New Ko Olina resort will have aquarium, water park and spa

The planned Atlantis resort at Ko Olina Resort &Marina will have roughly 800 hotel rooms and 524 residences, according to an announcement Thursday that adds a few details about the previously publicized project.

An affiliate of developer China Oceanwide Holdings Ltd. said the project on 26 acres of beachfront land also will have an aquarium, a water park, restaurants, bars, retail boutiques, a beach club, a spa, a fitness center and event space.

China Oceanwide, a Chinese company that bought the development site in September for $280 million, announced the new details in partnership with Kerzner International Holdings Ltd. Kerzner will manage the property under its Atlantis brand.

The two companies did not provide any projected development cost or timetable. However, Jeff Stone, Ko Olina’s master developer, who orchestrated the land sale, previously said Atlantis Ko Olina is a roughly $1.5 billion project that could start construction in mid-2017 and be finished two years later.

Steven Wang, senior vice president of China Oceanwide’s new local subsidiary, said in a statement that the project will bolster Hawaii’s already strong tourism market, increase visitor spending and add much-needed hotel rooms to the market.

Jean-Gabriel Peres, president and CEO of Kerzner, said Atlantis Ko Olina will be a “must-see” property. “Atlantis will astonish and amaze, as well as celebrate the history and culture of Hawaii,” he said in a statement.

Kerzner, which is partially owned and led by the principal investment arm of the Dubai government known as the Investment Corp. of Dubai, operates a flagship Atlantis resort in Dubai called The Palm. Another Atlantis resort is slated to open in Sanya Hainan, China, next year. And one dubbed The Royal Atlantis Resort &Residences is planned in Dubai.

Kerzner also was previously affiliated with Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

China Oceanwide is an affiliate of Oceanwide Holdings Co., a Chinese conglomerate engaged in real estate, finance and investing primarily in China. In addition to the Atlantis Ko Olina site, the company bought two undeveloped properties nearby earlier this year: a 17-acre beachfront parcel at Ko Olina for $200 million and about 500 acres between Ko Olina and Kapolei for $98 million.

The company said development of these two properties is in the early planning stages. The resort site is slated for two hotels and a condominium, while the other parcel is slated for residential and golf course development that will expand Ko Olina.