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Longs Drugs has bought commercial property in Aina Haina and applied for a building permit, presumably to establish a new store.
The retailer, which is owned by CVS Caremark, purchased 1.4 acres just Ewa of Aina Haina Shopping Center from The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania on July 16, according to property records.
Longs applied for a building permit the same day, according to city records.
A Longs/CVS representative could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The property was home to a two-story Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall for more than a decade. However, the religious group listed the property for sale about two years ago.
The organization bought the property in 1995 for $3.6 million and spent an estimated $2 million constructing its 24,200-square- foot meeting hall. Before that a longtime fixture on the site was the Ranch House restaurant. The property also includes the former home of the Aina Haina Pet Hospital, which relocated to Kaimuki about five years ago.
Longs operates 54 stores in Hawaii, including small pharmacies and full-size convenience stores. The nearest stores to Aina Haina are in the Hawaii Kai Shopping Center and Kahala Mall.
The retailer has been in close competition with Walgreens, which entered the Hawaii market in 2007 and now has 17 stores in the state.
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