Plans for Hawai'i trade center detailed
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Chart: A new tower in Kaka'ako
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
It would be one of the tallest buildings in the state, with one of the most recognized names in the world, and could attract international business to help diversify the state economy.
The long-dreamed-of vision for a World Trade Center in Hawai'i took a substantial step closer to becoming reality yesterday as Gov. Ben Cayetano unveiled details of plans by two local companies to develop the facility using the state's World Trade Center franchise.
Honolulu automobile dealer Joe Nicolai of Wholesale Motors and commercial real estate firm CB Richard Ellis Hawaii Inc. plan to build and operate an office high-rise ringed by a three-story galleria of international vehicle showrooms, ethnic restaurants and lodging.
The project site is opposite Blaisdell Center on the mauka-'ewa corner of Ward Avenue and Kapi'olani Boulevard — a paved lot envisioned in the early '90s for a luxury condominium known as Symphony Park.
Nicolai, who bought the 2.4-acre site two years ago for roughly $10 million, said he hoped construction of the estimated $100 million-plus complex could begin by the end of next year.
The office tower, to rise as high as 400 feet, would be powered by a combination of self-sufficient energy technology that Nicolai has been experimenting with at a couple of his dealerships. A 490-stall parking garage would be attached.
Plans are still conceptual, and significant hurdles remain, including financing, market demand for office space and successfully combining the office, vehicle showroom, restaurant and inn concepts.
No zoning changes are required. The project would need approval of the Hawai'i Community Development Authority, the state agency overseeing redevelopment in Kaka'ako.
Nicolai said his idea for the retail component is to design eight to 12 vehicle showrooms with attached restaurants and lodging in an architectural style matching each vehicle's place of origin. A showroom for the Italian-made Ferrari would be accentuated with a pizzeria, small piazza and seven or eight-room Florentine inn. A Bentley showroom would have an English tavern serving fish and chips.
Audi, Harley-Davidson, Kawasaki and Lamborghini — all franchises operated by Nicolai — would also be showcased in the planned motor vehicle sales center.
The galleria would take up about 60,000 square feet. Another 311,000 square feet would be for trade-oriented office users.
Cayetano praised Nicolai, who previously considered pairing his vehicle galleria with a residential high-rise, for embracing the World Trade Center proposal offered by the state and introduced by CB Richard Ellis Hawaii.
Some observers have said overcoming the tragic association with the Sept. 11 attacks could pose challenges for the project, but other World Trade Center operators said they have not been affected negatively by the New York tragedy.
"That's not an issue, period," Nicolai said.
The Hawai'i World Trade Center would be one of about 300 in about 100 countries. The concept concentrates providers of global business information and services, facilitating a kind of United Nations of commerce.
Robert "Mike" Murphy, director of the U.S. Commerce Department's Honolulu Export Assistance Center, said opportunities are growing for Hawai'i to take a greater part in trade between Asia and the Americas that would be supported by a World Trade Center.
"This state could become an absolutely fantastic transportation/trading center," he said.
Added Charlotte Vick, chairwoman of the Hawai'i Pacific Export Council: "This (center) will bring in businesses that we desperately need to do international business."
Andres Albano, vice president of development consulting for CB Richard Ellis Hawaii, said he expected many companies and trade organizations that regularly do business at other World Trade Centers to lease space in Hawai'i's planned center. Government offices also could be located in the building, he said.
Albano projected that office space demand in Honolulu would improve in the next three years, with vacancy rates falling from 13 percent to 9 or 10 percent, making high-rise development more feasible.
The idea of a World Trade Center in Hawai'i has been considered for 25 years at sites including Aloha Tower, downtown office buildings, the airport and the Hawai'i Convention Center.
Cayetano said the conceptual plans and franchise agreement take the 40-year-old vision of making the state an international business center closer to reality than ever before.
The state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism purchased the World Trade license in 1993 for about $100,000, but kept the franchise largely inactive.
The agreement signed yesterday allows the Nicolai/CB team to use the World Trade license for three years, with an option to purchase the license in the first year.
