Citibank offering downtown hotel units
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
Citibank of New York yesterday began selling hotel units in the downtown Honolulu mixed-use high-rise Executive Centre it acquired from bankrupt developer Sukamto Sia.
The bank, through Honolulu-based ERA Concepts Unlimited, is selling the 116 leasehold units by floor in phases to allow Aston Hotels & Resorts to maintain operation of downtown Honolulu's only hotel.
Buyers will have an option to keep their units in the hotel pool, or use them as residential or business office suites, according to Frank Leslie, owner and principal broker of ERA Concepts.
Sia acquired Executive Centre in 1987 for $50 million from developers who had struggled with the property since the early 1980s. He converted more than 100 units into hotel suites in 1992, but the slow economy hampered occupancy.
Citibank, Sia's primary lender for the purchase, foreclosed in May 1999, shortly before Sia was arrested in Las Vegas and charged with writing millions of dollars in bad checks.
The bank acquired the 41-story building on Bishop Street two years ago as part of a bankruptcy reorganization of a Sia holding company, which owed Citibank about $44 million.
The bank sold 276 residential/commercial units last year, raising roughly $18 million, and since then has been working on a plan to sell the remaining units.
The studio and one-bedroom hotel units are on floors 31 through 41, and range in size from 500 to 700 square feet. The leasehold units are being sold furnished, at prices starting at $94,500.
Citibank's plan is to sell about one floor a month to allow Aston to maintain hotel operations, although the actual sales pace and future unit use will depend on buyers.
Glenn Vergara, Executive Centre Hotel general manager, said he expects enough buyers will continue using Aston to manage their units as hotel rooms, but added that Aston could try to find owners of units on lower floors to contribute to the hotel operation.
"There's strong demand for transient accommodation in downtown Honolulu," he said. "That's been a nice base of business."
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.
