Kalakaua and Kuhio avenues in Waikiki are both named after royalty. Yet one, for decades, has had a far less regal appearance.
Kuhio Avenue in large respect has been the grungy back street of Hawaii’s premier vacation destination that tourists never see in postcards.
That’s changing, however, in a momentous way with several big real estate redevelopment and renovation projects concluding in recent months and more to follow.
Add up the money being spent on these new, ongoing and planned projects and it’s at least $1.3 billion.
“We’re now entering a whole new era,” said Rick Egged, president of the Waikiki Improvement Association.
Touching off this new era were three project openings: the 623-room Hilton Garden Inn in June, the 307-unit Ritz-Carlton Residences Waikiki Beach in July and a new International Market Place in August.
Still under construction are projects converting the Waikiki Trade Center office tower into a 230-room Hyatt hotel, building a second Ritz-Carlton tower with 246 rooms, renovating the Maile Sky Court hotel, renovating the Ohana Waikiki Malia hotel and turning the old Aqua Waikiki Wave hotel into a boutique four-diamond property called The Okina.
Other redevelopment or renovation projects on Kuhio are expected to follow, including building a 230-room hotel in place of an empty retail complex that once housed NikeTown, renovating the Ambassador Hotel and redeveloping the Food Pantry grocery store.
To be sure, this renaissance is in an early stage, as many properties along the mile-long street maintain a forlorn look — including vacant lots, parking lots, run-down apartment complexes and the backsides of buildings that face the more refined Kalakaua Avenue. There are even a couple laundromats fronting Kuhio.
Marc Nasser, sales and marketing director for the Okina hotel project by Hilton, expects it could take 15 years for the transformation to really redefine the stature of Kuhio, much in the way that it took a long time for Kalakaua to become dominated by luxury retail and modernized hotels.
“It’s an exciting time,” he said. “I believe we are going to rightfully take our place alongside Kalakaua Avenue. I remember Kuhio back in its heyday — it was similar to the Barbary Coast (former red-light district) in San Francisco. Now it’s developing a renaissance.”
Nasser said he regards the International Market Place as the pivotal piece of the renewal on Kuhio. Though the $500 million retail center largely fronts Kalakaua, its anchor tenant, Saks Fifth Avenue, fronts Kuhio. A grand entryway to the retail complex from Kuhio also was created, which didn’t exist with the old International Market Place.
Saks, according to the center’s marketing and sponsorship director, Dave Mark, is the first large-scale luxury retailer to establish a store fronting Kuhio.
Mark said Saks is a vast upgrade from Denny’s and other businesses that used to front Kuhio on parts of the old International Market Place site.
“It’s nice there are no more hookers in front of Denny’s,” he said. “I really feel like Kuhio’s improvement fulfills a brand promise (for what visitors expect to see in Waikiki). We’ve really taken great strides to be able to fulfill our guests’ expectations.”
On the mauka side of Kuhio across from the new retail center, Hilton Garden Inn was created with a $115 million overhaul of the tired 40-year-old Ohana Waikiki West hotel.
John Taffin, the hotel’s general manager, said the retail center is an attraction and a nice way for hotel guests to get to the beach. “I’m in love with my neighbors,” he said. “We think we’re in just a dynamic location.”
Immediately ewa of International Market Place is the 250-room Okina property, where more than $50 million is being spent on renovations expected to be finished in March. And next to that is the Waikiki Trade Center being transformed into the Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach hotel. Part of the Hyatt Centric will feature a Nordstrom Rack store that faces Kuhio and is expected to open in December.
Further ewa is the Ritz tower. This $275 million hotel-condominium is largely oriented toward the ocean overlooking Kalakaua — in fact, there are no mauka views from the building except from hallways, and none of its restaurant tenants front Kuhio. Still, a parklike landscaped promenade and some outside seating for a Dean & DeLuca upscale market, wine bar and cafe enhance Kuhio.
Lance Wilhelm, managing principal of the tower’s developer, Irongate, said the second Ritz tower slated to open in mid-2018 will continue and enhance the promenade into a 2-acre green space with a high-end grocer and a coffee kiosk fronting Kuhio.
Wilhelm, along with Taffin, Mark and Nasser were among participants in a panel discussion headlined “Kuhio Rising” held last week by the Pacific Asia Travel Association’s Hawaii chapter and moderated by Egged.
Though it wasn’t discussed by the panel, an overhaul of the city’s zoning code in Waikiki gets some of the credit for improving Kuhio.
The change made in 2011 permitted hotel and residential uses on many properties, including Irongate’s and a neighboring site where a hotel is planned in place of an empty retail building that once housed NikeTown.
Another factor driving development on Kuhio is a loss of hotel rooms in Waikiki in recent years and not many available or easy opportunities along Kalakaua to increase supply.
Hotel industry consultant Joseph Toy of Honolulu-based Hospitality Advisors LLC said about 5,000 hotel rooms in Waikiki have been lost over the last eight years as property owners converted hotels to timeshare use, enlarged rooms or sold units as residential condos.
Toy said strong demand exists especially for midpriced and upscale accommodations, so developers are looking at Kuhio as well as connecting side streets to deliver.
One example of development close to Kuhio is the 112-room Surfjack Hotel & Swim Club, which was crafted from a run-down 1960s building. The Surfjack opened in April on Lewers Street not far from the Ritz tower and has garnered national media headlines as a hip place to stay.
Egged expects more of this type of reuse, including redevelopment of old walk-up apartment buildings on one side street near the Food Pantry.
Mark, the International Market Place executive, said the whole destination will benefit from investment along Kuhio.
“It’s going to be tremendous,” he said. “As Kuhio rises, so will Waikiki.”
