Mililani developer
puts shopping center
up for sale

The Town Center of Mililani, once planned as Central Oahu's largest shopping center by developer Castle & Cooke Homes Hawaii Inc., has been put on the market.

The 450,000-square-foot center, which has been listed with Eastdil Realty Co., is expected to fetch a competitive price in Oahu's hot real estate market, said Harry Saunders, president of Castle & Cooke Hawaii. An asking price was not disclosed.

"A strong economy, low interest rates and strong investor interest in Hawaii and across the country has made this the ideal time to sell," Saunders said. "Mililani is very attractive to investors because it is a fairly mature community with highly educated residents who have strong incomes."

The company began carving its Central Oahu residential community of 15,000 homes out of Mililani pineapple fields in 1968 and has another 600 or 700 homes planned for the region.

The Town Center of Mililani, which Castle & Cooke began developing in 1987, has served as an amenity and a potential place of employment for Mililani's growing residential base, which has helped shore up retail, Saunders said.

"It's 100 percent leased," he said. The Town Center of Mililani is the largest of three shopping centers in Mililani, which include a Foodland-anchored Mililani Shopping Center and the Safeway-anchored Mililani Marketplace.

Saunders declined to comment on whether he had received offers on the Town Center, which is anchored by Wal-Mart and includes City Mill, Star Markets and Longs Drug.