Posted on: Tuesday, November 16, 2004

California firm buys Big Isle shopping center

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

A California-based real estate investment firm has bought Crossroads Shopping Center in Kailua, Kona, on the Big Island.

Diversified Equity Investment Corp. paid an undisclosed price estimated at more than $16 million for the 75,000-square-foot center anchored by Safeway.

The Irvine, Calif.-based firm, which previously owned a minor interest in Crossroads with partners, has been aggressively working to increase its real estate holdings in Hawai'i since buying Waiakea Center in Hilo for about $18 million in August.

"They're on a roll. They are very bullish on the Islands," said Wendell Brooks III, a broker with PM Realty Group representing Diversified Equity.

Brooks said Diversified Equity has a contract to buy Halekuai Center, a commercial complex in Kapolei with about 15 tenants, and is negotiating the purchase of two other properties that Brooks declined to identify.

Crossroads, which opened in 1996 at the intersection of Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway and Henry Street, is 98 percent occupied, according to PM Realty, which will manage and lease the center.

Diversified Equity is a private firm that invests mainly in shopping centers. It is part owner of Piilani Village Shopping Center on Maui. The firm owns real estate valued at roughly $2 billion.