Posted on: Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Kane'ohe dealership getting new home
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
King Windward Nissan has begun construction on a nearly 3-acre site along Kamehameha Highway in Kane'ohe that will hold three times as many automobiles as the company's current Kane'ohe location.
King Windward Nissan It sits about half a mile from King Windward Nissan's 53,000-square-foot lot on Kahuhipa Street. The new location is more than twice as big — 120,000 square feet — and closer to potential Kailua customers and busy Kamehameha Highway, said Ron Hansen.
Hansen and partner Charlie King hope their new home will increase business 25 percent to 30 percent.
"We can barely put 110 cars on the current lot, including service parking and used cars," Hansen said. "We don't have the inventory selection and I think we've lost some sales because of that. Buying a car is an impulse decision. If (customers) see the car they like, most of the time you've got a sale."
Hansen and King negotiated a 30-year lease from the Gordon Farm family for the property at 45-568 Kamehameha Highway, which used to house Kaneohe Subaru and Boston's North End Pizza.
The leases for Kaneohe Subaru and Boston's ran out at the end of 2004 and their buildings have since been demolished, Hansen said. Hansen and King took over the property on Jan. 2.
Boston's North End Pizza officials did not return a telephone call seeking comment yesterday. Kaneohe Subaru's phone number was disconnected; officials with the company did not return cell-phone messages or a page.
King Windward Nissan will continue to lease its Kahuhipa Street location from landowner Kamehameha Schools until the lease runs out in 2026, Hansen said.
"We'll probably find a tenant to take it over or assign the lease to a new tenant," he said. "We don't want to keep running two locations because we don't want to confuse the buying public."
The new spot will be able to hold more than 300 automobiles, including new and used cars, customers' cars awaiting servicing and customer parking.
King Windward now has seven service stalls that are full nearly all the time, Hansen said. So the planned 12 service stalls for the new site are expected to increase King's service business, as well, Hansen said.
"We want to keep up with the service business and serve our customers after a sale," Hansen said. "In our current location, we're challenged."
Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8085.
The new home of King Windward Nissan is expected to cost $5.2 million and be ready to open in August.
The new location for King Windward Nissan received a blessing Jan. 12 from kahu Richard Kamanu of Kaumakapili Church. The 120,000-square-foot facility on Kamehameha Highway will open in August.
