Alexander & Baldwin Inc. is now the landlord to Home Depot’s first store in Hawaii.
The Honolulu-based real estate investment firm announced Monday that it has paid $42 million for the land under the home improvement retailer’s store in Iwilei.
Home Depot opened the store in 1999 on 9 acres leased from Castle & Cooke Hawaii. A Houston-based investment partnership bought the land from Castle & Cooke in 2010 for $23 million, according to property records.
Local commercial real estate agent Joe Leonardo, who helped broker the deal between A&B and the seller, said having the nation’s biggest home improvement store chain as a tenant was attractive.
“It’s just good real estate,” he said. “One visit to Home Depot and you know they’re cranking business.”
A&B used proceeds from its $262 million sale of 41,000 acres of former sugar cane plantation land in December to pay for the Home Depot land acquisition. The company plans to reinvest more proceeds in other Hawaii real estate.
State warns of business report scam
The state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs’ Business Registration Division is warning local businesses and the public again about an annual business report scam.
Unofficial solicitations are being sent out by Workplace Compliance Services regarding annual business report filings. The mailings labeled “2019 – Annual Report Instruction Form (Hawaii Businesses)” have been sent to numerous businesses in Hawaii, with instructions to fill out the form and submit it, along with a $125 payment.
“Workplace Compliance Services is not a government agency, has no affiliation with one, and appears to use a mail drop as its company address,” said Ty Nohara, Hawaii commissioner of securities. To check the legitimacy of a notice, email breg@dcca.hawaii.gov or call 586-2727.
To look up a business’s annual report information online, go to hbe.ehawaii.gov/annuals. For filing questions, visit www.businessregistrations.com, email breg@dcca.hawaii.gov or call 586-2727.
ON THE MOVE
Atlas Insurance Agency has announced that Jerry Westcott is its new IT unit manager. Westcott has more than 20 years’ experience, including having served as an application developer at a local communications conglomerate and has held leadership positions at two other insurance carriers in Hawaii.
Embassy Suites by Hilton Waikiki Beach Walk, which is managed by Outrigger Hospitality Group, has appointed Natalie Caceres as the company’s new sales director. Caceres has years of experience in the operations and sales industry, including having joined Outrigger in 2006 and served as a guest services representative, guest services manager, sales manager as well as director of sales at the Holiday Inn Resort Waikiki Beachcomber.
