[ INSIDE HAWAII INC. ]

Campbell excited about
Waikiki’s future

The Outrigger exec is signing tenants
for the Waikiki Beach Walk

Barbara Campbell Barbara A. Campbell is part of a team of local businesspeople appointed this past week to examine all of the real estate owned by the city to recommend the best uses for the land. She also: >> Is vice president of retail development and leasing for Outrigger Enterprises Inc. Outrigger's $460 million Waikiki Beach Walk redevelopment, which is under construction, includes a 92,000-square-foot retail/restaurant complex, which will mostly replace outdated retail spaces. Demolition has started and will continue through mid-August, and the new complex may be ready to open by late next year. >> Previously served as president and chief executive of DGM Group Inc., responsible for the leasing, management and marketing of major office buildings and shopping centers in Hawaii and Guam, including the Waikele Center on Oahu. She was with the company from 1989 to 1998.

Answer: I actually moved here from Denver, for a job transfer, in 1986.

Q: How much of the Outrigger retail/restaurant project is leased?

A: We've announced the first group of tenants. We will be announcing another group of tenants probably within the next month or two months or something like that. We're so excited to have Roy's come to one of our premiere restaurant locations. That's terrific ... we're encouraged by the progress to date.

Now there's this vast open space that wasn't there before so the neighborhood already has a new feel to it. You can already get the sense of what the impact of open additional space will be for that neighborhood.

Q: What's the long-term Waikiki retail outlook?

A: There's a rejuvenation of Waikiki occurring with all of these projects, and most of its retail projects, being newly constructed or renovated and I think the impact is going to be significant. It will take a lot of the older, obsolete tenant mix that we had, and we're going to have a new much higher-quality experience for the visitor.

It's going to be a new fresh look in Waikiki.

Waikiki has a very bright future. Come 2007 and 2008, it's going to be a new destination, or certainly it'll be refreshed and get a lot of attention internationally as a place to visit.

Q: What are the trends in Waikiki retail?

A: Visitor traffic was up 8 percent, so that obviously filters into retail shops and restaurants. So everybody's enjoyed the first five months of the year. And we've seen a pick-up in the Japanese visitors. So that's helped with the retail.

I think a trend that I see, with the projects that are announced ... that there's a lot of interest in businesses coming to Waikiki, retailers, restaurants, and certainly with success of Cheesecake Factory, that's got a lot of national and international attention. So we're going to see an influx of new businesses.

Q: What type of businesses?

A: There'll be some national or international brands that aren't currently here. Some names that we all recognize, some well-recognized brands but some other second-tier and other types of brands ... and we're even seeing some retailers from Australia, Japan and Europe eyeing Hawaii. A lot of lifestyle apparel, accessories.

And then of course some restaurants, interesting restaurants, Japan, U.S. mainland. And I think businesses here in Hawaii, and most are doing well, they've already got a presence so a majority of our tenants will be locally based.

Q: With regard to the city's diverse land holdings, will there be an added incentive to sell commercial properties in this strong real estate market?

A: Timing is always important. Once the findings are completed and recommendations made, the mayor is obviously going to review that and make decisions there. Ideally you always want to be on the right part of the cycle, but I think that remains to be seen. Who knows where the cycle falls but we'll certainly do our best.