Kaimuki’s trendy SALT restaurant closes

Three years after opening its doors at the top of Waialae Avenue in Kaimuki, SALT Kitchen & Tasting Bar quietly announced its closure this week.

A sign hanging in the door at the restaurant on Wednesday thanked customers for their business and noted "exciting new things to come" at the location. Callers to the restaurant heard a message announcing the closure and directing them to an email address to keep in touch.

Local restauranteur Kevin Hanney, who also owns 12th Avenue Grill and Koko Head Cafe nearby, quickly found a following for SALT, with many devotees citing its innovative take on tapas and use of ingredients from local producers.

Hanney did not return a call seeking comment.

Koele hotel to house workers next year

One of Lanai’s two Four Seasons hotels will close next year to vacationers partly in a move to ease the pressure on the island’s tight housing supply as scores of construction workers carry out development plans for the island’s billionaire owner Larry Ellison.

Ellison’s management company Pulama Lana‘i plans to exclusively house workers in the 102-room Four Seasons Lodge at Koele starting in January. The move will help finish renovation work on the 217-room Four Seasons Resort Lana‘i at Manele Bay more quickly.

Renovations on one wing of the Manele Bay hotel containing half the rooms are scheduled to be finished this month. Work on the second wing is slated to begin in January. During the work on the second wing, the Lodge at Koele will be dedicated to the transformation team, Pulama Lana‘i said.

Pulama Lana‘i also intends to rework parts of the Manele hotel, including adding spa rooms, a multi-room luxury suite and pool renovations while workers are housed in rooms. The Koele hotel is projected to reopen to the public in late 2015.

PUC approves green energy program

The state Public Utilities Commission has approved a program that will finance solar photovoltaic systems and other clean energy improvements for nonprofits, renters and homeowners who can’t afford the upfront installation costs.

Tuesday’s approval follows the PUC’s earlier approval of a financing order in September. The state can now issue up to $150 million in bonds for the Green Energy Market Securitization program.

The PUC’s approval allows the imposition of a Green Infrastructure Fee, which will be used to secure the bonds. The $2 a month fee will appear on all utility ratepayer bills for residential customers.

The Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism plans to issue the bonds by November and make the first clean energy loans by the end of the year.

Kakaako tech space gets federal grant

Two state agencies have been awarded a $3 million federal grant to help develop innovative work space that could be the first piece of an envisioned high-tech park in Kakaako.

The High Technology Development Corp. and the Hawaii Community Development Authority received the award from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to pay for half of a 13,500-square-foot facility the state agencies are dubbing the Entrepreneur’s Sandbox at the Kakaako Collaboration Center.

The project is slated for part of a 6-acre site currently used as an HCDA-owned parking lot just Ewa of the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine.

An HCDA master plan for the site envisions 50,000 square feet of business incubator space for the technology agency, 150,000 square feet of classroom facilities for UH and a regional parking structure with up to 900 stalls.

HCDA said the Entrepreneur’s Sandbox could be similar to the ‘Iolani School Sullivan Center for Innovation and Leadership that includes lab spaces, collaboration rooms and space for projects.

Fisher Hawaii and DataHouse are partnering to develop and help finance the project, which HCDA said could break ground as early as June.

Pepsi to debut midcalorie soda with stevia

NEW YORK » There’s Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and now, Pepsi True, a midcalorie version of the soda made with natural sweeteners. PepsiCo Inc. said Wednesday the latest version of its flagship soda will have 30 percent fewer calories than regular and be made with a mix of sugar and stevia, a natural sweetener with no calories.

The drink will go on sale later this month on Amazon.com before eventually being rolled out to supermarkets and other traditional outlets, according to the company. It will come in 7.5-ounce cans, each 60 calories.

ON THE MOVE

King Intermediate School has announced Wendy Matsu­zaki is its new principal. Her experience includes serving as Waiahole Elementary principal as well as working at various schools as a vice principal, elementary school teacher, student services teacher and coordinator, and district summer school director.

Shriners Hospitals for Children-Honolulu has announced Dr. Graham Fedorak as its new pediatric orthopaedic surgeon. He completed his fellowship in pediatric orthopaedic surgery at Shriners Hospitals for Children-Los Angeles.

Morgan Stanley has promoted Grant K.T. Kubota to first vice president of Wealth Management. His experience includes investment manage­ment and portfolio analysis, retirement and estate planning, and advising families, individuals and business clientele. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Kubota was a certified public accountant for KPMG, a global accounting firm.