Estate official declined to confirm the pending sale, and General Growth officials could not be reached for immediate comment.

The proposed price tag translates into a cost of more than $1,500 a square foot, which is about the going rate for resort retail properties, according to one local real estate expert.

Steve Sofos, president of Sofos Realty Corp., noted that Whalers Village is the only resort retail destination in the Kaanapali Beach area, which houses more than 4,700 hotel rooms, resort condominiums and time-share villas.

"This is the biggest resort retail complex on West Maui, and that's why it commands this kind of price," he said. "They have a captive market."

Completed in 1970, Whalers Village houses 65 shops and restaurants, including Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., Quiksilver/Roxy and Tommy Bahama. The center also operates a Whalers Village Museum on the mezzanine level.

The Campbell Estate acquired the center from Kaanapali's developer, Amfac Inc., in 1980 for $14.5 million and has since conducted extensive renovations.

The Campbell Estate is a $2 billion for-profit private trust founded by Scottish seaman James Campbell in 1900 for the benefit of his descendants. The estate is converting to a diversified national real estate company that will be known as the James Campbell Co.

Chicago-based General Growth is the owner of Ala Moana Center, the state's largest shopping center, and Victoria Ward Centers on Oahu, and Prince Kuhio Plaza in Hilo. It also manages Windward Mall in Kaneohe and the Queen Kaahumanu Center on Maui.