Campbell Estate to sell Whalers Village
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Estate of James Campbell has decided to solicit buyers for its Whalers Village shopping center on Maui in an offering expected to attract competing bids from institutional investors.
Advertiser library photo • April 26, 2001
The O'ahu-based estate yesterday mailed letters conveying the decision to the more than 70 tenants of the ocean-front resort mall in Ka'anapali.
Campbell Estate is putting the Whalers Village on Maui up for sale. With its location along Ka'anapali beach, the shopping center is considered a "trophy asset" by many in real estate.
Dave Rae, vice president of public affairs for Hawai'i's second-wealthiest private trust, said the estate plans to contract with a broker to market the property without an asking price, and that no offers are being considered.
Rae said the center is being sold to capitalize on the estate's investment in the mall, which the Campbell trust bought in 1980 from Amfac Inc. for $14.5 million.
"We've owned it a long time, and there is a lot of demand for specialty retail in Hawai'i," he said. "We think it is a good time to sell."
If a deal is reached, sale proceeds would be reinvested in real estate, Rae said.
Local real estate brokers said the 112,000-square-foot mall anchored by three ocean-front restaurants and a free whaling museum will attract strong competition from prospective buyers.
"It's a trophy asset," said Wendell Brooks III, vice president of commercial properties for PM Realty Group in Honolulu.
Gary Kenar, manager of Commercial Properties of Maui, said mall revenue, while not publicly disclosed, is regarded as unparalleled for specialty resort retail centers. "It is a very highly coveted asset," he said.
Real estate experts said it is difficult to estimate a sales price because that depends largely on undisclosed mall income.
There has been great interest in Hawai'i shopping centers lately, especially on Maui, which hospitality experts cite as the state's strongest resort market.
Last year Mainland and local investors bought Lahaina Cannery Mall, Piilani Village Shopping Center, Queen Ka'ahumanu Center and Napili Plaza — all on Maui.
Whalers Village is regarded as irreplaceable because of its location on Ka'anapali beach. Amfac developed and opened the center in 1970 as a 47,000-square-foot open-air complex anchored by the first Neighbor Island location of local department store Liberty House.
After acquiring the property, Campbell Estate expanded Whalers Village in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Tenants today include restaurants Hula Grill, Leilani's on the Beach and the Rusty Harpoon, and retailers Tiffany & Co., Honolua Surf, Martin & MacArthur, Maui Dive Shop, Tommy Bahama, Louis Vuitton and Hilo Hattie.
The center is 100 percent occupied, and about 90 percent of customers are tourists, said Don Reaser, center general manager.
Campbell Estate, established in 1900 under the will of Scottish carpenter James Campbell, owns about 70,700 acres on O'ahu, the Big Island and Maui, including the land under the Westin Ka'anapali hotel, which Rae said is not for sale.
The estate faces a 2007 deadline to terminate its trust structure, and plans to divide $2.3 billion in assets among heirs and carry on operations as a limited liability company.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.
