Marks Garage sold to mainland trust

Marks Garage, the reliable Pauahi Street parking oasis and epicenter of the downtown arts scene, has been sold to a mainland real estate investment trust for more than $20 million.

The sale, overseen by Colliers International, closed Thursday, just five weeks after the property was put on the market, according to owner Andrew Friedlander.

“This was my pride and joy,” Friedlander said. “But it’s time to move on and do other things.”

Friedlander bought the 34,000-square-foot property, which includes a four-level parking garage, some 20 years ago for $2.9 million.

“You have to remember that this was a war zone in those days,” he said. “It was all drugs and prostitution.”

The parking facility first opened in November 1957 with 500 spaces. At the time, it was seen as a solution to a severe shortage of parking in the downtown area.

Friedlander, a full-time commercial real estate broker and the principal broker at Colliers International, invested heavily in repairs and renovation for the structure when he first bought it. He also made space available at relatively low rent to the Arts at Marks Garage, a nonprofit community arts center that has served as an incubator for local artists, performers and arts education specialists.

The site was a key cog in the ongoing revitalization of the downtown area, an anchoring presence around which shops, galleries and restaurants have since settled.

The Arts at Marks Garage in Chinatown last year expanded its gallery space with a $50,000 renovation.

Friedlander said the new ownership group intends to continue operating the structure primarily as a parking business, which means the transition will have virtually no impact on the building’s tenants.

“All the tenants will stay and their leases will be honored,” Friedlander said. “The new owners are excited to work with them.”