Ward Centre to expand

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

The new owner of Victoria Ward Centers is moving ahead with a planned addition to the shopping complex after nearly two years of reassessing the Kaka'ako property.

The new owners of Victoria Ward Centers plan to carve out 10 new retail shops from what is now the Ward Centre parking structure. The idea, an official said, is to "continue the retail scene down Auahi (Street) ... and make it more fun." Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The new retail space would be the first major change at Victoria Ward Centers since General Growth bought it in May 2002 for $250 million. The move likely will be followed by more elaborate improvements — including big-box retailers, a new parking structure and possibly residential condos — that would replace the 15,000-square-foot Ward Village Shops and two nearby warehouses.

Leslie Brown, Victoria Ward leasing director, said adding retail shops to the existing parking structure will "continue the retail street scene down Auahi — double-load the street — and make it more fun."

The project also would contain a walkway that cuts through the middle of the shops and the parking structure to Ward Centre.

"Right now, Ward Centre is buried behind the parking structure," said Jeff Arce, chief financial officer of The MacNaughton Group, which is developing the nearby luxury high-rise Hokua and is affiliated with the ownership of Starbucks and Jamba Juice in Hawai'i. "Auahi Street has always kind of begged to be a nice retailed street. (The changes) will make that side of the street a lot more friendly. I think it'll be nice."

Under the plan, 10,500 square feet of retail space would take the place of 72 parking stalls, about half of them in the structure's basement valet area and half from the first elevated floor of public parking.

The project plans were recently submitted for government review.

Tenants have not yet been sought for the project, though one idea is to move some of the Ward Village tenants — such as Kua 'Aina Sandwich Shop, Starbucks and Jamba Juice — into the new project.

The new shops, conceptually envisioned by Victoria Ward Ltd. prior to General Growth acquiring the company from members of the local Hustace family and other shareholders, likely will be the first of several improvements made to the urban village by the real estate investment trust that also owns Ala Moana Center.

Brown said the company is trying to make deals with retailers to anchor a new retail complex with a parking structure and maybe condos that go across Auahi Street from Ward Centre and where the Ward Village Shops and two nearby warehouses now stand.

"We're looking at it, but it's not going to happen immediately at all," she said. "It's market driven. If we could find the tenants to anchor the project we would sit down and go to the drawing board."

Brown said the company is talking to prospective tenants including Linens 'N Things and Cost Plus World Market, though no commitments have been made.

If realized, the Ward Village redevelopment would be the largest addition made to Victoria Ward Centers since the 156,000-square-foot entertainment complex with theaters, restaurants and retail stores opened three years ago.

Another plan that predates General Growth's ownership of Victoria Ward was to replace Ward Warehouse with a 550,000-square-foot mall anchored by a full-line Nordstrom department store. That plan was nixed because it was designed to compete with Ala Moana.

General Growth has said that parts of the Ward Warehouse redevelopment could become part of its improvement plan at Ward Centers, though Brown said Ward Warehouse will remain for the foreseeable future.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.

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