W hotel in Waikiki sold to Brian Anderson

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

Big Island-based real estate investor Brian Anderson has completed his purchase of the W HonoluluiDiamond Head hotel in Waikiki.

Anderson is expected to make some improvements but no immediate major changes to operations of the 50-room boutique hotel catering to business travelers under Starwood Hotels & Resorts management.

Anderson, the son of restaurateur, real estate developer and former state legislator D.G. "Andy" Anderson, could not be reached yesterday.

Brian Anderson bought the hotel from Los Angeles-based investment firm Colony Capital, which acquired the 13-story building in 1996 as part of a purchase that pre-empted foreclosure of two buildings formerly known as the Colony Surf Hotel at the far diamondhead end of Waikiki known as the Gold Coast.

Colony, which spent $10 million renovating the hotel and sold its stake in the adjacent building, had been soliciting a buyer for the W for at least two years. In 2002, it was asking $9.8 million for the hotel, which is on a mix of fee-simple and leasehold land.

A Colony spokesman could not be reached for comment yesterday. A representative of Colliers Monroe Friedlander, the local real estate brokerage firm handling the transaction, said it could not comment.

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