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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, May 29, 2002

General Growth completes Victoria Ward purchase

By Frank Cho
Advertiser Staff Writer

The owner of Ala Moana Center has closed on its $250 million agreement to buy Victoria Ward Ltd., giving it control of one of the state's largest private landowners and operator of a growing retail complex on 65 acres in Kaka'ako.

The sale, one of the largest of a company or property in Hawai'i in the past few years, gives Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc. control of two of the state's largest retail centers. The Victoria Ward retail complex, with a 16-screen theater and 140 retailers and restaurants, is O'ahu's third-largest after the Ala Moana and Pearlridge centers.

"We are pleased to finalize the acquisition of Victoria Ward Ltd.," said John Bucksbaum, chief executive of General Growth. "We look forward to working closely with community leaders to develop a world-class project that will be an exciting destination for local residents as well as tourists."

Mitch D'Olier, Victoria Ward's president and chief executive officer, said yesterday that he will temporarily retire.

D'Olier said he plans to make an announcement about his future in a couple of weeks, but he declined to be more specific.

"This has been a major transaction to get done. I have devoted my life to it. I will be ready to announce my next adventure in a couple of weeks," D'Olier said.

D'Olier said he was excited about the future of Victoria Ward as a General Growth property.

"The talent of our Victoria Ward team, together with the financial abilities of General Growth, is a wonderful combination," D'Olier said.

Jeff Dinsmore will continue on as general manager of Victoria Ward. Of about 72 Victoria Ward employees, 65 will be retained. Those let go because of consolidation will receive severance packages based on their positions and length of service.

Dinsmore said it is too early to say what direction the development of Victoria Ward will take with its new owners.

Dinsmore said Nordstrom, which would be an integral piece of any redevelopment, is still evaluating its options on the Victoria Ward site.

"Now we are just looking forward to moving forward with the development of the project," said Wally Brewster, spokesman for General Growth in Chicago.

General Growth, a $2.8 billion Chicago-based real estate investment trust, owns or manages more than 140 malls in 39 states, and was one of the most active buyers of malls in the 1990s. The purchase gives General Growth control of about 2.4 million square feet of retail space on O'ahu — about 1.8 million at Ala Moana and an additional 600,000 at Victoria Ward.

Earlier this year, the company announced its agreement to buy Victoria Ward two days after General Growth made a last-minute offer that topped an offer by Honolulu firm Alexander & Baldwin Inc., which had been the front-runner in the acquisition talks for Victoria Ward's entire estate, including Ward Entertainment Center, Ward Centre and Ward Warehouse.

But General Growth, analysts have said, had a strong incentive to buy Ala Moana's nearby rival, because Victoria Ward has been drawing an increasing number of shoppers in recent years and has plans to add a Nordstrom-anchored 550,000-square-foot mall in 2005.

The sale ends more than 130 years of Victoria Ward ownership by descendants of Victoria Robinson and Curtis Ward, who once lived on an estate, Old Plantation, where Blaisdell Center is today.

The Ward retail site was long a mostly industrial mix of property converted over the decades to more of a retail mix that crystallized in the early 1990s with additions such as Pier 1 Imports, Ross, Office Depot, Sports Authority and Nordstrom Rack.

The vision of an urban retail village was taken to another level last year when the Ward Entertainment Center opened with a 16-screen theater, Dave & Buster's and several new restaurants and shops.

Victoria Ward last year announced a plan to replace Ward Warehouse with a 550,000-square-foot center that would include a 150,000-square-foot Nordstrom department store. Ward's master plan also includes residential high-rises, a supermarket, more parking and street realignment.