By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai‘i hotel executive Andre Tatibouet has put up for sale the boutique Waikiki hotel that was the first to bear the Aston name he established 15 years ago.
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| Andre Tatibouet relaxes near his Kalakaua Avenue properties, from left, the Waikiki Beachside, the Waikiki Circle and Waikiki Beach Tower.
Advertiser library photo • April 20, 1998 |
Tatibouet, who is on administrative leave as president of Aston Hotels & Resorts, said he plans to sell the fee-simple, 80-room Aston Waikiki Beachside Hotel in return for a 30- to 50-year lease in which he would pay a new owner annual rent of about $1 million during an initial multiyear term.
The arrangement would allow Tatibouet to retain control of the hotel while raising cash to invest in other parts of Waikiki. He did not disclose plans, but said, "We have identified a number of investment opportunities in Waikiki, and are making plans to make additional financial investments in the Waikiki market."
No asking price has been set for the hotel, but listing agent Douglas Pothul of Colliers Monroe Friedlander said the property, opposite K¬hi¯ Beach and between the Hyatt Regency Waikiki and the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort, is expected to sell for $13 million to $19 million. "It’s in beautiful shape," he said.
Pothul said Tatibouet’s proposal to sell and lease back the hotel is common in the commercial real estate industry.
For Tatibouet, however, the move was difficult. "It is not without some trepidation that we have decided to sell the Aston Waikiki Beachside Hotel," he said. "It is important for me to retain the operation of the truly first Aston hotel, and continue to look for new ways to enhance the Aston brand for fine world-class hotels."
A sale of the Waikiki Beachside would not affect Aston’s management role at the hotel. Aston operates 38 hotels in Hawai‘i, two of which are owned by Tatibouet. Other companies operate hotels around the world under the Aston name as well.
Hawai‘i-born Tatibouet built his first hotel, Waikiki’s four-story Cleghorn Apartment Hotel, in 1959. In 1969, he completed his second project, the Pacific Beach Hotel in Waikiki, which he sold in order to grow Hotel Corporation of the Pacific, the company established by his parents.
But he considers the 12-story Waikiki Beachside, which he redeveloped more than 20 years ago, to be the first property for Aston Hotels & Resorts, which grew out of Hotel Corporation of the Pacific in 1986.
In 1998, Tatibouet sold the Aston chain — but not its name — for $30 million plus stock to ResortQuest International Inc., a Memphis, Tenn.-based vacation property rental and management company. He continued to personally own the Waikiki Beachside and the 247-room Aston Coral Reef Hotel.
Since last May, Tatibouet has been on administrative leave as Aston Hotels president, and was sued by ResortQuest for agreeing to sell rights to the Aston name outside Hawai‘i to competing hotel operator Cendant Corp. of Parsippany, N.J. The suit has yet to be resolved. Tatibouet is no longer a ResortQuest director, but remains the company’s largest shareholder.
Andrew Gomes can be reached by phone at 525-8065, or by e-mail, agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.
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