Waikiki Galleria sold for $187M, records show

Parties involved in last month’s sale of the Waikiki Galleria retail and office building would not disclose the price paid, but property records show the 15-story tower sold for nearly twice what the building fetched a decade earlier.

An affiliate of Japan-based Sanno Group paid local developer and real estate investment firm The Mills Group $187 million for the building, which is anchored by luxury retail tenant DFS Galleria and is at the corner of Kalakaua and Royal Hawaiian avenues.

Mills and a consortium of investors from Japan bought the building for $125 million in 2003. Two years before that the building sold for $94 million.

Restaurant sought for former Victoria Inn site

The new owner of an office building in Kaimuki is looking for a new restaurant to replace the recently closed Victoria Inn on 12th Avenue.

Honolulu-based development firm Beall Corp. purchased the three-story leasehold building at 1132 12th Ave. with a partner.

The company said it plans to relocate and expand its offices to the building along with a yoga studio and the boutique Rebecca Beach Kahala. Beal Corp. is seeking office tenants as well as a new ground-floor restaurant with outdoor seating to replace Victoria Inn, which closed last month after more than 30 years in business.

New CEO of BlackBerry maker isn’t panicking

TORONTO » The new chief executive of Research in Motion said Monday that drastic change is not needed, even as the once iconic maker of the BlackBerry smartphone confronts the most difficult period in its history.

The Canadian company turned the smartphone into a ubiquitous device that many couldn’t live without. But after the departure of Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, who stepped down as co-CEOs and co-chairmen on Monday, Thorsten Heins assumes the CEO role at a time when Americans are abandoning their Blackberrys for flashier touch-screen phones such as Apple’s iPhone and various competing models that run Google’s Android software.

RIM’s U.S. market share of smartphones dropped from 44 percent in 2009 to 10 percent in 2011, according to market researcher NPD Group. The company still has 75 million active subscribers, but many analysts believe the company will lose market share internationally, just as it has in the U.S.

Heins, a little-known chief operating officer who joined RIM four years ago from Siemens AG, replaces RIM’s founders as the company has lost tens of billions in market value. Balsillie acknowledged in December that the past few quarters have been among the most challenging times the company has seen.

Even so, Heins said on a conference call Monday that he didn’t think significant change was needed. He said the leadership change was not a "seismic" event.

Some Starbucks add wine, beer to menu

SEATTLE » Starbucks Corp., the company that proved there’s no such thing as paying too much for a cup of coffee, is expanding its experiment with two other elixirs that Americans love: wine and beer.

The company said Monday it will start selling wine, beer and "premium" foods, like small plates and hot flatbread sandwiches, at four to six stores in Atlanta and another four to six stores in Southern California by the end of the year. That builds on the company’s recent announcement of the same plans for about a half-dozen stores in Chicago.

Starbucks first tested the wine and beer concept at a store in its headquarters city of Seattle in October 2010. It now serves beer and wine at five stores in Seattle and one in Portland, Ore.

Halliburton rides oil boom to $906M profit

NEW YORK » Halliburton’s net income spiked 50 percent in the final three months of 2011 as the world’s biggest oilfield services company shifted its focus from natural gas to oil, with a barrel of crude again trading near the triple-digit mark.

Energy companies are capitalizing on new technology to reach crude that was once prohibitively expensive to pump, especially in the United States, and Halliburton has benefited immensely.

The Houston company posted earnings of $906 million, or 98 cents a share, for the fourth quarter. That compares with $605 million, or 66 cents a share, for the same part of 2010.

Digital-age leader Curley to retire from AP

NEW YORK » After nearly nine years leading The Associated Press through a media landscape reshaped by unprecedented upheaval, President and CEO Tom Curley announced Monday that he will step down.

AP’s board of directors has set up a committee to find a replacement for Curley, who plans to defer his retirement until the transition is complete.

Curley, 63, who has led AP since June 2003, spent his tenure working to transform the news cooperative for the digital era. He oversaw the launch of new platforms for multimedia content, led a search for fresh sources of revenue and vigorously protected the results of AP’s and the industry’s news-gathering efforts in a wide-open online marketplace.

ON THE MOVE

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees has named Kamana’opono Crabbe its new chief executive officer. He joined OHA in November 2009 as a research director.

Kauai Island Utility Cooperative has promoted Carey Koide to transmission and distribution manager. He has worked for Kauai Electric and the cooperative for nearly 20 years.

CBRE Group has appointed Scott Ono director of asset services for the Hawaii region. He joined CBRE in 2001.

Prudential Locations has hired the following agents:

» Carolyn Kanoho, who specializes in first-time homebuyers, sellers and buyers using VA home loans.

» Leslie R. Lewis, whose experience includes home sales as well as with title and escrow companies.

» Lauren Miyahara, who specializes in home sales in the Kailua, Windward and Aiea regions.