Posted on: Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Kalihi has Kaka'ako car dealers on move
By Rick Daysog
Advertiser Staff Writer
The move from Kaka'ako to Kalihi is on among car dealers. New City Nissan is joining Honolulu Ford in shifting from high-cost Ala Moana to more spacious Kalihi lots.
Honolulu Ford is relocating its flagship car lot — now in Kaka'ako across Ala Moana from the New City Nissan lot — to a 5.5-acre site in Kalihi across from Farrington High School. The $10 million Ford dealership is set to open in July.
"You can't find large parcels of land in Honolulu anymore," said Frank Kudo, New City's chairman and chief executive officer. "We're all moving toward that area."
Kudo said it's becoming too costly to operate a car dealership on Ala Moana or Kapi'olani Boulevard unless you sell luxury cars and control that market.
Not everyone welcomes the move.
Bernadette Young, chairwoman of the Kalihi-Palama Neighborhood Board, said she was concerned about traffic that would be created by the new Nissan dealership and the soon-to-be completed Honolulu Ford site.
Board member Eric Purcell was more philosophical, saying that although it was sad to see the stores go, the changes were inevitable.
New City Nissan paid U. Yamane Ltd. $20.9 million for the fee interest in the property bounded by North King, Umi and Owen streets at the 'Ewa end of Kalihi.
Paid for Kalihi Shopping Center: $20.9 million
Cost of building new dealership: About $6 million Size of property: 6.7 acres The shopping center has fallen into disrepair during the past several years. Foodland Super Market Ltd. shuttered its grocery store in 1998 and longtime tenant Kalihi Bowl closed its doors recently.
Present tenants — which include Inter Island Hotel Furniture Sales and Pets Unlimited — are on month-to-month leases, said property manager Jeremy Long.
Nissan will spend about $6 million to renovate the property, which will include a new car lot, office space, and a parts and service department, Kudo said. The dealer also acquired a vacant restaurant property across King Street from the Kalihi Shopping Center.
All 100 of the company's employees will be moved to the Kalihi property.
Kudo said the property is attractive because of its size and its proximity to the H-1 Freeway.
New City Nissan has operated at its 90,000-square-foot lot on Ala Moana since August 1995 under a lease with the Kamehameha Schools. The lease expires in less than four years.
Kekoa Paulsen, a spokesman for the Kamehameha Schools, said the Nissan property is one of several Kaka'ako properties that it plans to redevelop in the next decade. Paulsen said the trust eventually plans to issue a request for proposals to developers once the lease expires.
Reach Rick Daysog at rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8064.
New City Nissan said yesterday it has acquired the 49-year-old Kalihi Shopping Center — once home to Foodland and Kalihi Bowl. The 6.7-acre property will be cleared to make way for a new Nissan dealership and service center.
Built in 1956 at a cost of $1.5 million, the Kalihi Shopping Center once served as a retail hub for Kalihi. Its developer Uichi Yamane, who came to Hawai'i in 1896 as a penniless laborer, built a sizable restaurant and retail fortune.
New City Nissan's move
