Business briefs

Advertiser Staff

Utility gets loan guarantee

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved a $33 million loan guarantee to allow the Kaua'i Island Utility Co-op to buy its largest single source of power, the 26.4-megawatt gas turbine power plant outside Lihu'e from Kaua'i Power Partners.

The power plant generates roughly 40 percent of the island's electrical requirements. By buying the plant rather than paying for the power, the co-op should save about $900,000 annually.

Campbell park property sold

Walton Street Capital LLC, a Chicago-based real-estate investment company, purchased 35 acres of Campbell Industrial Park property for $26.75 million from Black Development Corp. The sale was completed yesterday.

The property includes 238,000 square feet of warehouses. Black Development, an affiliate of local real-estate investment firm Kurisu & Fergus, purchased the property from Bank of Hawaii in 2002.

Bank's shares shoot up

Shares of CB Bancshares soared by 8.6 percent yesterday after Central Pacific Financial extended its merger deadline by a week and postponed its earnings announcement. CB Bancshares closed at $73, up $5.79. Central Pacific's stock was up a nickel, or 0.2 percent, to $27.

Central Pacific made a hostile bid for CB Bancshares last year and recently set Thursday as a deadline for the deal to move forward. The banks did not comment yesterday.

Harbor Court for sale

The 31-story Harbor Court tower — home to the Palomino Restaurant, Kapi'olani Health, commercial operations and residential condominiums — is for sale on a leasehold basis.

Harbor Court's owners, Phoenix-based PRA Harbor Partners, are taking bids through early May, according to people involved with the sale who asked not to be identified because the deal is pending. Eastdil Realty, based in Santa Monica, Calif., is handling Harbor Court's potential sale but Eastdil officials declined to comment yesterday.