Alexander & Baldwin Inc. has sold the 18-story office building Pacific Guardian Tower on Kapiçolani Boulevard across from Ala Moana Center to a Japanese financial services company for $38 million.

A&B, through subsidiary A&B Properties Inc., sold the 130,600-square-foot tower to Maruito USA Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Japan-based Maruito Group.
Pacific Guardian was built in 1989 and was bought by A&B in 2001 for about $23 million, according to property records. During A&B’s ownership, the company said it upgraded the building’s exterior, increased tenant occupancy from 74 percent to 95 percent and improved average net rent by 34 percent.
A&B said it expects to use proceeds from the sale to invest in other commercial real estate on a tax-deferred basis.
The Honolulu-based firm now owns 8.4 million square feet of retail, office and industrial space in Hawaiçi and eight states on the Mainland, including the historic Stangenwald Building in downtown Honolulu, Mililani Shopping Center, Kaneohe Bay Shopping Center and Maui Mall.