The seven-tower Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort and Spa plans to add two more timeshare towers as part of its most significant 10-year master plan since the resort opened in 1955.

The new towers would nearly double the resort's timeshares to 1,200 from the current 650 and create about 700 jobs, said Jerry Gibson, area vice president and managing director for Hilton Hawaii.

“;This is the biggest project that Hilton Hawaiian Village will ever do,”; Gibson said. “;It will add vibrancy to the entrance of Waikiki, adding to the state's tax base, creating long-term visitor-industry jobs and providing our beleaguered construction industry with hundreds of quality jobs.”;

The project, which will be self-financed by Hilton, is so large that Ted Middleton, Hilton's senior vice president of development for the Americas, said he is unaware of any other “;within our company that comes close to this renovation.”;

  Hilton Hawaiian Village adds two more towers

 

The expansion is good news for the construction industry, and will mean hundreds of new jobs.

 

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Construction of the first 37-story, 300-unit tower is slated to start in 2013 and finish in 2015. The tower will be located Diamond Head of the current Tapa Tower, near the bus depot. The retail area located beneath the Tapa Tower also will be reoriented to offer more pedestrian sidewalks and green space as well as business opportunities with Kalia Road frontage. The second 250-unit tower, which will begin construction five or six years after the first new tower opens, will be part of the redevelopment of the 46,000-square-foot Rainbow Bazaar, which ultimately will be replaced by a two-story retail complex.

With the renovation, Hilton will bring its pool tally to seven, including separate children's pools, complete with water slides, and new adults-only pools featuring waterfalls and enough deck space for cabanas and chaise lounges. Altogether, Hilton will expand its retail, restaurant and lounge space by 14,359 square feet and add 132 parking spaces.

The project, which will cost hundreds of millions of dollars, will be executed in five to six stages and will not significantly change the resort's density, Gibson said.

“;The village will retain its park-like setting with 50 percent of its 22 oceanfront acres remaining open space,”; said Jeff Overton, a project planner for Group 70 International.

Rick Egged, president of the Waikiki Improvement Association, said there will be fewer hotel units in Waikiki upon completion of Hilton's project than there were five years ago due to renovations within the industry.

The project will improve Waikiki for visitors and residents, he said.

“;It will bring more visitors to Waikiki, which will bring in more investment and tourism dollars,”; Egged said.

The project's delivery corresponds to the sellout of the Grand Waikikian, the timeshare tower that Hilton opened in 2008, said Bryan Klum, executive vice president for Hilton Grand Vacations Asia/Pacific region.

“;The timing of this new project is very important for us. We need new timeshare product to sell into the next decade,”; Klum said.

Hilton has seen demand for Hawaii timeshares grow since it opened the Kalia Tower in 2000, Gibson said.

“;We've seen a trending up of timeshares and their likability,”; he said.

In recent years, Hilton's timeshares have been particularly popular with Japanese travelers, Klum said.

Seiji and Noriko Isoda of Tochigi, Japan, who were frolicking with their daughters Airisa and Wakana at the Grand Waikikian's pool yesterday, said they have upgraded their Hilton timeshare twice since buying into the Kalia Tower.

The couple, who now own a unit in the Grand Waikikian, say they enjoy coming to the Hilton and that it's convenient.

“;It's easy to come to Hawaii from Japan,”; Seiji Isoda said. “;Flightwise, it's not too far.”;

From a hotelier's perspective, time shares are popular because they bring immediate capital returns, subsidize maintenance costs and provide a solid base of travel, Gibson said.