New Victoria Ward owner carefully weighing options

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

The new owner of Victoria Ward Ltd. sees huge potential in expanding Hawai'i's third-largest retail center, and has hundreds of millions of dollars to spend on redevelopment.

John Bucksbaum, chief executive officer of Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc., which bought Victoria Ward almost four months ago, said yesterday that his company is excited about enhancing the Kaka'ako property, but not in a rush.

"A lot can be done with Victoria Ward ... reinvesting in this real estate is paramount to its success," Bucksbaum said. "They've done a great job of adding the theaters and adding the restaurants, and it's our challenge: How do we build upon that?"

The publicly traded real estate investment trust spends about $250 million a year on renovation and redevelopment at some of its 117 properties in 42 states.

At an Urban Land Institute meeting in Honolulu yesterday, Bucksbaum also said the previous $150 million-plus plan to replace Ward Warehouse with a 550,000-square-foot mall anchored by a full-line Nordstrom department store wouldn't go forward because it was designed to compete with Ala Moana Center, which General Growth also owns.

However, pieces of that project may be incorporated into other redevelopment ideas, he said.

Bucksbaum did not give details. But he said General Growth had lured a 30-year company

veteran out of retirement to head redevelopment efforts at Victoria Ward. Jon Batesole, formerly executive vice president of real estate development, will spend most of his time in Hawai'i.

Much of the planning process will depend on what other Kaka'ako landowners, such as Kamehameha Schools and the state, do with their own redevelopment opportunities, Bucksbaum said.

For example, the University of Hawai'i is building a biomedical research center to anchor a biotech park nearby. Kamehameha Schools has plans for a high-tech office complex next to the UH project. And a number of prime state-owned waterfront parcels will be open for private development sometime next year.

"A lot of people expect Victoria Ward to be transformed rather quickly, but I think the smart thing is we're continuing and constantly thinking about it," Bucksbaum said. "You want to shape the plans with what's being shaped around you as well. It'll take time, but when you take time you usually get great projects.

"We're fortunate that we have the resources, that we can be patient, and we want to do things right. We have the responsibility, the stewardship ... and we want to make certain that our vision for Hawai'i is the right one, and one that when we come back here years from now we can be proud of as a company."