Outrigger buys
Waikiki Beachcomber

Local hotel company Outrigger Enterprises Inc. has agreed to buy the leasehold Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel from an affiliate of Tokyo-based Mitsui Leasing & Development Ltd.

The price was not disclosed. The deal, which is scheduled to close in October, will add 500 rooms to Outrigger's presence in Waikiki, replacing some of the 1,600 rooms to be eliminated by Outrigger's Waikiki Beach Walk project, a $460 million hotel-timeshare-retail redevelopment.

The Beachcomber sits on land owned by the Queen Emma Foundation next door to the International Market Place.

Outrigger expects to offer jobs to "nearly all of the existing Waikiki Beachcomber employees," the company said. The few employees not kept on at the hotel will be offered similar jobs at other Outrigger properties in Waikiki, said Barry Wallace, senior vice president of operations for Outrigger Hotels & Resorts.

The hotel will operate under Outrigger's Ohana flag as the Ohana Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel, the company said.

Mel Kaneshige, chief operating officer of Outrigger Enterprises' real estate division, said the hotel will undergo a major renovation to make it "the premier choice for visitors looking for a great, near-the-beach hotel."

A Mitsui affiliate bought the hotel for $84.6 million in 1992 from Japan-based Azabu USA Inc., according to state records.