$50M for ex-Gold Bond building
The former Gold Bond building was sold this month to a mainland institutional investor for upwards of $50 million, more than double its sales price just three years ago.
Redico, a real estate development and investment firm based in Southfield, Mich., bought the 12-story Kakaako building -- officially named the 677 Ala Moana Building -- on Dec. 20 from San Francisco-based Ellis Partners LLC.
Ellis Partners bought the leasehold property in June 2004 for $20.4 million. The building, which has a 27-year lease on 1.4 acres owned by Kamehameha Schools, is assessed at $35.7 million, according to city records.
Representatives from Redico and Ellis Partners couldn't be reached for comment.
A representative from New York brokerage firm, Eastdil Secured LLC, declined to comment. The property manager, Linda Gee of PM Realty Group, couldn't be reached.
Redico and Morgan Stanley earlier this year purchased four Oahu buildings for $98 million. They include the Hawaii Agricultural Research Center, the Airport Center adjacent to the Honolulu International Airport and the Ocean View Court, which includes the Ocean View Center and Haseko Center in downtown Honolulu.
The former Gold Bond building has about 266,000 square feet of office space with retail on the ground floor and a 513-stall garage, just outside of Honolulu's central business district and the bustling Kapiolani corridor.
"There's no new supply of office space, at least in the near term, especially in the urban core from downtown to Waikiki," said Jamie Brown, president of Hawaii Commercial Real Estate LLC. "It's a smart move buying anything that's got vacancy, because there's just no new supply."
The pace of growth in Hawaii's office sector has slowed along with rental rates, following the slowing of the local economy.
"It's a significant sale, and a great way to end the year with a large sales transaction," said Mike Hamasu, director of research and consulting for Colliers Monroe Friedlander Inc.
Built in the 1960s, the building remains best known by its original name, which refers to the Gold Bond Stamp Co., a Minneapolis-based company that had been its anchor tenant for years.
