Buyers snapping up Queen Emma units
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
For decades, renters have been drawn to Queen Emma Gardens downtown for its convenient location, relatively inexpensive rent and graceful grounds.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
Now, as the final building in the complex goes condominium, buyers are flocking to Queen Emma for the same reasons, though for them it's low fee-simple prices, not low rent. Nearly half of the building's 235 units were sold in just 10 days.
Sunita Nepo, right, shows a condo for sale in Queen Emma Gardens Prince Tower in downtown Honolulu.
As the apartments sell and buyers move in, some renters will be forced to look elsewhere for housing. Industry observers say the loss of so many rental units will make an already tight market even worse.
The inventory of rental units on O'ahu has dropped in recent years because of a dearth of new construction, resulting in more people chasing after the same number of apartments and rental homes. Meanwhile, low mortgage rates mean more families are buying units they might have been renting, taking those homes out of the market.
When units in a good building become available for rent, they fill quickly.
"A unit goes vacant and you've got 30 people wanting to rent it," said Peter Savio, who is consulting on the Queen Emma project for Hawaiian Island Development. "(Queen Emma) has a lot of appeal because of its location close to town."
Savio said Queen Emma Gardens has been a rental project since it opened almost 40 years ago. In a process that has taken several years, 352 units in two towers — the King and Queen — have been converted to condominiums.
Now, 235 studio, one- and two-bedroom units in the Prince Tower are converting and are being sold for between $87,000 and $191,000. More than 100 have been sold.
Audrey Tomishiro was raised in Nu'uanu and now lives with her husband in her mother's home. Tomishiro has loved the Queen Emma project since she was a child and bought a third-floor studio apartment the first week of sales.
"A studio is less to clean," said Tomishiro, a first-time homeowner.
Savio said the mix of buyers ranges from young families to retirees to professionals looking to be close to work.
The majority, 75 to 80 percent, are owner-occupants. Savio said 30 to 40 tenants have opted to buy their units and about 20 percent of the sales have been to investors who will rent them out.
Savio had expected it to take about a year to sell all the units in the Prince, but now says they will likely be gone within a couple of months.
He said he hopes to accommodate renters who want to stay in available units in one of the towers.
In May, more units will open up as many Hawai'i Pacific University students renting in the building finish school or return home for the summer.
"Next year, they will likely dorm someplace else," Savio said.
E. Rick Stepien, HPU vice president for administration, said he is not sure how many students live in the building because they find rentals on their own, but the location is ideal.
"(The conversion) will have an impact, but the condos will become rentable too," Stepien said. "A good number of students live in Queen Emma, Kukui Plaza, Executive Center and Park Place.
"In my judgment you can always use more of these kinds of apartments in the downtown area."
