La'ie to get $30M hotel
By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer
A property management company affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints plans to build a 200-room hotel in La'ie, the first hotel of its size along the Windward coast.
Hawaii Reserves, Inc. expects to begin development of the roughly $30 million hotel near the Polynesian Cultural Center in late 2005, with completion of the initial phase planned by early 2007.
Catering to North Shore and area visitors, the hotel would replace the 48-room Laie Inn, said Eric Marler, Hawaii Reserves executive vice president and chief financial officer.
O'ahu has not had a new hotel built since the Kalia Tower at the Hilton Hawaiian Village was finished in 2001. The free-standing JW Marriott Ihilani Resort Spa & Golf Club at Ko Olina was completed in 1993.
Local hoteliers have said that financing new hotels in today's market make them less profitable than a new time-share building or resort condominium building.
But, Marler said, "the occupancy numbers have become much stronger in the recent months here on O'ahu, and we feel that for the mid-market type product that we're talking about that there will be adequate demand to support our investment."
As a "general rule," Marler said, Hawaii Reserves does not partner with outside investors and will finance the hotel construction internally.
The eight-acre site is zoned for hotel use. Four separate three-story buildings are envisioned. The hotel will have a banquet facility, a restaurant, swimming pools and a small North Shore visitor orientation center.
The company has begun applying for city building permits and hopes to finish the process within a year. Construction would then begin.
Until construction starts, the Laie Inn would remain open.
In the first phase, 130 rooms would be built. If the initial phase performs well, 70 more rooms would be added in the next two years.
"We feel that the North Shore has a lot to offer visitors as an alternative, perhaps, or in addition to their experience at Waikiki," Marler said. "A family might want to spend some time in Waikiki and then might also want to come out and have a multi-day experience on the North Shore."
Hotel rates would be similar to that charged by a family-friendly property like a Residence Inn, Marler said. Stays at the new hotel would be less expensive than the higher-end Turtle Bay Resort, which attracts many golfers and business travelers.
Marler said he does not expect the new hotel to compete with Turtle Bay and already has discussed his company's plans with Turtle Bay executives.
Hawaii Reserves is targeting tourists as well as administrative officials meeting at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, parents visiting university students, athletic teams, and participants in university continuing education programs.
The hotel would be promoted along with the church-owned Polynesian Cultural Center.
Hawaii Reserves hopes the new hotel will attract visitors who want to spend a few days visiting the cultural center and experience world-class surfing, scuba diving, and hiking.
"A lot of activities that you might consider 'outer island' activities are available to people on the North Shore," Marler said.
News of the new hotel was welcomed by the North Shore Chamber of Commerce's interim executive director, Antya Miller.
"We're all trying to get people to make this their destination and stay out here because we feel that a lot of people just drive around the island and they don't know what they can do out here," Miller said.
The hotel also would provide management training for BYU-Hawaii's travel and tourism education students.
While new hotel openings on O'ahu have been rare in recent years, a major project is in the works. Outrigger Enterprises Inc. is planning a $350 million Waikiki hotel redevelopment to include time-share, resort condominiums and a new hotel that could be a mix of residential condos, hotel condos, hotel units and possibly time-share units.
The retail and entertainment portion of the Outrigger project is planned for completion in mid-2007. At Ko Olina, plans are also under way to build a combination 250-room hotel and 150-room condominium managed by The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co.
Reach Kelly Yamanouchi at kyamanouchi@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2470.
